Newmarket’s July course another British treat as Australians make their pitch
They included Racing Victoria’s recently appointed general manager international and racing operations, Paul Bloodworth and the Melbourne Racing Club’s head of communications, Jake Norton. Perhaps they had the appropriate tickets!
Meanwhile Australian Turf Club director Angela Belle McSweeney was pushing the Everest case.
Consequently there may well be more visitors than locals patronising the spring carnivals in Australia this year. That’s drawing a long bow, of course, but you get the picture.
Bloodworth has visited a raft of trainers in France and England and told ANZ Bloodstock News that he’s “reasonably confident at this stage” about the following horses making the trek to Melbourne: Marmelo, Red Verdon, Withhold, Prince Of Arran, Hamada, Best Solution, Duretto, Magic Circle, Desert Skyline, Toreador and Benbatl (the last named for the Cox Plate).
And that’s with Ireland, where Bloodworth is currently visiting the major stables, still to come.
Not to mention that others mooted for a Melbourne expedition are Charlie Appleby’s Folkswood, Old Persian and Jungle Cat and Qatar Racing’s Count Octave, a son of Frankel, along with weekend winner Euchen Glen, who’s trained by Jim Goldie.
Japanese gallopers Chestnut Coat and Sole Impact are also likely Cup contenders while the Everest, which certainly needs an international runner or two, is the designated target for the July Cup winner US Navy Flag and also possibly for the Wesley Ward-trained USA sprinter Bound For Nowhere, who was third to Merchant Navy in the Diamond Jubilee Stakes.
Most of these horses have already been well explored in various forums. Potentially the pick of the Cups horses at this stage may well be Hamada who was accurately described yesterday in these pages, by Chris Humpleby, as the most striking winner of the weekend.
The one perhaps flying under the radar, taking backstage behind stablemate Count Octave,
is the Andrew Balding-trained Duretto. By virtue of that, he might also beat the handicapper.
He’s by the German stallion Manduro, a son of Monsun who has sired three of the past five Melbourne Cup winners. Prince Of Arran is the only other among the horses listed above by a son of Monsun.
Hamada, and several others, are now likely to progress to the Ebor at York next month and that will tell us more. The Ebor, which is the richest Flat handicap in Britain, has had a prize-money hike to £500,000 this year and jumps to £1 million ($1.78 million) next year. That might be nearly enough to tempt an Australian trainer.
Meanwhile, I’m reliably told that Saudi Arabia is progressing with its plans to stage a major international race next year.
Billed as The King Abdulaziz Horse Championship, it is likely to be at 2000 metres in February and carry prize-money to rival that of the Dubai World Cup and the Pegasus.
That certainly makes the July Cup winner’s cheque of around $500,000 seem insignificant but not that which might await US Navy Flag in the 2018 The Everest, which is at $13 million this year.
US Navy Flag was a strong on-pace winner of the July but I suspect it might have been a much nearer thing had runner-up Brando drawn the same side as the winner. He wasn’t robbed, like Croatia, but had no favours in transit after also having had to be replated at the starting gates.
US Navy Flag could well be a major Everest player given his strong running, on-pace style and ability to handle good to firm ground. However I’d lean to Bound For Nowhere should he
happen to secure a slot as I’m sure the Jubilee was stronger than the July.
The Newmarket meeting was typical of all the major racedays in the UK – a delight. It’s a great setting, and a terrific and testing undulating track, even if viewing a race live is practically impossible. The ease of access to a drink and a bet appeals as does, across all tracks in the UK, the cap on the number of races; the bookmakers betting each-way to fourth or fifth in big field handicaps and the supposedly antiquated Tote’s ability to cope with more than 24 runners (memo Tabcorp).
What doesn’t appeal is the lack of form in the race book; the bookmakers betting one fifth of the odds each-way on standard races (paying out on first three) and that it’s almost impossible to find results and dividends displayed anywhere.
And those trekking, on foot, the 4.8 kilometres from Newmarket station to the July racecourse were clearly a hardy (and very hot) lot. Perhaps the Pimm’s bus could have been put to better use.
But, all in all, this is an excellent two days of racing. I’m off to Amsterdam. Not sure what I’ll encounter there other than no racing. Any clues? But I will be preparing for the King George at Ascot and Glorious (Qatar) Goodwood.