THE RACING POST SUNDAY JULY 17th 2011
THE RACING POST SATURDAY JULY 16th 2011
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THE RACING POST FRIDAY JULY 15th 2011
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BRENDAN SHERIDAN CLERK OF THE COURSE AT THE CURRAGH.
DARLEY IRISH OAKS SPECIAL (3.45pm)
PREVIEW: “WONDER WHY SHE’S SO SHORT?
WONDER OF WONDERS is no bigger than 11-10 to gain revenge on her Epsom conqueror DANCING RAIN at the Curragh today, but our experts say Aiden O’Brien’s filly is no good thing .
“Why is she such a short price favourite? Our (form) experts can’t help but wonder ……..”
TONY O’HEHIR brings news that “heavy rain caused three changes in the official description of the going yesterday, ending up as yielding.”
J MARGARET CLARKE TURFCALL. Tricky going conditions, so how does the Curragh Turf deal with such heavy downpours?
GOING CONDITIONS ON RACECOURSES PUNTERS BEWARE
There is no point risking injury to your horses on ground that is unreliable, all the preparation work done at home can so easily end up getting thrown away on a racecourse where poor turf maintenance and inaccurate reports on changing going conditions are the norm.
The Turf on the Curragh one would believe to be long since established, therefore indeed the very best turf to race on, well able to deal with such downpours, but still after long periods of drought vulnerable to such heavy rain.
TURFCALL PAUSE FOR THOUGHT
KEY STATEMENT FROM MICK CHANNON TO THE RACING POST (Licensed racehorse trainer Berkshire)
“I’m running a business, the big stick doesn’t work. It hasn’t for thousands of years, but
no- one seems to have noticed.”
J MARGARET CLARKE TURFCALL. PHYSCOLOGY
Young people who study physcology at university find that there are no jobs available afterwards … how can this possibly be the case when the whole world and all the people and creatures attempting to live in it, especially the very young and the very old are crying out for true understanding and caring. The National Health Service run an 'inhouse' complaints department, as do the landlords from hell, to insure that any true complaints are quickly fired in the waist bin.
TURFCALL PAUSE FOR THOUGHT
NEWBURY THE DAY’S RACING THAT TURNED INTO A
RACEMEETING FROM HELL.
FREAKING OUT all who witnessed the shocking electrocution of two horses MARCHING SONG and FELIX ONE.
GRAHAM GREEN ”NEWBURY DEATH COMPENSATION OFFER ‘INSULTING’. “The owners of one of the two horses fatally electrocuted in the paddock at Newbury’s Toteport Trophy meeting in February plan to instruct solicitors after receiving an ‘insulting’ compensation offer from the racecourse’s insurers.
“MARCHING SONG cost 10,000 guineas when bought unraced from Juddmonte Farms in October 2009 by Graham Thorner, but with connections convinced the Andy Turnell-trained five- year-old was set to make a name for himself, he was valued at a sum well into six figures by the former champion jump jockey and connections ...
“Thorner said: “ The offer was insulting and we will now be instructing solicitors.”
“Blame has still to be established for the deaths of the two horses, despite Scottish Electrical Power Distribution conducting an investigation into how a section of cable close to where MARCHING SONG and the JP McManus –owned FENIX TWO collapsed came to be live when thought to have been disconnected. However Royal and Sun Alliance is attempting to settle with both parties without admitting liability, owing to the ‘sensitive nature’ of the tragedy."
WHAT SORT OF PEOPLE OWN AND RUN NEWBURY RACECOURSE?
Clearly people who pay scant regard for the care and needs of the horses and their minders who make their racecourse tick without which they would have no business whatsoever. Another racecourse who fail miserably to comprehend bloodhorse literacy.
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THE RACING POST FRIDAY JULY 15th 2011
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REVIEW
NO JOY IN PARIS ... BUT MAYBE A SILVER LINING
"Aidan O'Brien's trio, spearheaded by Irish Derby hero TREASURE BEACH, had no answer to the finishing burst of Andre Fabre's MEANDRE in the Grand Prix de Paris last night, but the trainer was a happy man five minutes earlier as 1,000 Guineas favourite MAYBE struck at Leopardstown ...
SCOTT BURTON REPORTS:
"Derby aces have no answer to MEANDRE as FABRE calls the shots ....
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STORM THE BASTILLE!
“TREASURE BEACH leads O’Brien trio into battle in clash of the Derby winners at Longchamp.
PREVIEW TODAY’S ACTION FROM LONGCHAMP RUNNERS AND RIDERS CHALLENGE FOR THE 6.50 GRAND PRIX DE PARIS GROUP 1. 1m4f
LIVE ON RUK /ATR
“DERBY HEROES GO HEAD TO HEAD IN TREAT OF RARE QUALITY.
WIN: MEANDRE 3 9-2 partner MAXIME GUYON handler presenter? trainer Andre Fabre for Rothschild Family. 11-2 from SEVILLE distance one and a half lengths at 12-1
MAXIME GUYON strikes with MEANDRE a brilliant young horseman under the guidance of
FABRE.
DON’T MISS TOMORROW’S RACING POST - BE IN THE KNOW
“GOING CONCERN is it a case of going, going, gone or is it something we should stick with? Special Report on the controversial GoingStick.
J MARGARET CLARKE TURFCALL OPINION
No, no, no don’t throw the GoingStick experiment away. Look upon the GoingStick as a first
DAVID ASHFORTH enjoys a spot of golf on the box.
ALLEZ FRANCE all the drama from Longchamp as we report on tonight’s
thrilling Grand Prix de Paris.
“DON’T MISS OUR BASTILLE DAY SPECIAL GUIDE TO WHERE TO GO RACING IN FRANCE THIS SUMMER.
TODAYS RACE CARDS: Hamilton, Leicester, Cartmel, Doncaster, Epsom, Bath, Leopardstown, Killarney and Longchamp.
victorchandler.com The Open Championship DON’T GET TEED OFF!
LIVE ON BBC2.
HORSERACING A UNIQUE AND REMARKABLE SPORT
THE RACING POST WEDNESDAY JULY 13th 2011
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GOLF, GOLF, GOLF FREE OPEN PULLOUT
24 – PAGES UNRIVALLED BETTING GUIDE
Player-by-player analysis by golf’s smartest expert STEVE PALMER,
his 50-1 top tip is revealed inside.
JON LEES FOCUS ON ASCOT FEATURE RACE SATURDAY 23rd JULY
THE KING GEORGE vi and QUEEN ELIZABETH STAKES
“ABBEY EVENS FOR KING GEORGE AFTER MAJOR PLUNGE
“Favourite tightens grip up as WORKFORCE drifts.
“THE King George vi and Queen Elizabeth Stakes market was last night in danger of becoming a one-horse book as a wholesale gamble on ST NICHOLAS ABBEY forced his price down to as short as evens.
“In echoes of the heavyweight support for his stablemate SO YOU THINK before that Aiden O’Brien-trained star’s Coral-Eclipse win this month, Boylesports and Ladbrokes both went evens from 6-4 and Victor Chandler went 11-10(from 6-4) about the Ormonde Stakes and Coronation Cup winner for the 1m4f showpiece at Ascot on Saturday week.
“The plunge came on the back of news from Sir Henry Cecil that Khalid Abdullah’s MIDDAY could run in the King George should Eclipse second WORKFORCE also owned by Abdullah, side step the race.
“WORKFORCE drifted yesterday and is as big as 4-1 with four-firms, while MIDDAY attracted some support and is as short as 12-1 with Paddy Power and William Hill, although she can be backed at 20-1 with Totesport. Prince of Wales’s Stakes winner REWILDING is second favourite at a best-price 5-2.
“MIDDAY has an alternative target in Goodwood’s 1m2f Nassau Stakes, but Cecil thinks the longer trip at Ascot will be more to the fillies liking.
“Cecil said “We will consider the King George if WORKFORCE doesn’t run. MIDDAY has come out of her last race in Ireland (when she was second in the Pretty Polly Stakes) in good form.”
“ANDRE FABRE yesterday confirmed that the next stop for Investic Derby winner POIR MOI will be in the Prix Neil at Longchamp on September 11. The French champion trainer will use the race as a prep for the Arc, in which a win for POIR MOI would give Fabre an eighth success in the race..
“Coolmore, who own ST NICHOLAS ABBEY and POIR MOI, have high hopes of Classic success on Sunday with WONDER OF WONDERS, who was one of 14 fillies left in the Darley Irish Oaks at yesterday’s confirmation stage.
“Also among the contenders for the Curragh race is DANCING RAIN, who beat WONDER OF WONDERS into second in the Investic Oaks. She is joined by Godolphin’s supplementary entry RUMH."
RISING STARS
COLIN RUSSELL
“SILVESTRA DE SOUSA “Now he’s breathing down HANAGAN’S neck after five-timer …..
"Three more for DE SOUSA as title bid continues to build ....
LEE MOTTERSHEAD “PHILLIP MAKIN talks about his hot streak since teaming up with Kevin Ryan.
“Not so long ago, PAUL HANAGAN looked at PHILLIP MAKIN with a sense of sympathy. The man who would be champion jockey had long viewed his northern colleague with respect and admiration but he considered that MAKIN’S immense talent was not being rewarded with the recognition or opportunities he deserved. Times have changed. Opportunity has knocked and recognition has followed. Sympathy is a thing of the past.
“MAKIN is riding winners, lots of winners, better winners. At 27 he is no overnight sensation, nor indeed has he yet to scale the heights he is capable of reaching, but he is on the right track. Eighth in the championship table, he has been successful 61 times this calendar year, a total already only 14 short of his tally for the whole of 2010 that left him deflated and keen to make major changes. MAKIN knew he could do better. HANAGAN knew he deserved to . Since forging a relationship with Kevin Ryan , MAKIN has.”
“HANAGAN ‘Until he got the job with Kevin I’ve never really seen him get the chances that he deserves. He is bang up there with the best in the business, always in the right place at the right time , stylish through a race and strong in a finish. Honestly, I think he is different class.”
JULIAN MUSCAT “Harmony needed to secure future of the sport.
“THE FALLOUT from Saturday’s clash of four prime features has made for fascinating reading. In many ways it resembles the preamble to a general election, when parties state their case in the strongest possible terms. The difference is that there will be no vote, no public determination of the prevailing argument.“That thought came through strongly with the case put forward by Newmarket managing director Stephen Wallis. He said that racing as a whole should examine the problem and advance a solution, but that as far as Newmarket was concerned, the July Cup would be run on a Saturday.
“SO THERE YOU HAVE IT. END OF DEBATE.
“Talk all you like about what may or may not be best, but in the end, the decision is ours alone. Newmarket wants the race to be part of the Global Sprint Challenge, which means running it on a Saturday so that people in Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia can watch it live at home.
“This is nor a prime consideration in what is best for British racing . But don’t blame Newmarket. It would be remiss of any racecourse, any business, to divert from its chosen path for the greater good.
“And frankly, why should it? It has become a free- for -all out there; capitalism rules OK. Never mind that capitalism’s purest expression sees us continue to pay heavy for the collapse of our banking system, it is the way forward. Seize it or wither away.
“Against that, the rise and rise in racecourse power has given rise to an important side-effect. Racecourses have in effect become the sport’s moral guardians. The shape of the fixture list-and thus, race-planning issues that led to Saturday’s glut-is entirely in their hands.
“This gives rise to considerable unease. Why? Because we don’t really know what racecourses stand for. To return to the election analogy, racecourses do not represent a range of political parties but a one-party state without a clearly defined leader.
“They represent a totality within which any one entity can do as it chooses. And that, as any political commentator will vouchsafe , is the template recipe for anarchy.
“Even the bookies are powerless on this one. They protested loudly about Saturday’s overload, citing a six-figure levy shortfall in the sacrifice of terrestrial TV coverage on Wednesday to accommodate a Saturday July Cup. “It would be an argument worth heeding but for their own contribution to collapsing levy yields as a result of their offshore flight.
“In this way does the capitalist wheel turn-except that racecourses are hardly shining examples of the process at work. How they have advanced to their position of might can only be described as extraordinary.
“These are businesses that until recently lacked drive. Any upgrading in their facilities over the last 30 years has been abetted by interest-free loans from a Levy Board so generous with its daily grants that many were in profit even before the first punter paid to enter on a Monday. Any business would fall over itself to trade on such terms. Indeed, so ring-fenced have racecourses been from economic reality that despite two subsequent recessions, the last properly established one to close was Stockton in 1981.
“Still, there’s no point in dwelling on the past. Perhaps they deserve what David Cameron might loosely describe as a “second chance”. In tandem with power comes responsibility, and a sense of responsibility is paramount in respect of these Saturday clashes.
“The only foil to racecourse hegemony is the Horsemen’s Group. It puts many to sleep when the ‘t’ word is mentioned, but the Group’s tariffs policy has illustrated that racecourses’ long-term business models can be seriously affected if tariffs are ignored. No racecourse can thrive on a diet of small fields.
“Great conflict between the two groups accompanied the introduction of Tariffs. Thankfully, that has moved on to a position in which both sides are in dialogue, rather than abusing each other through this newspaper.
“Within that development is an important message that is plain to everyone else. It stares racing in the face. The sport’s enduring health depends on a harmonious alliance between these pivotal groups.
“Only when this is established can issues like the Saturday glut be resolved. The outcome may not please everyone . It never does, but such concerns are vastly outweighed by the creation of a platform for meaningful collective discussion.
“Some big decisions are imminent in the years ahead. Racing’s future funding is totally up in the air. Its alliance with television is in need of urgent review. The fixture list is unholy mess, and we have yet to experience the gig-bang concentration on quality that has transformed the fortunes of other sports.
“When these questions arise, racing desperately needs an authority in which all its participants have confidence. Sadly, that is not how it stands to-day.”
“VICTOR CHANDLER THE OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP 3BALL – ROUND 1 THURSDAY LIVE ON BBC2."
THE RACING POST TUESDAY JULY 12th 2011
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"REVVING UP FOR THE DUEL ON THE DOWNS."
DAY ONE GLORIOUS GOODWOOD WEDNESDAY JULY 27th
FEATURE RACE
3:10 1m Grade 1 Sussex Stakes Qipco Championship Race (Series Middle Distance) http://qipcochampionseries2011.blogspot.com/
JON LEES brings news from Goodwood:
“Sussex winner will be the best horse in the world”– Hannon jnr
“Horsepower : The FRANKEL and CANFORD CLIFFS teams were at Goodwood’s motor racing circuit yesterday to promote their clash – “Pics Edward Whitaker show Tom Queally,
Richard Hannon, joined by Haley Turner fresh from breaking her Group 1 duck in the July Cup on Saturday, enjoyed a spin in a racy Audi R8.”
“THE STAGE IS SET for a spectacular show-down between CANFORD CLIFFS and FRANKEL for the Sussex Stakes as Richard Hannon jnr yesterday described it as an unmissable opportunity to see the winner emerge as probably the best horse in the world.
“Hannon said he had never looked forward more to a race than the Qipco sponsored mile
showpiece at Glorious Goodwood on July 27th between CANFORD CLIFFS – last year’s hero, trained by his father Richard – and FRANKEL, the unbeaten 2,000 Guineas winner from the Sir Henry Cecil stable, which is being billed as ‘THE DUEL ON THE DOWN’S.”
“IF YOU WANT to learn who will probably be the best (current) racehorse in the world (27.07.2011) then be at Goodwood two weeks on Wednesday,” said Hannon …...
WILLIAM HAGGAS, DANCING RAIN’S trainer talks to JULIEN MUSCAT about his hopes for more Classic glory at the Curragh on Sunday.
INTERVIEW WILLIAM HAGGAS
JULIAN MUSCAT talks to Oaks-winning trainer William Haggas about hard graft and finding the right formula…..
HAGGAS on Newmarket’s July Festival “A hectic week, fixture congestion, leaves him hoping his staff rota does not disintegrate with anyone reporting sick …..
“IN THE EVENT, emerging from that congestion is a cherished York victory for GREEN DESTINY in the John Smith’s Cup, a race ‘I’ve thrown several darts at in the past, all fabulously unsuccessful.
“Then there’s the stream of owners who come and go from his Somerville Lodge Stables with the frequency of the traffic that clogs the High Street.
“AND ON THIS WEDNESDAY afternoon he is braced for the staff party to celebrate DANCING RAIN’S Oaks victory in marquees adorning the side of his house. For all that, the sense of order is striking.
COLIN RUSSELL brings Turf condition into focus and asks, “IS THIS STICK the best way to deal with going concerns? From an early stage several clerks of the course questioned its benefit …..
J MARGARET CLARKE TURFCALL:
It was stated after the first day’s racing at Newmarket last week that the runners all finished tired …… this indicates that the heavy rain experienced in and around Newmarket before and during last weeks racing caused a significant and substantial change to the condition of the Turf.
Turf coping with rain, especially heavy rain after a long dry spell, would depend on how turf sponged the heavy rain up so to speak. Turf in the process of sponging a considerable amount of water up could provide the answer to the horses finishing tired as the actual turf was in the process of coping with rain saturation.
TODAY’S RACECARDS: Beverley, Brighton, Southwell, Yarmouth, Dundalk and Killarney.
THE RACING POST MONDAY JULY 11th 2011
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THE TATLING
STEVE DENNIS visits Milton Bradley, the veteran trainer in charge of the extraordinary sprinter still thrilling his legions of fans at the age of 14 …..THE VERDICTS THAT COUNT
“The Monday Jury answers the key questions after a frantic few day’s of top action ……
INTERNATIONAL NICHOLAS GODFREY REPORTS:
BELMONT PARK MAN O’WAR STAKES
“SPENCER’S all smiles after CAPE stormer for O’Brien in the US.
“SPENCER’S all smiles after CAPE stormer for O’Brien in the US.
WIN: CAPE BLANCO partner JAMIE SPENCER handler presenter? trainer Aiden O’Brien for Fitri Hay, Derrick Smith, Sue Magnier and Michael Tabor. 61-20 from
GIO PONTI 11-10f distance 2 and a quarter lengths.
GIO PONTI 11-10f distance 2 and a quarter lengths.
GLOBAL REVIEW
“Boodstock World GALILEO’S run of success continues as BLANCO adds to sire’s big-race haul.”
“AIDEN O’BRIEN and JAMIE SPENCER struck in the States on Saturday night when CAPE BLANCO landed a decisive verdict over duel US turf champ GIO PONTI in the Grade 1 Man O’War Stakes at Belmont Park.”
COMING UP IN THE RACING POST
TOMORROW
“Getting in the mood for an impending thriller. We join Tom Queally and Richard Hannon at Goodwood to get the views from the camps as FRANKEL and CANFORD CLIFFS are readied
for their potential epic duel on the Downs.”
“Getting in the mood for a Classic double William Haggas talks about his hopes of another Oaks success with DANCING RAIN in Sunday’s Irish Classic.”
ALSO THIS WEEK
WEDNESDAY
“Philip Makin tells Lee Mottershead why he’s enjoying a dream ride this season.”
THURSDAY
“Special focus on NATHANIEL’S tilt at the Grand Prix de Paris.”
FRIDAY
“Is it time to ditch the GoingStick? A special focus on whether the controversial tool has a future.”
“THEY CAME IN THEIR DROVES TO YORK ON SATURDAY -
BUT WAS NEWMARKET A MEETING TOO FAR?”
JON LEES: “More than 40,000 people turned up to enjoy a day at the races at York on Saturday, nearly four times more than attended the Group 1 July Cup fixture at Newmarket.”
J MARGARET CLARKE TURFCALL
Looks like the July Course at Newmarket is not designed to accommodate
40,000 people …...
JON LEES “Chester hits out at July Cup switch. Newmarket’s controversial
decision to move the Darley July Cup raceday to a Saturday faced a further challenge yesterday when Chester chief executive Richard Thomas questioned whether a crowd of just over 10,000 for the fixture was vindication for putting it on the same day as his track , York and Ascot all raced …...
“While Chester, drew an attendance of 36,500, York 40,155 and Ascot 14,564 Newmarket reported the lowest crowd of Saturday’s feast of racing, attracting 10,736 for the first Saturday running of a championship sprint that had been staged on a weekday up to last year…..
“Citing a three-day crowd rise of eight per cent on last year, Newmarket managing director Stephen Wallis was yesterday standing by the decision to move the race to a day when it could attract a bigger world wide audience and said it was up to the sport as a whole to address concerns about the level of quality racing staged on any one day…..
“But Thomas, who had offered to move his meeting by a week in a fixture swap deal that was declined by Newmarket’s owner, Jockey Club Racecourses, said, ”Newmarket’s move sounded barmy to start with, but if they had justified it by bringing an extra 20,000 or 30,000 people racing, then it was the right decision. But it didn’t did it? “
JON LEES “HORSEMAN'S GROUP TO LOOK INTO
BIG-RACE FIXTURE CLASHES."
“TRAINER’S concerns that too much quality racing is being pushed on to Saturdays are to be examined by the Horsemen’s Group new-race planning-committee – but any changes will be gradual rather than immediate.
“Champion Flat trainer Richard Hannon, Mark Johnson and Richard Fahey were among those who voiced anxiety at the problems they were experiencing trying to make running and riding plans for a Saturday that featured afternoon fixtures at Ascot, Chester, Newmarket and York, plus evening meetings at Hamilton and Salisbury.
“It will certainly be on the agenda,” said HG chief executive Alan Morecombe.
“Hannon went to Ascot, then to Salisbury in the evening, while his son Richard jnr supervised runners at Newmarket.
“I got home nice and tired,” said Hannon snr, “I was pleased to see my bed last night . It is tough when you start at five in the morning. If you keep looking at the fixtures you will find that everything is being moved into the weekend.
“It’s giving us a very hard time; there is no doubt about it. You have got only so many horseboxes, so many head lads and so many people who can go racing.”
“The trend is also a concern for William Haggas and Ralph Beckett, who pointed out yesterday that a clash would have been avoided had the July Cup been moved to Sunday.
“We all understand why they want to race on Saturday, but there needs to be some balance,” said Beckett. “Yesterday was in nobody’s interest really. I can’t believe Newmarket would have had a smaller crowd today (Sunday)”
“Haggas, who landed the John Smith’s Cup at York, said “I am going to write to (managing director) Stephen Wallis when the dust settles to see what he thinks because Newmarket is the track that has upset the applecart.
“We will get more and more of this, because the big racecourses will say this is what we want to do and we’re going to do it. I think it takes the shine off York.”
“Haggas added ‘All of us, though, want the racecourses to be profitable and put on the best races possible . Presumably they know what they are doing.
Was it a gamble worth taking? Newmarket still have to decide.”
TODAY'S RACE CARDS: Ayr, Ffos Las, Windsor, Wolverhampton and Killarney.
RACING POST – BE IN THE KNOW
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