All Things Racing And A Winner Or Two

ALL THOUGHTS ARE MY OWN

(Youtube link here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a08MRHtzva8)

I see no point in lying to anyone, Royal Ascot was absolutely exhausting, five days of top class action is sustenance for my racing soul but mentally I was at the end of my tether by the time I had hit (and I mean hit) the last full stop at the end of the week.

Naturally the week left us with plenty of things to talk about but as I am getting older and time is at a premium I will be settling for the best and worst moments (personally) limiting myself to one of each. Worst was my more difficult option – picking holes in the greatest meeting of the year could be seen to be churlish, but you do have to wonder about the draw bias in the bigger fields. When the likes of Simon Crisford speak up then perhaps all is not as perfect as it should be when for reasons beyond my knowledge if you weren’t drawn high on the straight course, you might as well have stayed at home.  As a punter, many of us had sort of worked that out before the final day (though I still struggled to work out why some jockeys failed to take the idea to heart), but funnily enough the sport isn’t all about us -what about the owners trainers and connections who had readied their charges to be spot on for this meeting only to see any chance they may have had disappeared before the stalls had even opened? It’s a tough call to be honest, on the one hand this is the premier meeting of the year and every horse deserves an equal chance – but if that is the case then are we saying “lesser” meetings don’t matter, and that the well-known draw biases at the likes of Chester, Ripon, Beverley and Wolverhampton are acceptable because they are not top races – I am afraid I can’t subscribe to that view either so we have a stand off!

On to my top moment and it’s an obvious one – I do love it when a gamble is landed and can’t believe the lack of publicity over the bets that saw Wesley Ward’s raider Bacio backed from 14/1 (yes that did exist when I tipped it Thursday evening) all the way down to 3/1 favourite at the off. When you consider the strength of the betting market (bets of £100,000 plus barely move the odds at the shorter prices) then you can work out that this was a serious and sustained plunge from those in the know, and they were duly rewarded as he strolled home by over three lengths in a very decent time, though his supporters did have some anxious moments after his jockey weighed in light having dropped an over girth while unsaddling, though thankfully the mix up was soon sorted (and for those arguing the rules, he gained no advantage as the over girth can be seen on the horse at all times during the race). He looks a machine, I had a (rare) winner, and a gamble was landed – my highlight of the week by far.  

My apologies for the next line – and if you aren’t or weren’t a fan of Father Ted turn away now – what have Jamie Osborne and Father Jack got in common – one, two, three – ARSE (if you haven’t seen the show that was pretty much is catchphrase). I am not going to go over the story in detail but the trainer was “caught” taking photos of a woman’s clothed backside without her knowledge and has been suitable chastised (no, he wasn’t spanked lol), not his proudest moment I am sure he would agree, and one I suspect will see him being ribbed by the racing world for far longer than any sentence the BHA could throw at him!   

Next, we have news from France and as far as I am concerned, its huge – as of 2027 geldings will be allowed to race in the Arc de Triomphe. That may not sound important but in racing it is seismic – in my view (others can argue), the breeding industry has been overly protective in keeping the race (and others) restricted to colts, fillies and mares, who (funnily enough) hold residual value for breeding purposes - whereas geldings unsurprisingly do not. The “new” idea seems partly based on the fact that Calandagan and Goliath have been forced to miss recent renewals due to the lack of the appropriate equipment, and personally I think it should be about the best taking on the best regardless for such a prestigious contest, though I was reading Scott Burton’s counter argument in the Racing Post and would suggest the final field lines up based on official ratings, otherwise as he says we may lose some classy fillies and mares from the final declarations – though I suspect we are light years (if ever) away from the Derby and the 2000 Guineas etc following suit.

As I write this, I am preparing for the 10.45am at Newmarket which is not a sentence I ever thought I would write. I am no expert on global warming and won’t pretend to have an opinion – what I do agree with is the temperature seems to be rising each year whatever the reason. Scorching temperatures saw all bar Carlisle called off on Wednesday, but today (Thursday) we see Newmarket (10.45am), and Nottingham (10.30am) starting early to avoid the higher temperatures. I can see the benefits of travelling earlier (would you want to be stuck in a horsebox in this heat), but they are still racing through to 1.00pm and 1.15pm which as far as I know crosses the hottest part of the day – and they still have to journey home.  What I am not sure about is who this is being done for – do the trainers and jockeys really want to race in this heat, will racegoers want to get up early enough to attend, are owners that desperate for prize money (possibly) – or is it all about betting turnover? My concern remains it’s the latter, and although I fully understand that is how racing’s finances work, to be beholden to bookmakers in any way or form is a poor place to be, and one that needs changing (somehow) over the years ahead.

Lastly for this week, the British handicapper Dominic Gardiner-Hill has rated Ombudsman 132 after the Gosden five-year-old beat Oaks winner Minnie Hawk by four lengths in the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot last week, and if that number is ratified, he just became the best horse in the World. That certainly got me thinking with him marked up as 2lb superior to Hong Kong’s Ka Ying Rising, though I beg to differ. What it did do was make me think about just how jingoistic we all are when it comes to horses How many times do you hear “why isn’t Ka Ying Rising racing at Ascot” or “where is Forever Young” when the declarations for the Juddmonte International are out – but how about the other way round? The International reasonings are glaringly obvious - poor prize money compared to their exploits at home – what about the reverse of the coin? When the list of runners for the Hong Kong International races comes out with each one worth more than pretty much every race at home, where is Ombudsman, where is Bow Echo, where is Precise? We want to rate them the best, let’s go and prove it (and no, the Breeders’ Cup really doesn’t count), who wouldn’t want to see Ombudsman v Romantic Warrior at Sha Tin in December – then and only then could Ombudsman really prove his right to claim the crown.         

Saturday’s Racing

2.10pm Newcastle

A six furlong Group Three on the all-weather starts the better races of the day, and one look at the early betting suggests this is a very wide open contest where they go 9/2 the field. Paborus intrigues with his three out of five win record and I will be watching the early markets carefully ahead of his return after almost exactly a year off the track, but it looks a big ask and I will be taking an each way chance on Ed Walker’s Noble Champion instead. A lightly raced four-year-old son of Lope De Vegas, he won a similar race at Ascot last year over a furlong further with ease, before pulling up when losing his action at Goodwood and then missing the rest of last season. He pulled way too hard to ever see it out on his return at Longchamp when last of five in May, but led for a long way, and similar (if not quite so excessive) tactics could see him get back to his best if he settles better for jockey Paul Mulrennan.

2.15pm Curragh

Not really a betting medium with the Aidan O’Brien trained Confucious trading heavily odds-on sadly, but with the No Nay Never colt finishing a length and three-quarter sixth in the Coventry you can see why he is priced as he is. Interestingly, Colin Keane has ridden the winner of this race in four of the last five years, and he will be on board The Harv who was further back at Ascot and has it all to do here – yet connections seem happy to let him take his chance. He did get stopped when looking for a run in Berkshire and it is hard to judge how much that affected him, and at 14/1 he could be the better value call, albeit to the smallest of stakes for obvious reasons.

2.58pm York

Off to York we go next for the Group Three Criterion Stakes over seven furlongs, yet I am less convinced than the bookmakers it is as obvious as they think. Never So Brave heads the market at 11/10 as I write, but he was well beaten after a slow start at Epsom earlier in the month and needs to do more to put this to bed. According to the official handicapper the William Haggas trained Saber Strike has the edge at these weights thanks to his three-year-old allowance, but he was beaten just as far at Ascot with very few excuses, and quite frankly none of these make that much appeal. Qirat surprised everyone with victory in last year’s Sussex Stakes at Goodwood (150/1) but has not got near to that level since, but if he improves for a first-time tongue-tie, the 14/1 could look very silly by the end of the day, and I will settle for backing him each way for a spot of value.

3.20pm Curragh

Back to Ireland for another Group race for two-year-olds – and another Aidan O’Brien trained short-priced jolly. The stable have won this seven times in the last decade including the last four on the bounce, all ridden by Ryan Moore, and much as I looked for an alternative, the truth is I couldn’t find one. Sun Goddess won her maiden by five lengths over course and distance, and time may tell she ran into a special filly when going under by a length to Libertango in the Albany Stakes at Royal Ascot, easily the best form on offer here. If there is a slight negative then it’s the eight day turnaround between contests, but she looks a class above with a clear run and ought to win this before stepping up to better contests.  

3.55pm Curragh

Despite another short-priced favourite this is the one race I am really looking forward to all weekend when up to 10 fillies go to post for the Group One Pretty Polly Stakes over a mile and a quarter. Aidan O’Brien and Ryan Moore won this last season with Whirl but this year they rely on Beautify who must be worth considering at 14/1 despite finishing sixth to stable companion Precise in the Irish 1000 Guineas. As a daughter of Wootton Bassett out of a Dansili mare connections will have hope the step up in trip will bring some improvement, but Joseph O’Brien’s Oaks winner Thundering On. The Epsom classics take their fair share of abuse and then some, but she was one of the most impressive winners of recent years, cruising in behind before being produced for an eye-catching four length victory. For breeding purposes, they will want to get a Group One win on her CV over shorter, and if she isn’t outpaced early on I can only see one winner, with even the fractions of odds-on a potential bargain if she is anywhere near as good as I hope.

Something for the weekend:

Thundering On 3.55pm the Curragh