A Very Sad Week
Last week was a week of great sadness and loss for us personally. A difficult week – when we have all needed the support of family and friends. Some of you will be aware, that Cheryl’s Mum, Margaret sadly passed away on Thursday morning. Her final hours were peaceful, and she was surrounded by her family. Huge thanks to those that have sent messages of love and support, they have been very welcome at this difficult time.
As a result, this week’s news is somewhat truncated – but once again – Debbie has come to the rescue with a great piece about her week in ‘Glorious’ Goodwood. Thank you, Debbie!
Last Sunday, after the weeks ‘blithering’s’ were published, Jason Maguire found himself with a few minutes on his hands and sent through a host of videos that he had taken during the week. ‘Gatsby’ our gorgeous grey 3yr old is back doing plenty of work and going very nicely indeed!
As you can see, he goes up the sand gallop as if it is good ground, which is usually the sign of a horse with above average ability – in Jason’s words, ‘He’s just playing at it – he will be alright’!
He is a very good jumper as well – and we are very much looking forward to seeing him over obstacles! The plan is for him to head to Olly Murphy’s Warren Chase Stables in the next few weeks – where he will be trained with a target race in mind – a Junior Bumper in mid-October. The hope is that he will then have another run before a crack at the Listed 4yr old Bumper in Cheltenham on New Years Day – a race we have targeted with nice horses in the past. After that he is likely to switch to hurdles, which should see him in an even better light – the future looks bright – and you can be part of it – 10% share available – head to the FOR SALE page and look at his
details!
Talking of available shares – last week, when folks read about the opportunity to have a share in a horse with Sir Mark Prescott at Heath House in Newmarket – it proved very popular – there was plenty of interest on Sunday afternoon. Shares in this new syndicate are now limited – there will only be 10 shares available, in this exclusive syndicate – a very rare opportunity to have a horse in training at the yard! If you would like to reserve a spot in the syndicate and be added to the list, please let me know as soon as possible!
Monday morning, Alan King called to discuss a short-term plan for Rockola. With no National Hunt racing for a few weeks – rather than keep her in work and facing the daily grind of the Sharpridge gallop – she would head back over the hill to Jamie Magees for a few days at his yard where she would get the benefit of the water treadmill and a few hours of turnout each afternoon. She has had a few visits to Jamies and always thrives for her time there. She will be back and prepared for her next run towards the end of the month.
Great to get a short clip of Old Blue Eyes having a trot and warming up at Donald McCains. Donald’s daughter, Ella grabbed the quick video as he trotted past – and it is her baby boy Olly that can be heard ‘commentating’ in the background! Old Blue Eyes only got to the racecourse twice last season – winning his bumper before getting caught out by the soft ground in Aintree on Boxing Day. That race was run in dense fog, and we barely saw any of it – but Brian Hughes did say that he was the last one off the bridle that day – but the first one beaten – stating that OBE has plenty of ability but just couldn’t get his feet out of the ground. That was a valuable bumper the form of which has worked out very well with the second, fourth and fifth all going on to win bumpers before the end of the season. Old Blue Eyes has schooled very well ever since he was a two year old and there is sure to be lots of fun to be had with him as he heads into his novice hurdle season!
As we rolled towards the end of the month, there was plenty of admin to do – monthly invoices to process and pay – payments to be made to those members of The Red Sash Racing Club who’s shares we purchased back after the restructure a few weeks ago – and prizemoney dividends to be sent out and paid from 2024/25. As the events of the week unfolded, I’m afraid that some of these dividends were not settled by the close of the month – and I apologise for that, they will be with you in the next couple of days.
I received the vets report for Intrepide Sud on Monday – everything is going the right way with his recovery. IS was found to have an area of concern in his pelvis when he failed to come sound after his last run in Uttoxeter. Not a fracture, but an area of concern showed up on a scan, which was a precursor to a stress fracture in that area. IS needed a couple of weeks box rest followed by a few weeks walking. Thankfully progress is good, and although Fergal had thought he would be ridden again this week – the vet has prescribed another two weeks of walking before he gets to go back on the round gallop.
Tuesday – more admin. Tuesday the day for the handicap rating adjustments to be published – with the form of Dino Bellagio’s win in Southwell working out so well – I was fairly sure that the handicapper would see fit to put him up another pound or two and was pleasantly surprised when he didn’t. Donald reports Dino to be in rude health, and very much back on song. He is back performing the antics that we saw from him during his debut season when he won two bumpers and looked to have the ‘world at his feet’. He had been a lot more sensible through the last two seasons, a sign, we thought, of him growing up – it now may be interpreted as a sign that all was not well with him – and that he just wasn’t himself! Time will tell – but he certainly takes a bit of sitting on again!
One that did get moved was Rockola – who was dropped 1lb to 106.
Wednesday – Fergal sent through a video of Greyval. She looks fantastic and really is moving well! Having ended last season in such great order – the hope is that she is another one that is back to her best – and she can build on that going forward. She will have a bit of a different start to her campaign – as she is likely to start on the flat – as I feel that she has to be well handicapped from her career in France as a 3yr old – she will then have a run over hurdles before probably making her third start of the autumn in a novice chase!
Thursday – first thing - Kingy sent a video through of Rockola enjoying a session on the water treadmill at Jamie Magee’s – she looks great and has come out of a rough race in Uttoxeter in good shape.
Sadly, shortly afterwards – Cheryl called from the hospital with the sad news about her Mum, and from that point onwards – my focus was away from horses and racing and very much with Cheryl and her family at a very sad time.
So huge thanks to Debbie, who, having spent the week at Glorious Goodwood, messaged to say that she would write a piece about her week at the races:
You should never be afraid of one horse…
Not that I ever am, but this for me was the one big take away of the Goodwood meeting. not just from its feature event with the 150-1 outsider romping home, leaving the odds-on favourite to finish fourth, but in what most of my press room colleagues call ‘your Arabian race’ where the odds-on favourite won.
Of course some of this is down to media hype, though I didn’t subscribe to Field Of Gold being the second coming, he did look a very good horse when winning both the Irish 2000 Guineas and the St James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot and deserved favouritism for the Sussex Stakes. It’s quite possible he’s not the easiest ride, and also that he’s best on a flat track, however the Gosden’s were swift to announce he was found to be lame the following morning, though nothing had been apparent on course after the race, which in itself is not unusual.
The ‘pacemaker’ Qirat had been supplemented for the role by Juddmonte, and though to call his last run ‘disappointing’ might be an understatement (27 of 29 in the Royal Hunt Cup), it was when Ralph Beckett’s stable was out of form, with a lot of beaten favourites. I’m all too aware of this as he feeds Saracen [other horse feeds are available], who are a client of mine and I’m dispatched to the races with a list of horses that eat their food in case one of them wins! Beckett was keen to run Qirat as the horse loves Goodwood, being two from two at the track, and had been in fine form with himself at home. He was certainly no outsider on pedigree either as his ‘big sister’ Bluestocking (by Camelot) won the Arc, the Vermeille and the Pretty Polly last year, all Group 1 races. It is also of note that Qirat is a son of the rather more workmanlike Juddmonte stallion, Showcasing, as opposed to Field Of Gold’s more glamourous and expensive sire, Kingman. Showcasing’s highest rated son to date is Mohaather, also a winner of the Sussex Stakes, who in turn is the sire of Big Mojo, winner of the Molecomb Stakes at the same meeting last year, the family certainly has an affinity with Goodwood!
Qirat
Another pointer with regards stable form had arrived two races earlier in the Oak Tree Stakes where there was another rare occurrence, a deadheat, even more so that the two horses in the photo were both trained by Beckett. Sadly I didn’t have my own photo finish picture on account of my being in the press room reporting on the opening race of the Wednesday card, the Qatar International Stakes. Consequently on seeing they were Saracen fed, I fled my seat to at least get a winners enclosure shot and mercifully the Kimpton team duly obliged by having Saqqara Sands and Tabiti stood together.
There can be no argument that with a below par favourite, it was a substandard race, as the French Guineas winner Henri Matisse was third and the admirable yardstick Rosallion, second. I have to admit a fondness for Rosallion, not least because he’s given me a magazine front cover image and that his daily work rider is none other than my dog sitter and current minder of ‘Floyd’, Grand National winning jockey, Timmy Murphy, who loves him dearly. Qirat beat him by a neck at Goodwood, having gone down by a nose to Docklands at Ascot, you’d have to think that Rosallion’s luck must turn soon – he’s in at York mid-month in the Group 1 City of York Stakes, I hope God really does love a trier and he gets his head in front next time.
And what of the Arabian odds-on winner? Well Al Ghadeer has rightly earned the title of ‘the Arabian Frankel’ amassing nine Group 1PA wins (the PA stands for Purebred Arabian) to which he added a tenth on Wednesday. However his win illustrates an alternate reason for taking on ‘the Big Horse’ in a race, in that it’s not just physical soundness that determines success, but mental soundness too. He’s a bonny horse, compact, athletic and like most classy winners has a perfect pedigree. Rated 130, he’s won his races on the bridle for the last three years and came to Goodwood refreshed from a break, following an historic second Doha Triple Crown win in February.
Created in 2015 it comprises the Qatar International Stakes over a mile at Goodwood, the Qatar Arabian World Cup over a mile and a quarter at ParisLongchamp on Arc day and concludes (irritatingly for a journalist) the FOLLOWING February at Qatar’s feature meeting, with the HH The Amir Sword over a mile and a half. His sire, another champion, Al Mourtajez, missed the first edition in 2015 and was expected to win it in 2016, but only secured the first two stages, though he’d won the Sword the previous year (you see how this arrangement of races makes writing about it difficult!). Since then, only one horse has pulled off the feat, Ebraz, across 2019/2020, though Lady Princess had won all the component races, just not in the ‘right’ order. So when Al Ghadeer came along and won his first Triple Crown it was impressive, the second, was positively ground-breaking.
The negative aspect of this stellar success is that the quality of the opposition can diminish, which sadly was the case at Goodwood this year. There was only one other top-level winner in the race, a good horse, but one never previously campaigned at a mile, the next best had won over a mile, but it was a Group 2 and so on and so on as the form of the remaining rivals dwindled. I write the racecard notes for this race and my summary began with “A chance to enjoy the world’s best Arabian, Al Ghadeer”. When questioned by a colleague as what to expect, I said “If he breathes, he wins.” Though my French friends had hinted that Al Ghadeer had received a slightly different preparation, it all became clear when it came time to leave the pre parade ring and go into the main paddock. He slammed the brakes on, looked mulish and needed a lead in from Rajaaz, his pacemaker! He went to post ok, albeit tagged on the Rajaaz’s tail and by return, crossed the line in front as expected. However it was far cry from his two previous electric victories and again was mulish going into the winners’ enclosure.
If I’d owned a half decent young Group 1 winning Arabian (and there are enough out there not in Al Shaqab’s colours) I’d have been kicking myself for not taking him on, particularly over this shorter trip. The three Triple Crown races are worth £400,000, €1 million and a stonking $2.5 million respectively.
When I interviewed Christophe Soumillon he was extremely defensive, a shadow of his effusive responses from Al Ghadeer’s past wins. Whilst Francois Rohaut, his trainer, sighted the Prix Dragon on Arc trials day as his next race (normally a graveyard for World Cup runners), saying it was easier to train him on course. He was also the first to point out that his second career as a stallion would follow his Amir Sword defence.
It is certainly not unusual for a horse to ‘see through the game’ (though usually it’s a bad one!) and I know of one multiple Group 1 winner that had to be chased up the gallops daily by a BMX bike en route to his final top-level victory. If a good horse puts it up to him in the closing stages of those next two Triple Crown races in France and Qatar, I’m sure Al Ghadeer still has the gears, but a canny ride on an improving opponent could easily catch him out and I’ll be scanning the final declarations in October with interest…
Al Ghadeer
And then there was Thursday’s rain. I’d planned to go home after the feature race of the day, the Nassau Stakes, as I had a job to do on Friday morning before coming back, and I was naturally hoping for a swift exit. I’d already been warned the night before about storms, but I think these were worse than I experienced there in 2017, as then it was just rain. This time we had thunder and lightning to contend with and several races had to be run with a flip start instead of stalls, as Tom Marquand noted, “none of us fancied sitting in a giant toaster while lightning was flashing”.
It wasn’t much drier stood on the rail as opposed to riding – I’d brought a waterproof coat, but only dresses to Goodwood – and my usual mantra of “it’s only water” was thoroughly tested. Coppull’s win in the Richmond Stakes was my third Group win of the week for Saracen (meaning a full page advert would ensue), but it also meant a trip to the winners’ enclosure as the rain worsened, rather than scurrying back to the press room. Full marks to David Probert, Clive Cox, his groom and the connections who stood for the group shot. Saracen sent my pictures to owner-breeder David Armstrong, who hadn’t been present but was thrilled saying, “thank her very much, she must have been soaked”.
Surely another candidate for racing photograph of the year!
The start of the Nassau was delayed by lightning, with the fillies retiring to the saddling boxes until it was deemed safe to venture out. Ditto yours truly who went for tea and a muffin in the press room, though there was little respite from the rain as they went to post, or indeed when they were led back by Whirl.
I can’t leave my four-day Goodwood experience without a mention of the sad loss of Trueshan on the first day in the Goodwood Cup. Some of you may have seen him at Alan King’s and will have certainly seen him on course or on tv. Losing a horse is not something you ever get used to, though it’s rare for me to exclaim mid race as I did on this occasion. He gave Alan and the Barbury team their first Group 1 win on the Flat in the 2021 Goodwood Cup when partnered by Hollie Doyle, who not surprisingly was devastated when she had to pull him up with a fractured hind pastern. A winner of 16 races from 35 starts, seven of which were Group 1 or Group 2’s, our condolences go to all at Barbury, where I understand he’ll be buried alongside Katchit, Viking Flagship and Balder Success.
Trueshan R.I.P
Huge thanks to Debbie.
Around the remainder – Finbar is going really nicely at Ravenswell Farm – Fergal is very happy with him – he agrees that he is a very hardy and tough young man! Another share was snapped up in him this week – and with a second reserved until later in the month. That means there is just a single share left in him – I did have someone say that they would definitely have it when I saw them in Southwell a few weeks ago – but despite me getting in touch to finalise the paperwork they have not got back to me – so that leaves it still available – first come first served – he will be running in October – have a look at his details on the FOR SALE page and get in touch – he is great value for money – out of a very talented black type mare – from a fantastic family, he is very athletic, and super tough – he is tailor made for a 3yr old campaign! He is another that will hopefully end up in the 4yr old bumper in Cheltenham on New Years Day – so if you fancy a runner at HQ – get take a look at him and get in touch – a visit to Ravenswell was planned foe next week to go and see him at exercise, but as a result of the course of this last week – that was postponed – it will be rescheduled for the week commencing 11th – so if you would like to come and have a look at him on the gallops let me know!
Floyd - out at Timmy Murphy's Cilldara Stud. He really is a good looking lad!I will have a full update on the remainder next week – I can confirm that they are all fine and building back up to full fitness, but I’m afraid I have not had the time to speak to their trainers about their progress.
