Racing Breeds Normality
Qipco 2000 Guineas winner Kameko (Kitten’s Joy) Photo: Sporting Life
When Zodiakos (Kodiac) passed the winning post on the all-weather at Newcastle in the hands of a masked J P Sullivan exactly one minute and forty seconds past the starting time of 1.00pm on Monday 1st June 2020, it was symbolic. The otherwise innocuous had been transformed into a landmark for British racing. And so much more.
If Coronavirus is Mike Tyson, then this famous European island nation of 66 million inhabitants is Michael Spinks. The last three months have been a re-enactment of the night of June 27, 1988 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Spinks knocked down by Tyson in 91 seconds, not quite knowing where the blow had come from, but well and truly feeling the pain.
As the gates crashed open in the ‘Betway Welcome Back British Racing Handicap’, the personification was born out of the groggy, shell shocked boxer placing one foot on the canvas in an attempt to dust himself off to fight another day. This wasn’t just a resurrection for horse racing, it was for all sports fans and indeed an entire nation struck down by this virus in truly unrivalled times.
The June 1st 2020 1pm news bulletins on the BBC, ITV and Sky carried headlines “Sport is back”. Reporters who normally stand outside Old Trafford covering the latest epic instalment of Manchester United vs Liverpool or outside 10 Downing Street speaking of the latest developments in politics were now stationed outside Newcastle Racecourse describing a footstep in the direction of normality.
Amongst the now jaded messages by Scientists, Medics and Politicians of rates of transmissions, social distancing, rolling 7 day averages of tragic death rates and antibody tests came a glimmer of positivity: competitive sport could return behind closed doors from June 1st . The British Horse Racing Authority weren’t going to waste a minute, they would resume on the first day that regulations allowed.
Unlike professional athletes of the human variety who had been confined to home for most of the duration of the lockdown meaning June 1st would come to quickly to be match fit, the athletes of the equine variety were like caged tigers ready to go. It speaks volumes to the privileged position that the lions share of trainers in the UK have, that expansive private training facilities meant horses had been able to continue their work uninterrupted on private property.
As a nation rich in history, tradition, pomp and ceremony, horse racing perfectly mirrors that. But traditions that have continued interrupted only by World Wars for so many years would need to change. The look and feel of a race day and programmes would need to fall by the wayside, flexibility was key. A radically revised calendar was drawn up and strict guidelines we formed. After all, for the first fortnight of its resumption at least, horse racing would have sports fans attention all to itself with the exception of snooker.
Only jockeys, trainers, key stable staff and a bare minimum of officials were to be allowed on course. Regular testing and temperature checks would be carried out. Social distancing would be strictly adhered to and the facilities modified to suit. Jockeys would be required to ride in masks, which seemed initially to cause an off-putting effect to the horses. Of course, no public would be allowed on course. Frankie Dettori commented that it had a great calming effect for the juveniles, but the more experienced campaigners seemed to thrive off crowd noise. The great stayer of the 2000’s, Yeats, was sighted as an example of a horse that garnered a few extra lengths from the buzz of the crowd.
As for the calendar, that was changed out of sight. I’ll comment on that as the weeks pass.
The first four days of the resumption passed with rousing success. 67 races were conducted across four racecourses all with capacity fields, such was the thirst for the return to action.
Everything was building up to the serious action taking place across three days on the famous Rowley Mile at Newmarket, supplemented by strong support cards from Lingfield, Newcastle and Haydock on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
The first Group 1 of the resumption was to be the Coronation Cup over 1m 2f (2000m). This was the first indication of the change in programme, this race is traditionally run at Epsom Downs in late May and has a formidable recent year honour roll of Highland Reel, Cracksman and Defoe. The betting was headed by the strong but inconsistent Ghayaaith (Dubawi) for Godolphin and Charlie Appleby. The field was strong and included the dominant stayer of recent years Stradivarius (Sea The Stars), although most including trainer John Gosden recognised this as a very much lead up race for this 2mile + specialist. Last years Derby winner Anthony Van Dyck (Galelio) for Aidan O’Brien and Ryan Moore was competing and sure to give a strong showing. In what was to be a nod to the pattern of the weekend, William Buick had Ghayaaith out in front freewheeling down the Rowley Mile, pushed along by the stiff breeze and lightning fast track to run them off their feet to victory. It was very much a ‘Jekyl’ performance from the horse in the famous blue who is just as liable to produce ‘Hyde’ next up. He does very much remind me of stable and owner mate Benbatl who is well known on Australian shores, a well-travelled, front running horse with a superb turn of foot. Could this be a pointer to a certain race at Moonee Valley in October??!! Anthony Van Dyck and Stradivarius in 2nd and 3rd respectively lost no admirers over a trip well short of their best and are certain to train on strongly after that.
The first Saturday in May was transformed into the first Saturday in June, for the running of the first classic of the year the Qipco 2000 Guineas. All pre-race talk was centred around Pinatubo (Sharmadal), who in six unbeaten starts as a 2yo had treated his rivals with utter distain and a blistering turn of foot on the way to achieving a rating of 128, the highest by a 2yo in 25 years. Comparisons with the mighty Frankel were abound by all notable pundits and his performances on a racetrack so far had more than warranted that. But as history has so often played out, a precocious and dominant 2yo comes back to the field somewhat after its 3rd birthday. A 3yo colt by Kittens Joy, owned by Qatar Bloodstock and ridden by Oisin Murphy named Kameko prevailed in a brilliant performance. The fact that we saw him settle back in the field and get held up at the furlong marker upgraded the win even further. Even for the most cold hearted of observers this was a moment full of emotion. In a tragic turn of events last year a colt by Kittens Joy, owned by Qatar Bloodstock and ridden on the tack by Oisin Murphy cruelly lost his battle with colic in New Zealand. The memory of Roaring Lion was to the fore on Saturday at Newmarket. In second place was a strong performance by Witchita (No Nay Never) from the Aidan O’Brien barn and ridden by Frankie Dettori (incidentally his first ride for O’Brien in nine years), that horse sure to continue on strongly. As for Pinatubo, he was far from disgraced in 3rd place. He settled handy and had every chance, no excuses were put forward by pilot William Buick. For me, a worrying aspect for him is that in stature it appears his rivals have not only caught up, but have overtaken him. Of course there are plenty of examples of horses belying their size and performing with distinction on the race track and his strengths as a 2yo haven’t gone away, but I will be watching intently when he contests the St James’s Palace Stakes at Ascot on June 20th to see if the Guineas was a blip or a marker to the future.
This day in normal times would’ve been Derby day and that’s where Kameko will be heading on July 4 th, he is a 3-1 favourite for that and on the strength of Saturday he will take a power of stopping. Two performances however across the weekend have pointed to this years edition of the Derby being a mouth watering prospect. On Friday at Lingfield English King (Camelot) destroyed a very strong field going to the line under a choker hold with a leg in the air in the Derby Trial. This race has had mixed success in producing Derby winners with only nine across the years, but it threw up last years winner in Anthony Van Dyck and if English King produces anything like he did on Friday on the first Saturday in July then he’ll be right in the mix. On Saturday at Newcastle in a 3yo Handicap over a mile, the well backed Palace Pier (Kingman) trained by John Gosden and owned by Sheikh Mohammed was floundering at the 300m mark, but found a new set of legs to power away to victory in a performance which indicated he’d eat 2400m for breakfast. Gosden confirmed he’s Derby bound and on that form he’ll be in it as well. July 4th can’t come fast enough for me.
On Sunday, it felt as if normal transmission was resumed. An English Classic. A filly by Galielo. Trained by Aidan O’Brien. Ridden by Ryan Moore. Love (Galileo) took out the Qipco 1000 Guineas in devastating fashion. It is truly remarkable that four out of the last five victories have been taken out by that same sire, trainer, jockey combination. It is often lost how good of a sire Galileo has been and continues to be. Love is a wonderful looking filly and the ultimate example of this bloodline and she will be heading to the Oaks. Pre-post favourite Quadrilateral (Frankel) who was unbeaten as a 2yo and most recently notching a Group 1 victory in the Fillies Mile ran a race in 3rd place that had the hallmarks of a horse looking for further and on a course that doesn’t play so fast. 2400m at Epsom on July 4th is looking to like it will suit nicely. Miss Yoda (Sea The Stars) in the Oaks Trial at Lingfield on Friday produced a solid win to throw her hat firmly in the ring for the Oaks as well. As with the boys, the girls classic at Epsom looks to be a mouth watering contest. On the strength of the weekend, my feeling is they’ll all be battling for the silver medal behind the ominous combination of horse, sire, trainer and jockey that Love possesses.
Another notable performance came on Saturday at Newcastle when the stayers went to war in the Group 3 Sagaro Stakes over 2 miles, normally a race run early in the flat season at Ascot. In the hands of Ben Curtis for trainer Mark Johnston, 4yo Nayef Road (Galelio) hung very tough to score over much more hardened and experienced opposition such as Prince of Arran (Shirocco), Withold (Champs Elysees) and Ispolini (Dubawi). This horse had finished it’s 3yo campaign with a strong 3rd to the very highly rated and yet unseen in 2020 Logician (Frankel) in the 2019 St Leger. The St Leger is a well known race that shapes future strong contenders. The 2017 edition of the race won by Carpri, produced in 2nd the subsequent 7 x Group winner Crystal Ocean, in 3rd was Stradivarius who’s records speaks for itself and in 4th was 2018 Melbourne Cup winner Rekindling. 2018 winner Kew Gardens went on to defeat Stardivarius for the first time in 3 years as Ascot. Given all of this, the way Nayef Road came back on Saturday and the fact that connections say “all options are open”, is this horse one to look out for on the first Tuesday of November at Flemington??!!
A week later than usual and 235 miles up the road from its normal home of Sandown, Haydock Park played host to the 2020 running of the Brigadier Gerard Stakes over 1mile 2 furlongs (2000m) on Sunday. This is a race with another strong honour roll, taken out in 2018 by 2 x Group 1 winning horse Poets Word and in 2016 by Time Test who now stands at Little Avondale Stud. Lord North (Dubawi) prevailed in a five-strong field that could hardly be described as vintage, but looked a horse going places. Trained once more by John Gosden, who at the time of Lord North hitting the money line, had provided his owners with a winner’s cheque on 12 out of the 34 occasions he had lined a horse up since the resumption, for a strike rate of 2.83! One of the great aspects of getting racing back is the opportunity to hear the dulcet tones of Gosden in an interview. He is a wonderful ambassador for the sport and someone who could be listened to all day.
Lastly, a word on the broadcasting of racing in the UK. Amongst the plethora of television channels available in this part of the world, two are dominant from the rest: BBC1 and ITV1. With television phenomenon’s such as The X-Factor, Britains Got Talent, The Chase, Coronation Street as well as rights to the World Cup of Football, ITV1 is a powerhouse. Every Saturday between 1.30pm and 4.00pm, seven races across the major meetings are shown on this free-to-air terrestrial channel. Weekday festivals such as Royal Ascot, Glorious Goodwood and Cheltenham are broadcast on here also. This is an outstanding example of a mainstream channel taking a punt on what many would deem to be a non-mainstream viewing event. For it to work however, the coverage must live up to the bill. The product that ITV Racing deliver is nothing short of gold standard and has seen it pick up awards at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA’s). Brilliant analysis from Francesca Cumani (well known to Australian viewers) and former jockey Jason Weaver, first class commentary from Richard Hoiles, all held together by host Ed Chamberlain who was once Sky’s voice of football. From the camera shots, to the behind the scenes interviews, to the jargon busters - this coverage strikes the balance perfectly between appealing to the serious racing viewer and the casual observer that is exposed to the coverage being on a mainstream channel. This weekend more than ever, I was impressed by the product. All presenters were behind a camera on Zoom in their homes, presenting and commentating on the action remotely. It went off without a hitch and was as compelling as it always is. Even my better half, who would struggle to discern a stirrup from a parade ring was glued to the action from start to finish. In a time where racing has the sole sporting focus, they hit the target perfectly. It goes to show that with a little effort and commitment from the mainstream, racing can be for the masses!