This week was supposed to be a little different (top-secret) but I have struggled to obtain certain information in time and there has been so much in the news that the room and time for frivolity has disappeared for this article at least.
Jessica Harrington’s Jezki was always a favourite of mine, earning connections close to the magic million in prize money, which takes some doing over jumps. The winner of the Champion Hurdle in 2014 at Cheltenham when seeing off My Tent Or Yours by a neck, he raced in a golden era for hurdlers with wins over Hurricane Fly to his name as well as defeats to the likes of Faugheen and Apples Jade. No longer the force of old at the age of eleven he has been sensibly retired for a life of paddocks and polos, but will live long in the memory thanks to his never ending spirit and heart which added to his ability made him a tough opponent every time he visited the track.
Meanwhile, the bloodstock industry has come under the spotlight with reports of “unscrupulous practices” seeing a call for the industry to be regulated under the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) banner. While stressing the majority are open and above board, we have all known for years of some taking inducements from sellers or to bid up the auction price on occasion, and now this is public knowledge, I would suggest something has to be done and done quickly to shore up owner confidence. I am not stupid enough to name names here ( I can’t afford the legal bills), but if I was asked to help buy a horse I certainly have a list of those I would send on, and a (much shorter list) of those I would avoid like the plague. The truth is where money is concerned (and large sums at that) there will always be those willing and able to break or bend the rules in any business, not just horse racing, but it will be interesting to see over the months ahead whether those concerned are willing to play ball, and whether the BHA has the budget needed to cover yet another aspect of the racing game.
News review over and onwards to the weekend’s racing but first of all, how unlucky were we last Saturday? Miss O Connor landed the odds easily enough at Haydock (even if I did put the wrong race time), but Ananya only managed fifth after some decent market support saw hr go off a 7/1 chance (I took 16/1 in the morning). That is easy enough to accept (they can’t all win sadly), but I can safely say she was unlucky and has been added to the Horses To Follow list (see below).
No Shergar Cup this week (thank the Lord), but plenty of high-class meetings from the North to the South as well as France and America, but we need to focus somewhere, and Newbury seems a great place to start. Adonijah has always been held in very high regard at the Henry Candy yard and as he still holds a St Leger entry, the mile and a half maiden at 4.10pm should be little more than a prep race. A good half-length second on his debut and only race at Newmarket, he will have learned a lot from that experience and really ought to have far too many guns for these rivals, though sadly his price seems sure to reflect his likely superiority.
For our second bet (we mustn’t be greedy), Emily Easterby rides the improving Breathable in the Lady Amateur riders handicap over the mile and a half at 5.20pm. A four-year-old son of Bated Breath he will be looking to land his hat-trick here after easy wins at Pontefract and Carlisle in lesser grade and has an added six pounds to carry on this occasion, but with his jockey familiar with her mount that can count for more than that in these races, and I am expecting we will land our double this afternoon.
Horses To Follow:
An obvious choice this week (see above), though I am still smarting over losing my bets on Ananya last weekend. Peter Chapple-Hyam’s filly was beaten three and a quarter lengths at the line in the Sweet Solera Stakes but that fails to tell all the story as she completely fluffed her lines at the start giving away ten lengths after the stalls opened, before running on strongly over the seven furlongs, making her the moral victor through my rose-tinted glasses. She holds an entry in the Group One Fillies’ Mile in mid-October back at Newmarket (which may be a step too far) but is certainly more than capable of winning another race or two, if she breaks on level terms, of course.
Sean’s Suggestions:
Adonijah 4.10pm Newbury Saturday
Breathable 5.20pm Newbury Saturday
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