ALL VIEWS ARE MY OWN
Fakenham managed to attract plenty of unwanted media attention after abandoning their meeting after just one race last Friday, not to mention social media abuse – but I am happy enough to stick my head above the parapet and defend them – on this occasion. The recent inclement weather has seen plenty of other meetings falling by the wayside, and the clerk of the course and staff did everything they could to keep the meeting on – but safety of both horses and jockeys has to come first. Low sun is nothing new and although I do feel the BHA) could and are doing more to let the betting public know in advance of what might happen, who knows if it is going to be crystal clear sun – or a cloudy day? On top of that horse slipped on the bend (again, how can the racecourse possibly know until horses are going round at racing speed?), and once the jockeys had made their feelings blatantly clear, abandonment was the only option. I do wonder if there should or could be a way to assess that issue in advance (perhaps a jockey not riding in the first going round on a hack before racing?), but the reality is that as things stand – there was nothing anyone could do. What I would add is that they apparently watered the night before and questions need to be asked about whether that was a contributary factor or not (I am no groundsman), and the policy of a 50% refund (or you can use your ticket for another fixture), which won’t harm the locals too much, but it is a hit in the wallet for many who were on holiday and won’t be anywhere near Fakenham again in an era when we should be bending over backwards to encourage new racegoers – not giving them the ammo needed to tell their friends on (anti) social media what a poor experience they had.
More sad news, though it comes to all of us one day, and the passing of owner Clive Smith aged 82. The older I get, the less I see that as a good age (funny that), but there is no chance I can ever fit in what he managed even if I live in to the 100s. A successful accountant and business owner, it is his other role as a racehorse owner that gets him a spot on this week’s article, and although no doubt he invested in big numbers, he was also richly rewarded. Starting with Jenny Pitman, he arrived with Paul Nicholls via David Elsworth and Martin Pipe, with Ditcheat the centre of his rise to prominence. Master Minded ran 28 times from 2006 to 2011, winning 16 of them including two Champion Chases at Cheltenham and a total of £1,163,946 in win and place prize money, which for most people would be the horse of a lifetime – yet he topped that with the legendary Kauto Star. 16 Grade Ones later including an unheard of five King George Chases at Kempton as well as two Cheltenham Gold Cups, he retired with a record of 23 wins from 41 starts and a prize pot of £2,375,883 – and they say money goes to money!
Lastly for the chat, what did we all think of Ascot’s Champions Day meeting – awe inspiring or a damp squib? According to my wallet it was very much the latter as I managed to back loser after loser, with Kyprios the obvious exception, though I admit to being impressed by both Charyn who gave weight and a sound beating to his field over a mile, and Kalpana, who made me look (more) stupid when easily winning the Champion Fillies And Mares despite a big step up in class. She looks something special and if she is kept in training next year as expected, then Juddmonte may feel they can send Arc winner Bluestocking straight to the breeding barns. As for the Champion Stakes, I am still smarting over that one - Economics was below par as expected, Iresine ran a blinder but I didn’t get paid out for fourth, and my selection (Calandagan) looked home and hosed after finally getting out for a run until the last moments when 40/1 chance Anmaat ran him down. All in all a race I won’t ever forget – but for all the wrong reasons!
Fancy a podcast of me and Ron Robinson of Post Racing fame – click here https://theworldofsport.co.uk/2024/10/25/sharks-fakenham-champions-day/, it’s free!
Saturday Racing
1.30pm Doncaster
One last go at the Flat (turf) for 2024, and the Listed Doncaster Stakes has always been an interesting race as long as you check out and confirm that your selection will handle the late season ground. Nine runnings have seen nine different trainers and eight different jockeys with Andrea Atzeni the only one to double up – and he is riding in Hong Kong these days! It looks wide-open this season with 4/1 the field as I write, with Group Three runner-up Diego Ventura the form pick, though there is the possibility others may improve past him here. Arctic Voyage intrigues after his wide-margin victory on his second start but that was on heavy ground which can exaggerate distances, and the vote goes to Bounty. Aidan O’Briens son of No Nay Never was second on his first start at the Curragh but made up for that on his only other start when winning at Naas, bounding clear to score by over four lengths despite still looking a little green. Although not considered top rank at Ballydoyle, he still holds and Irish 2000 Guineas entry and will hopefully prove too good for these.
2.00pm Newbury
The Radley Stakes over seven furlongs for fillies saw Magical Sunset winning last season for Richard Hannon, and he looks to follow up with once-raced course and distance winner Too Much Heaven. She won on her debut by four lengths under hands and heels for the majority of the race after making the running, and if she improves as you would hope she could be the one to beat. Ralph Beckett’s pair of Saqqara Sands and Sea To Sky look her biggest rivals after they both won last time out at Newmarket and are not to be ignored, while the William Haggas trained Supermodel won as she pleased on her only start at Haydock and is another for the shortlist.
2.40pm Doncaster
At the early declaration stage this has the look of the best two-year-old race of the season with three unbeaten colts lining up for the Group One Futurity Stakes over the mile, and a further four a winner last time out – pretty impressive for an eight-horse field! Wimbledon Hawkeye heads the early betting after coming home second to The Lion In Winter at York before winning the Royal Lodge Stakes at Newmarket which is clearly the best form on offer, here, but if Detain is as good as connections think, he could be the one. Two races have seen two wins on the all-weather at Kempton by two lengths and seven lengths, and he has been sent here for his turf debut. We won’t know until after the race how he takes to soft ground as currently predicted, but the Gosdens and Juddmonte think a lot of him, and it will be interesting to see how good he really is – each way material for me at the current 7/1!
3.10pm Newbury
The going may be key to who gets the seven furlongs for the Group Three Horris Hill Stakes with heavy in the air earlier in the week. That going will be music to the ears of the Haggas yard who send Yaroogh here as the son of Dubawi looks for his hat-trick after winning in Listed company at Chantilly earlier this month – on heavy ground. I may be wrong, but I get the feeling he is a bully of a juvenile who they are looking to get another win out of with every chance that he will not be as effective next season. Make You Smile is hard to gauge after winning on debut with some ease, but this is a bigger rise in class for him, while Bob Mail is as tough as teak and could also have some say.
3.20pm Kelso (handicap hurdle)
I thought I had better throw in a handicap hurdle in here for something a little different, and looking back over the last 10 runnings, I note that all of the winners were priced at 9/1 or shorter, with five winning favourites. Trainer Lucinda Russell won this in 2015 and again last year, the only trainer to double up in the last decade, and she is represented this year by Fairmac and Old Gregorian, while Sean Quinlan is the only jockey to win it twice in the same periods, and he will be on board Evenwood Sonofagun on his first start for wife Lizzie Quinlan after arriving from the Fergal O’Brien yard. It’s a horror of a race to even look at (my mistake) but I have to go for one, and on this occasion the poor horse lumbered with my money will be Foster’s Fortune. A winner at Sedgefield in May, he returned with a good second at the same track when clear of the third despite looking as if the race would do him good, and if he strips fitter now, he may take the step up in class in his stride for trainer Chris Grant and jockey Danny McMenamin.
3.45pm Newbury
We look all set for a pretty small field for the Group Three St Simon Stakes and if the going remains on the heavy side, the mile and a half will take some getting. I see this as a clash between value and the likeliest winner with Al Aasy heading the market at 11/10, and understandably so after finishing second to Al Qareem in the Cumberland Lodge Stakes at Ascot last time out. He has won six times at this level and on very soft going so he ticks an awful lot of boxes, but 11/10 is remarkably skinny though there is little point in looking each way in a six-horse field. I did have a long hard look at Feigning Madness, unbeaten at two but not seen since being gelded in May. He is the unknown quantity here and may run well at a much bigger price.
Sean’s Suggestion:
Too Much Heaven 2.00pm Newbury
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