Retirements (good and bad) slip ups, the return of Towcester, and a winner or two (hopefully).
ALL THOUGHTS ARE MY OWN
(except those of Ron Robinson with me here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLPePCXaDkw on the podcast)
Firstly, I am not sure whether to file the retirements of Estrange and Romantic Warrior under good or bad news? The fact that they have got this far winning this many races is a real positive, but then again we won’t see them in the racetrack again which is such a shame. Estrange is a Cheveley Park owned mare in the care of David O’Meara and the winner of six of her nine starts including the Group One Pretty Polly Stakes, and after suffering bone bruising last time out and with her top level won on the CV already, the grey will now start her new career as a broodmare.
Romantic Warrior will be a less familiar name to some, but personally I will miss him more and by a long chalk. It feels like every year for ever I have been lucky enough to travel to Hong Kong to watch the gelded son of Acclamation win the big races and although we would never get rich backing him, seeing him was always very much an “I was there” moment. 24 wins from 31 starts is some record, made all the more remarkable when you realise 15 of those were in Group Ones and include journeys and victories at Tokyo, Meydan and Moonee Valley – yes he did stay at home most of the time (and why not with their prize money), but he ventured abroad now and again to show just how good he was. It’s a bit sad that he may well be remembered most for his defeat in the Saudi Cup when he tried the dirt and got touched off by Forever Young (and yes I am convinced that was jockey error), and I and every racing fan in Hong Kong wish him a long and happy retirement.
Sometimes negative stories also have to be covered, like it or not, and the sad demise of Galopin Des Champs is a prime if upsetting example. The dual Gold Cup winner, considered one of the greatest staying chasers of recent years, was retired by his owners at the age of 10, and given to Ruby Walsh for retraining as a showjumper for his daughter in his dotage, but in less than a week he suffered an inoperable injury while out in the field and had to euthanised. It truly is a tragic tale and one that brought tears to the eyes of plenty of lovers of the racing game, but all I can add is I am confident if he could have been saved, regardless of cost, he surely would have been.
Next up we have the story of Thirsk last weekend and the recent rain causing a slippery surface that quickly meant any race that involved going around the bend was abandoned for the day. Last Friday’s card saw an accident in race one, leaving on course racing fans to sit and suffer gaps of an hour and 47 between race one and the 4.00pm, and that was their lot for the day. To be fair they did offer refunds which isn’t as bad as it could have been and they were caught between a rock and a hard place – abandon after race one and people have wasted their day off, carry on and everyone moans about the time intervals – what else could they do? Bottom line is racing always has and always will be in the hands of mother nature (even “all-weather” meetings get called off), and the safety of horses and jockeys must remain paramount.
Towcester are back – and I didn’t see that coming! After closing their doors in October 2019 we never thought we would see anything other than greyhounds there again, but after a cash injection from betting partners Betway they have applied to lease six fixtures in the 2027/28 season. The BHA have to give the go ahead so they aren’t out of the woods just yet, but the one thing we have over every other racing nation on the planet is our variety, as opposed to the oval tracks in America for example. Whether I ever go there is a different matter, and they will need to up their game from the past if they want to survive, but I wish them the best of luck regardless.
Finally, the government have stuck their racing ignorant heads into racing business once again with our new messiah Andy Burham seemingly siding with Gordon Brown with anti-gambling rhetoric. With bookmakers classed alongside vape shops and Turkish barbers as a blight on the High Street and a call to increase tax on the dreaded slot machines, at first glance why should we care? Well, the truth is an unprofitable bookmakers will close down as has already been threatened by many of the chains, and that means each closed shop doesn’t show the racing – so media rights and levy payments take a big hit. Of course I am biased, why wouldn’t I be, and to be blunt I am as much against slot machines as many people, but I am worried that the “do gooders” rarely if ever look at the knock on effects – and racing really cannot afford any more issues on the financial side.
On to the racing…
Saturday
Haydock 1.25pm
Zeus Olympios won this Group Three last year and has gone on to better things while Karl Burke has won the last two runnings, and Hankelow represents the stable this season. After ending his two-year-old season with a win in the Autumn Stakes he ran a blinder on his first start this year when a length and a quarter third in the Group One Poule d’Essai Des Poulains (French 2000 Guineas) at Longchamp. That form has been franked since with the winner taking the Prix Jacques le Marois last month (from Zeus Olympios funnily enough), but sadly he has failed to get near to that level in two starts since with a ten length defeat in the French Derby and a ninth in the Strensall Stakes. He has to reverse the form with Persica on that running but with a lot more give in the ground and a drop back to the mile, he looks a solid each way opportunity on a day where I fully expect a few shocks.
Haydock 1.55pm
Listed races for lightly raced two-year-olds are never easy to solve with the tricky balance of actual form versus untapped potential, and this contest is no exception. Bow Echo won this last year and he went on to classic success so it is a race worth keeping an eye on. Rocket Boy is the best horse here by 10lbs or more on official ratings (though two of the six don’t have one yet) after winning in debut at Yarmouth and then third in a Listed race at Salisbury, beaten less than a length. Marco Botti’s colt looks a very serious danger to the once raced First Law, Charlie Appleby’s son of Too Darn Hot, who cost a million guineas as a yearling and made a winning debut at Sandown when scoring by a head. Slowly away that day, he then wandered a little showing signs of his inexperience before hanging late on, and I felt it was an excellent and educational ride by Connor Planas. William Buick takes over this afternoon on board the Dewhurst entry, and if he is to take in Group One company in the Autmn then he will need to win this with ease.
Ascot 2.10pm
Taking the last 15 years (and 16 winners, it’s the way the database works), looking for clues, and what do I see – not a lot to be honest. No winners priced bigger than 16/1 (which surprised me), 15 had finished in the first five on their previous start (and all of them came home in the first seven), 14 came from the first seven in the betting (and all of them from the first 10), and all were rated 84-100 inclusive. All had run in the last 120 days (14 in the past 60 days), and 15 had raced twice to six times this season – no more and no less. Potentially interesting was the fact that none of those winners had every scored over further than the mile and a half they face here, and that’s my lot! Using all of the above to get to a workable shortlist I end up with three, Archers Bay, Decade of Time, and Ancestor, so now we look at trainer form. That points me in no uncertain terms to William Haggas and Ancestor with the Newmarket maestro winning this five times and placing on three other occasions – from 16 attempts. That makes for a 50% win or place rate if my maths is correct, and at current odds of 13/2 each way will be my play on the improving three-year-old who has won his last two starts and steps up to a mile and a half looking for further improvement.
Kempton 2.50pm
A mile and a half next for the Group Three September Stakes and a race that has seen the Gosden stable win four of the last eight runnings. They run Warrant Holder for the King and Queen this afternoon but he was last seen finishing a nine length tenth in a York handicap and this ought to prove beyond him. Gethin heads the early market after his 15 length fifth to Constitution River in the Eclipse at Sandown, while everyone will be cheering on Constitution Hill who has been well supported all week – but has over a stone to find on official ratings, so have the handicappers really got it that wrong?Tornado Alert finished fourth for Saeed Bin Suroor at Hoppegarten in the Grosser Preis von Berlin when only beaten a length, and although he has a head to find with stablemate Dubai Future who finished third, he is 3lb better off now and even more importantly, that was his first start since July 2025 when he beat Map Of Stars by over two lengths in Munich. Sure to improve for the race and with low mileage for a four-year-old after just the seven starts, I can see him winning this with Oisin Murphy tasked with the steering.
Kempton 3.20pm
Off to the all-weather again next, starting with the Group Three Sirenia Stakes, a six furlong Group Three for juveniles. I doubt the fact that the majority of recent winners have come from a low stall will make much difference as I suspect we will be left with a small field, so formbook it is. Moonrise is hard to ignore having won two of her three starts, the latest at Ascot where she won the Princess Margaret Japan Cup Stakes by a neck from Dee’s Funny Girl after hitting the front two out and battling on with relish. She can go well and in the absence of my original pick Evenfall (a late non-runner) she looks by far the likeliest winner here.
Haydock 3.40pm
Saving the best until last and we have the Betfair Sprint over six furlongs, Group One, and with the little matter of £400,000 in win and place prize money. Big Mojo won this last year at odds of 16/1 and is all set to try to double up, though I doubt we see anything near to that price in 2026 after Mick Appleby’s won at the Curragh last time out. Mick seems sweet on his chances (as you would expect) but his lack of form on a softer surface has pretty much forced me to look elsewhere. Kind Of Blue was or is a decent sprinter but hasn’t had the best of years with a second at York and an eleventh at Ascot but the money has been glowing for the Fanshawe entire all week and he is now as short as 4/1 as I write, presumably because punters know he handles the give in the ground. Almeraq heads the betting and if we forgive him a stinker last time out, you can understand why. He beat useful yardstick Satono Reve a neck in the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot and was very much on the upgrade before running way below form in the July Cup when he finished ninth for reasons unknown, but many racing judges, myself included, feel his action is far better suited to cut in the ground and I hope to see him back to winning way this afternoon.
Sean’s Suggestion:
Tornado Alert 2.50pm Kempton
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