All Things Racing - And A Happy Christmas To You All

ALL THOUGHTS ARE MY OWN (with the YouTube link here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95jDRneUmfk&feature=youtu.be)

Having returned from the Far East after my jaunt to Japan and Hong Kong for the racing it crossed my mind that perhaps a post-mortem is in order. Not the races (I have covered those in depth already), but the overall day out – and how other jurisdictions seem to have mastered the racegoer experience. I won’t go into food and drink prices other than to say that both countries have about the same cost of living as us – yet you can still get something to eat and drink at a sensible price – it’s more about the fan engagement. It just feels as if you are wanted at the track, not a cash cow to be milked until your pockets are empty, but a genuine part of the experience, a necessity to make the day as exciting as possible and not merely an afterthought. Now I do appreciate the differing finances with Tote monopolies making the entire sport better funded from top to bottom, but I do wonder if anyone in British racing is even looking at the idea that a satisfied and happy customer not only comes back – but they tell their friends, share on social media, and grow the crowd long term.  We do have bands here after racing in an attempt to encourage the next generation, but in Hong Kong their first performance is before racing starts – attracting youngsters into the course and letting them enjoy the racing afterwards, perhaps for the first time – we put our acts on after racing when the vast majority turn up late and never actually see a horse – not sure how that works as a long term business model? In Japan the horses are the star of the show and have their own fan bases – yes they do bet on them but that is not the be all and end all and that is another avenue we need to go down, while in Hong Kong it feel like it’s more about the jockeys who are mobbed for autographs and happily chat to the public at every opportunity – more laid back than here and seemingly a massive encouragement that helps to fill the track week in and week out.

Francis_Henry Graffard - my trainer of the year.

On to the horses and they were all top-class, but Ka Ying Rising remains the poster boy. It is hard to gauge just how good he really is thanks to his ability to put a race to bed in a matter of strides, with the fact that haven’t really uncovered a world class sprinter for a long time meaning his efforts sneak under the radar. Sadly, our prize money, even at Royal Ascot simply isn’t enough to encourage connections to head over to test him against our best, but the truth is, unless we uncover something spectacular next season, they know he would win with his head in his chest and feel they have nothing to prove. 

From good news to (potentially) bad, with Kempton once again the talk of the racing World for all the wrong reasons. Money talks, and famous as the racecourse is historically, it is worth infinitely more money as a housing estate than it is as a racetrack. It may be old age kicking in for me but to lose the home of the King George on Boxing Day is simply unforgivable in my eyes and I refuse to believe the Jockey club are that short of a bob or two. Having sold the rights for want of a better word to developer Redrow (all together now  - booooo!!) it seems it’s only a matter of when not if one of our premier racecourses over jumps disappears for good and what worries me even more is will they be the first of many – money talks as I said but what next – Buckingham Palace being turned into an AirBnB?      

Saturday racing

Haydock 12.20pm

Four runners without a win over fences between them is a poor start to the day, but something has to win it and we will attempt to unravel as best we can. Bill Joyce would be the best of these over hurdles and as he won a point-to-point at Lisronagh there is every reason to believe he ought to be able to jump a fence, and he has been described as a chaser in the making by joint-trainer A J O’Neill. He looks sure to go off odds-on here which is not the news any of us wanted to hear, and he ought to prove good enough with a clear round to see off Irish raider Ayiko at level weights.

Ascot 1.50pm

The first of two handicaps this week and with £18,000 up for grabs for the winner, at least we have a decent and competitive field with nine declared as I write. Issam was value for more after idling after he hit the front before scoring by a length and at Wetherby on his return, and he may prove the biggest danger to the slightly more obvious Bad. Ben Pauling’s six-year-old also won on his first start of the season when coming home in front at Kempton, but in my view, he ran an even better race in defeat with a seven length fifth in the Paddy Power Gold Cup at Cheltenham. He raced off a mark of 145 that day and has somehow been dropped 1lb, yet this is a step down in class as far as I can see, and with the track less strenuous than Cheltenham, I can see him seeing it out better than all of these rivals.   

Haydock 2.05pm

Time to look at past winners once again in the hope of a clue to this year’s victor, and the first thing I note is in the last 15 years (my go to figure and in this case, 13 runnings), we have not seen a winner priced bigger than 16/1 at the off. All 13 finished in the first six on their previous start if they completed, and interestingly, all were aged six to eight despite 42 of other ages attempting to come home in front. Only one rated above 142 has been successful, and all had last raced in the past 60 days – but none within the last seven. Putting those facts into the blender and an original field of 12 comes down to a more workable shortlist of one – step forward Saladins Son. Trained by Anthony Honeyball, the seven year old has had a total of four starts over fences, winning at Wincanton twice and finishing second on his seasonal return here at Haydock where he was seven lengths behind Top of The Bill (who is also running here) but he is now considerably better off at the weights and connections clearly feel they can get the better of him on these terms – though I may have a little reverse forecast just in case.

Ascot 2.25pm

One of the more intriguing races of the day with some of the best staying hurdlers currently in training going into battle with the likelihood the winner will take a step forward in the betting for the Stayers Hurdle at Cheltenham in March. Honesty Policy heads the early betting for Gordon Elliott and understandably so with the Irish horses seemingly so much better than ours, but he is no value in my eyes and I will be looking elsewhere for the winner. Impose Toi could be the next big thing for Nicky Henderson after defeating Strong Leader by half a length at Newbury last time out, but he is 6lb worse off here and surely that makes his task much more difficult? The problem is that trainer Olly Murphy has said Strong Leader needs to race left-handed so who knows why he runs here, and I am going to take an each way chance to small stakes on Colonel Mustard. On official ratings the ten-year-old needs to find a few pounds to win here, but he arrives on the back of a defeat of The Yellow Clay at Navan, and at 22/1 as I write I can see him sneaking into the frame with a clear run.

Haydock 2.40pm

A closely matched Listed race over hurdles for mares rounds off our action this Saturday, and interestingly, four-year-olds have won the last three runnings and five of the last seven. Only one of that age group lines up this afternoon with 25/1 chance Bittalemon who has plenty to do after her Cartmel success, but you never know in this game. Jackie Hobbs heads the betting with her two bumper successes and a one out of one record over hurdles after success at Newbury, but she failed to catch my eye that day and, in my opinion, needs a step forward to win here – though that is far from impossible. Walks The Talk heads over from Ireland for John McConnell and is currently unbeaten over hurdles after wins at Roscommon and then Kelso, making all on both occasions and coming home clear of her rivals, and both were over further than this so softer going and testing conditions could play to her strengths. Available at 7/1 as I write that looks decent each way value to me and she may even be one of the better bets of the day. 

Sean’s selection:

Walks The Talk each way 2.40pm Haydock