Deciphering Racing Preview Comments – Part 2

Preview comment:
Sir Reginald had The Confessor behind when runner-up over 7f at Chester and went one better at Doncaster. He has a chance here, despite the penalty, while stablemate Polski Max could be interesting if recapturing early-season form.

Explanation:
SIR REGINALD and THE CONFESSOR both ran in the chesterBET Powered By Datatote Handicap over 7 furlongs at Chester in 30 August 2013. SIR REGINALD finished second in that race and THE CONFESSOR was fourth. As a result, the theory is that SIR REGINALD should beat THE CONFESSOR again in this race too.

SIR REGINALD then ran in a 6f handicap at Doncaster on 13 September 2013 and won that race i.e. ‘went one better’ than the runner-up spot in his Chester race.

The penalty: SIR REGINALD carries a weight penalty of 5 pounds for winning a race after 24 August 2013. Weight penalties are applied for race wins close to the date of a subsequent race. The official handicapper might not have the chance to reassess a horse if it wins close to a big handicap race.

Both SIR REGINALD and POLSKI MAX are trained by Richard Fahey i.e. stablemates. POLSKI MAX won two races early in the season – in April and May – but has not performed so well in three races since then. He needs to perform like he did in April/May rather than he did in his June and August races.

Deciphering Racing Preview Comments – Part 1

The language and style of writing used by journalists in writing race previews is distinctive and can be a little confusing for those not used to reading them.

The next few posts will help decipher and explain the following preview from the Sporting Life for Ayr’s Silver Cup:

Sir Reginald had The Confessor behind when runner-up over 7f at Chester and went one better at Doncaster. He has a chance here, despite the penalty, while stablemate Polski Max could be interesting if recapturing early-season form. Likewise Dick Bos while Thunderball showed signs of a revival last week when just behind Pearl Ice, who now carries extra. Graham Gibbons rode the latter on Town Moor but has now switched to stable companion COLONEL MAK. Winner of this in 2010 from stall seven, he's back on familiar territory and has come right back to form, winning at Pontefract before only finding one too good at Newmarket. The ground is perfect and David Barron's six-year-old has as good a chance as any on the form book. The drop back to 6f might benefit Trail Blaze and he's another with decent claims while Boots And Spurs is another dropping down in distance. Irish raider An Saighdiur may be the pick of the remainder as this looks too competitive for old Harrison George.

Telegraph Fantasy Racing Update

Not a large number of points on offer with a 13/8 winner and 5/2 runner up in the Nayef Joel Stakes in the latest round of the British Champions Series.

But both of our stables managed to pick up a good portion of what was on offer.

One stable picked up 40 points for a combination of Montiridge, Richard Hughes and Richard Hannon in addition to 25 points each for George Baker (Premio Loco) as a jockey and Kevin Ryan (Glory Awaits).

The other stable collected nearly 80 points with Soft Falling Rain and Paul Hanagan and a further 5 points from Jamie Spencer (Glory Awaits).

All eyes now on British Champions Day itself on 19 October and two stable changes permitted before then.

Murphy Makes The Most Of His Chances

As Eminem once rapped: “if you had one shot, one opportunity to seize everything you ever wanted. One moment. Would you capture it or just let it slip?”

Young jockey, 18-year-old Oisin Murphy certainly captured the moment on Saturday when he rode four winners from four rides on Ayr’s card. The fact that his 9,260-1 four-timer kicked off with victory in the William Hill Ayr Gold Cup aboard Highland Colori (20/1) made the feat all the more impressive.

After that big race win the confidence must have been surging and Murphy, nephew of former top jump jockey Jim Culloty, followed up with Levitate (5/1jf), Silver Rime (20/1) and Cockney Sparrow (5/2f) in the final three handicaps on the card.

The 5lb apprentice is linked to the stable of trainer Andrew Balding and there was much talk after the race of Murphy being champion apprentice next season.

Godolphin’s Autumn Harvest

The Godolphin operation looks to have some fine two-year-olds to work on over the winter, judging by the results at Doncaster last week.

On Friday IHTIMAL (11/10f) was a worthy winner of the May Hill Stakes for fillies over the straight mile, giving her a second win from five starts. It was the filly’s first race over a mile, having started her career at six furlongs.

This Shamardal filly holds an entry in the Group 1 Shadwell Fillies’ Mile at Newmarket on 27 September.

Godolphin trainer Saeed bin Suroor said after the race: "Ihtimal showed some class when she won her Group Three at Newmarket and we weren't really sure about the ground today but she handled it well. For the future, we are looking at the Fillies' Mile [Newmarket] for her now. We will talk with Sheikh Mohammed and decide. She is an easy filly to train. She shows a turn of foot in the mornings and she is nice and tough. She tries very hard and she will be good in the future. She is a small filly but she has an engine and, with her class, I think that she will be fine next year.”

In the Listed Flying Scotsman Stakes (7f) BE READY (13/8f) saw out the trip well in just his second race.

By New Approach, the colt holds an entry in the Listed Two-Year-Old Trophy over six furlongs at Redcar in early October.

Finally, OUTSTRIP (13/8jf) beat a small field easing down in the Group 2 Champagne Stakes (7f) on Saturday, making it two wins from three races for the Exceed And Excel colt.

It was a big win for new Godolphin trainer Charlie Appleby: "I was very confident, without being too confident, coming into the race. When he ran in the Vintage [Stakes] (Group 2 at Glorious Goodwood), we just got touched off on the line. They were two nice colts that went away from the rest in the Vintage, so I was confident today.”

“He is a nice horse and I thought he would handle the conditions today. He has got a turn of foot as we saw again today and it was a decent performance.”

"We will look at the Dewhurst [Stakes] (Group 1 race at Newmarket in October) or go to France for the [Prix Jean-Luc] Lagardère (Group 1, formerly called the Grand Critérium, at Longchamp in October). Those are the two options we have in place and we will see how the horse comes out of this race.”

"He is a horse who will strengthen. I would like to see him do that and a mile will be his trip next year. We will cross those bridges when we come to them."

Telegraph Fantasy Racing Update

Doncaster’s St Leger meeting provided us with some good points but nothing that dramatically improved our stables’ positions in the standings.

In Friday’s Doncaster Cup we picked the first two home in Times Up (3/1) and High Jinx (2/1) but they were the market leaders and earned just 89 points between them.

Talent (9/1) was good for us in the St Leger itself. Finishing second earned her 38 points, plus we got another 70 points for having selected jockey Jim Crowley.

There is one more race in September – the Nayef Joel Stakes at Newmarket – after which the final window opens for jockey and trainer changes.

This could be a crucial selection period because the final five races are all on British Champions Day itself and all points count double that afternoon. There’s still all to play for!


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Telegraph Fantasy Racing Update

One of our stables selected Gordon Lord Byron as the winner of the Betfred Sprint Cup at 7/2 to pick up 67.5 points but apart from that it was slim pickings. We did get some points for Kevin Ryan saddling two runners in the race.

There must be a slight weakness in the Fantasy Racing game when two of the first three jockeys and all of the first four trainers in the race were not actually available as a possible selection. But there we go.

The Most Exciting Horse Race I Ever Saw

The most exciting horse race I ever saw (or, so far) was a Ladies’ Open race in a point to point meeting at Hornby Castle in 2007.

On paper the race did not look like it would contain the excitement that it ended up producing. The firm going had put off many runners and there were only four horses in the race. On top of that there was a very short-priced favourite in the form of Interdit (2/7f) who was expected to win easily and complete a fourth win of the season.

The race consisted of two circuits of the point to point course and the four runners set off at a steady pace given the firm ground and small field.

A little more than half way round the first circuit it all kicked off. A horse called Bille John veered to the right approaching a fence and in doing so carried the favourite Interdit past the fence along with him.

The two other horses – Gabla and Darak – carried on over the fence and away. Interdit’s jockey Pauline Robson turned her horse round and got him over the fence he had missed.

So at the start of the second circuit the situation was as follows: Gabla and Darak were having their own race at the head of affairs, whilst hunting them down at a rate of knots was Interdit, some 35-40 lengths behind.

The jockeys aboard Gabla and Darak were involved in a tactical head-to-head battle, not wanting to go too fast too soon and ruin their chance of victory. But at the same time they had to be mindful of Interdit behind them, who was making inroads into their lead. It was two races for the price of one.

To add to my personal excitement I was holding a betting ticket for a small amount on Gabla at 10/1, who had suddenly found himself in the lead.

Making matters worse was the fact that part of the circuit dips behind a hill and is out of sight of the spectators. All three horses disappeared into the dip, the front two leading by a good 25 lengths, with Interdit still chasing.

The mind can play funny tricks on a gambler. I was convinced that when they emerged back into view Interdit would be hot on the heels of the leaders now. It was agony waiting for them to come back into view, only able to imagine what was happening.

As they approached the final fence, however, it was clear that Interdit was not going to catch the leaders, despite having eaten into their lead.

So it was going to be straight fight between Gabla and Darak. Both horses cleared the last well and in the final sprint to the line Gabla prevailed and won by a couple of lengths.

The BHA should consider handicap races not based on weight but rather a certain number of furlongs’ head start and perhaps having runners go into a tunnel for a section of the race so they are out of sight. In my experience both features would certainly add to the excitement for race goers.

Crabbie’s Puts Fizz Into Grand National

The Aintree Grand National has unveiled its new sponsor from 2014 in the form of Crabbie’s, maker of a rather tasty alcoholic ginger beer.

Crabbie’s will sponsor the famous race for three years and 2014’s running will have a purse worth GB£ 1 million for the first time.

The sponsor will also see its name attached to the Fox Hunters’ Chase and the Topham Chase at the Aintree Grand National meeting.

John Smith’s had sponsored the race between 2005 and Auroras Encore’s 66/1 win in April 2013.

There were reports that Aintree wanted to avoid a bookmaker sponsoring the race if possible, so Crabbie’s will be seen as a success. This is a strange position to adopt, given how much Ladbrokes did to save the race from extinction in decades gone by.

The role of bookmakers in sponsoring races should not be underestimated. In 2012 the betting sector sponsored over 3,000 races, some 41% of the total. Bookmakers put up nearly GB£ 32 million in prize money in the sponsored races out of a total of GB£ 82 million.

Food and drink companies sponsored just 502 races (7%) and these races contributed GB£ 6.5 million in prize money.

Book Review: Henry Cecil Trainer of Genius

Brough Scott (2013) Henry Cecil Trainer of Genius. Racing Post Books

My own interest in horseracing began just as Sir Henry Cecil’s training fortunes were taking a downward turn, so this book was a good way to learn about his glory days in the 1980s and 1990s.

Sir Henry seemed represent a bridge between the old and the new in the training establishment. As the author comments, “Warren Place was as different from Marriott Stables in style and background as Henry was from his father-in-law [Sir Noel Murless, from whom Cecil took over training at Warren Place]”.

The book contains an excellent collection of photos from across Sir Henry’s training career and they helped bring colour to the anecdotes and racing achievements.

It is a shame that Sir Henry did not seem to approve of the final publication because it stands as a comprehensive account of a complex man’s life. The author says, “what you have read is my affectionate, admiring but I believe necessarily realistic portrait of an extraordinary man and a quite exceptional career”.

The book closes with a fitting tribute:

“His has been the greatest racing story ever told, because the career which he brought to a climax with Frankel has the quality that only the gods can bestow. It’s called immortality”.

The Economics Of Racing

The BHA’s report Economic Impact of British Racing 2013 reveals some interesting statistics on the state of British horseracing.

Attendances at UK race meetings totalled 5.58 million in 2012, down from a 10-year high of 6.15 million in 2011. But this was a respectable performance given that the Olympics were held in London in 2012. There was also some spectacularly wet weather during the summer of 2012, which caused fixtures to be abandoned.

Not surprisingly, Royal Ascot, the Cheltenham Festival, and the Epsom Derby were the top three meetings by attendance in 2012.

The report also highlights the dilemma that racecourses face in trying to attract new visitors but also trying to please the regular racegoer:

“Racing benefits from a loyal but relatively small core of high frequency racegoers who make up a sizeable proportion of total attendances… however, the sport appeals to, and needs, other less frequent racegoers for whom racing is only a part of the raceday experience – with other factors as, or indeed more, important”.

The number of owners with a horse in training has fallen by 14% from its peak of 9,551 in 2007 to 8,215 in 2012, a decline that mirrors the fortunes of the wider UK economy. When the average cost of keeping  a Flat horse in training is over GB£21,500 a year (2012), owning a racehorse is a luxury and one that is soon dismissed when a businessman’s company is struggling or jobs are being lost.

The number of owners with one horse in training fell by 900 between 2008 and 2012, whereas the number of owners with 11-20 horses in training fell by just 1 over the same period. Again, this suggests that the very wealthy were able to keep their luxuries, while the smaller owners quickly gave up their racing interests when the financial troubles hit.