Bloody weird this football. I honestly thought the R's were in for a right old drubbing, really did. The recent visit to Seven Barrows (?) and the needle people obviously paid off in spades……
ITV trying to big it up but everyone from Ballydoyle / Coolmore are just like "Ah look, we won another one so we did"
a brave run by FAIRYLAND.for a moment,i thought shes going to win it,but others too strong in the end.no excuses..
Not the result I was hoping for but 50-1 placed is same as a 10-1 winner so no complaints. Jockey says Qabala was bumped and lost some momentum at a critical stage ... myself I felt that the side of the course she was on looked to be cutting up a bit more than centrally in the dip. She would be my bet to turn around the result with the winner next time. That's all folks ...... see you next time
Well that was a sh#te guineas weekend for me . When will we learn? I can’t do the maths, but I wonder if you did all the combinations of the aob runners. What the profit would be?
This is way after the fact (as you will conclude from the time I posted this) but they did announce at the track that she would be wearing a hood in the parade ring and it would be removed before the race. Several of the trainers have been doing that this weekend, especially Gosden. I note that the hoods have covered ears, so if noise is the problem, why do they not just use ear plugs? The hood is particularly annoying for those of us with a camera at the pre-parade ring trying to get photos. You end up hoping the horse runs a place so you can get a photo in the unsaddling area after the race (as I hopefully did with Qabala).
Clematis was absolute rubbish, she was more or less pulled up and you would think that she was trailing in last in the Grand National. It seems I'll never learn with Charlie Hills and he'd surely be one of the last trainers you would send a good horse to. Other than the two good sprinters he has had it has been pretty much nothing to report. Early signs were good, I took her at 7/1 and she was backed in to 7/2. It was incredible how badly she folded and I assumed something must have gone amiss. I checked the BHA website for any "Why they ran badly" explanation but not a dicky bird. When a race report reads:- Held up, smooth headway to challenge 3f out, ridden and lost place 2f out, heavily eased final furlong (op 11/2) and the horse ends up beaten 44 lengths in a 10F race, I think there should be a question asked. Winner Maqsab came there cantering all over them and bolted up. Normally you would think a horse winning a Listed race like that must be good but it was like watching Paisley Park coming past them at Cheltenham and I suspect she beat poor quality opposition there. Roger Charlton saddled another stinker there with Lady Adelaide and he has had not winners in 36 days. Still Charlton's woes are nothing compared to John Oxx, whom I had to check up on after Skitter Skitter skittered home second last. Mr Oxx last scored 190 days ago, saddling 43 losers on the trot since. Time to pack it in for him I would say. Godolphin had three trees in the 2000 Guineas and not even a runner in the 1000 Guineas. The brief glory of Masar and a rebirth seems to have faded rather quickly. Bin Suroor is surely well past his sell-by date and Coolmore are urinating on them from a high height. No wonder they need their own egg and spoon track and faux World Cup at Meydan.
No joy on the betting front at Guineas weekend but I think I did see the Oaks winner in the Pretty Polly. There was something very like Taghrooda about the way Maqsad totally destroyed her opponents. She was not even favourite in the morning (that honour was with Gosden’s Shambolic because he had won 4 of the last 5 runnings) but on the track she opened 11/8. There was a sustained gamble on Clematis but she never got into it and she was very distressed after the race and the vets were called. I can report that after a substantial time recovering in the unsaddling area, she was okay. The only doubt I can see being raised about Maqsad is that while she is out of a Galileo mare, her sire Siyouni was a speedster; however, she was not stopping at HQ. After the Guineas, I did eavesdrop on what William Buick told connections about Mot Juste. He told them that she ran “better than her finishing position” (third last) and that they should consider stepping her up in trip. To the old cynic in me that sounds like jockey-speak. All credit to Wayne Lordan on winning the Classic while those behind him seemed to contrive to get in each other’s way. Only time will tell if it was a mediocre renewal. Saeed did not look too happy when his 2/5 shot got turned over by Hannon’s newcomer Threat.
An easy win for Maqsad but I think 7/1 for the Oaks is very skinny. She holds an entry in the Coronation Stakes as well, so perhaps they are hedging their bets. The handicap which was the closing race on the card was won by 96 rated Nayef Road, who also won by 5 lengths comfortably. He clocked a bit faster time than Maqsad and he carried 9 lbs more than the Haggas filly, as well as carrying 13 lbs more than the runner up in his race. I am far from certain that Hermosa will get the Oaks trip but at only 1 pt less than Maqsad, I would rather risk her. Interesting that the Guineas 1-2 were both thrashes by Skitter Scatter last season, so it is typical that some lose it over the winter. You can't blame the number of runs from last season though, because Hermosa also has 7 starts last year, just like Skitter Scatter. Skitter Scatter's dam stayed 10F but the Scat Daddy seed just cannot match the Galileo Gonads for the Guineas.
Is Ryan Moore an incompetent when it comes to selecting his mounts? In the last two years he has failed to win four classics by selecting the wrong horses - in the Derby 2017,he could have ridden Wings of Eagles. In the Irish derby he chose that horse,although, in fairness, WOE suffered a career ending injury. Now in the 2000 on Saturday he chose to ride a doubtful stayer against a proven stayer,and yesterday he had the choice of four O'brien entries but got it wrong-again! Is he told what to ride ,or as stable jockey does he have a choice? To paraphrase Oscar Wilde. To get it wrong once is unfortunate,to get it wrong twice is careless so how do you describe getting it wrong four times?
