The Racegoer - October 2022

By Tony Wells.

It was an unexpected bonus when I realised I could watch the Cambridgeshire meeting on Racing TV on my iPad while sitting on the beach in Croatia. Although I’m glad I didn’t find out until the end of the holiday, as it would have been too much of a distraction. As I was sat on my sunbed, I could see people boarding what looked like a pirate ship in the marina close by. It was a bit surreal to then watch Blackbeard win the Middle Park, while the Adriatic lapped onto the beach just a few yards away. He is such a character and I was really looking forward to seeing him next season. However, that won’t be happening now, as he has unfortunately suffered an injury on the gallops and has been retired to stud.

The weekend after we got home was Arc weekend and it was wonderful to see Alpinista win the race for Sir Mark Prescott and Kirsten Rausing. To see Luke Morris sitting motionless two furlongs out was a joy to behold and she powered away to give her sire his first Arc. Frankel really has stepped into Galileo’s shoes with ease and his progeny look like being a force in all the top middle distance races for years to come.

In 2nd place was Vadeni, ridden by Christophe Soumillon, who surely shouldn’t have been allowed to ride after he elbowed Rossa Ryan out of the saddle at Saint-Cloud just a couple of days earlier. I feel a bit embarrassed having praised Soumillon for his ride on Perfect Power at Royal Ascot, where I highlighted the good use of his elbows, forcing Jim Crowley to take a longer route when challenging! It was OK to use his elbows to make himself bigger while Crowley’s horse was behind him, but to use them as Rossa was upside him was almost unforgivable. I’m surprised he continued to ride at the Arc meeting. I know the rules dictate that time has to pass before his ban kicked in, but it was unprecedented and it should have resulted in an unprecedented immediate punishment. 60 days may seem lenient, but that will equate to a significant loss of income for such a prominent rider. I’m sure Christophe didn’t mean to elbow Rossa out of the saddle but it wasn’t a surprise to see him lose his retainer with the Aga Khan. It is possible that as a result of losing his retainer, we may get to see more of him in the UK next season. He is a fantastic jockey and I’m sure he will have learnt a valuable lesson and I for one, would be happy to see him on these shores more often.

Tenaya Canyon took us back to Newmarket for the 2nd time this season when she ran in the Boadicea Stakes on Future Champions Day. When Ryan Moore entered the paddock, it must have been his worst nightmare to be greeted by over 20 owners. John Tillet won the prize for making Ryan smile with his quip “It’s not normally like this with O’Brien, is it Ryan.” In the race, she was drawn 15 of 15 and Ryan stuck to the stands side rail while the rest of the runners headed up the middle/far side. She tried her heart out again and threatened to get involved running into the dip, but after her customary slow start, she gave herself too much ground to make up and she ran on into 6th. After the race, we headed to the Owners & Trainers bar for a glass of champagne with Ed Walker. TC has been most consistent returning RPRs of 96,96,98,98,98,93 on her last 6 starts. It would be thoroughly deserved if she could manage to get that listed win. She has done us proud again this season and has amassed just shy of £30k in prize money.

Being at Newmarket in early October always reminds me of the sales. I didn’t manage to get there this year, but we were at the Book 1 sales last year when I bumped into the legendary Mick Kinane. I was talking to him about Sea the Stars and I could see he was probably thinking “I’ve heard this thousands of times”, when my good lady Sarah walked over. Mick’s expression of looking disinterested changed to a beaming smile, as Sarah said “The horse that always reminds me of you Mick, is Beaver Patrol. I always said, only back it if Mick is riding”. He was grinning from ear to ear. “Yes, I had the key to that one” he said as he walked away.

My most recent raceday was Champions Day at Ascot. It was the day that Baaeed was going to retire as an undefeated champion and maybe even put in a performance to get closer to Frankel. Alas it wasn’t to be. The ground was blamed for his below par 4th place. Jim Crowley saying that the instant acceleration just wasn’t there. It makes you appreciate just how good Frankel was. The ground when he won the Champion Stakes was even deeper and he had to beat the previous year’s Champion Stakes winner and a proper mud lark in Cirrus des Aigles. However, it’s not the performance that immediately springs to mind when you remember Frankel. You’re more likely to recall his 2000 Guineas, his Queen Anne or his Juddmonte International. And it’s probably the latter that we will remember most about Baaeed. Let’s hope he can prove as successful a stallion as his sire, Sea the Stars. He retires having matched him on the racecourse, ratings wise, with an OR of 135 and an RPR of 138. Many will say that Sea the Stars was a better racehorse with his unbeaten 3yo season including two classics and an Arc, but the ratings tell us they are equals and we should be grateful to have witnessed such a fantastic horse as Baaeed. Who knows, one day we may be lucky enough to see a son of Frankel emulate him and achieve an RPR of 143. Isn’t that a wonderful thought?

Immediately after Champions Day is when I switch my focus from the flat to the jumps and there’s nothing that focuses the mind as much as the Cheltenham Festival. So when the Racing Post headline on Monday morning said ‘5-day Festival call due this week,’ I feared the worst. I was convinced that Cheltenham would make a financial decision at the expense of the sport. I thought it was a fait accompli. But I was astounded and overjoyed that Cheltenham have seen sense and put the good of the sport above financial gain. The festival has grown into a magnificent sporting occasion under the excellent management team at Prestbury Park. I remember the days spent in the old wooden stand, where if you vacated your spot, you wouldn’t get it back. Or being so crowded behind the stands trying to see a winner coming into the winners enclosure, it felt like you could lift your feet off the floor and be carried there by the masses. The redevelopment of Cheltenham has been first class. It’s an altogether more pleasurable experience being there. As we all know, all roads lead to Cheltenham in March from now on.