REFLECTIONS ON ROYAL ASCOT

“In the land of the blind, the one eyed man is king.”

Tuesday opened with a renewal of The Queen Anne Stakes described as “far from vintage". This invariably means one, or both of two things: firstly, the horse(s) that the experts had expected to win have not turned up. Secondly, the form that those present showed the previous year was demonstrably inferior to other horses of their generation.

The flaw with this latter assertion is that it assumes the horses involved have not improved from last season to this and by association it infers that those they raced against would have improved at least enough to reassert their superiority. The eagerness with which leading horses are retired to stud, rather than risk a reversal on the racecourse is proof positive that those who brandish claims so loudly in their stallion adverts do not share the conviction they hope mare owners will confirm with their patronage.

Charyn raced four times at two and posted a career best in winning this on his fifteenth start. Docklands ran once at two and posted a career best with his effort on his tenth start and Maljoom was making only his seventh start after being unraced as a two years old.

The Coventry Stakes is the meeting’s banner race for two years olds. It was won by a son of Holy Roman Emperor, who was retired at the end of his two years old career; but…….the dam was by Camelot, who won the first two legs of the Triple Crown, out of a mare by Adlerflug, out of a mare by Monsun. Sorry folks, the first three dams of the Coventry winner were by horses who excelled over one and a half miles.

There was some conjecture about the most impressive winner of a two years old race. Some felt that Fairy Godmother’s Houdini act in The Albany was exceeded by Bedtime Story’s demolition of The Chesham field. The former is by a Guineas winner who won a Lockinge at four. The latter is by Frankel out of a sprinting dam – yes a sprinting dam, but one who raised her rating from 97 at two, through 113 at 4 and to a peak of 122 at five. An extended racing career does not seem to have damaged her capacity in the paddocks.

The two major sprints were won by Inisherin; who has a magnificent physique and is by a Prix du Jockey Club winner out of a mare that is by a stallion who has sired two Melbourne Cup winners and his first three dams all shone over ten furlongs or more. Inisherin was head and shoulder above his rivals in the parade ring, which was not the case in The Guineas; he has done very well in the interim, but The Commonwealth Cup is far shallower waters and does not deserve to be a Group One race. It is essentially populated by last year’s two years olds hanging on to fading glory. The last two years have seen an emerging three years old that rose above the exposed horses before and after the race. His only danger going forward would be a miler dropping back to this division.

I thought that the highlight of Royal Ascot week was the owner of Inisherin and Rosallion pledging to race them on next year, because he “enjoyed watching them race.” I hope that he is rewarded for his spirit. I also hope that the BHA have a plan in place to market their appearances, even allowing for the fact that this must necessarily be fluid.

The other six furlong sprint went to the eight years old Khaadem. It is hard to imagine just how much fun this horse has given connections. He is another by a stallion that only raced at two; but he is out of a mare by a Guineas winner out of a second dam by Electric. Electric was a solid middle distance horse who won a couple of Group Two’s at a mile and a half. The sort of horse who is inevitably banished to National Hunt pastures nowadays. He was by Blakeney, the last Derby winner to contest the Ascot Gold Cup. The effort of finishing second in that did not stop him beating all bar Nijinsky in the King George the following month. No doubt another performance that would see him sent to the winter job.

How many breeders and owners who dream about winning the Coventry, or the leading sprints would have dismissed these winners if they had known of the stamina and durability lurking in these pedigrees. Fortunately for vendors and agents, very few look beyond the stallion.

Amplifying this drone of ignorance, the third Group One Sprint over five furlongs went to a challenger from the land of The Autumn Sun. Those worshippers of mammon and precocity no doubt feel they confirmed their self belief in breeding the fastest horses on earth. Strange then, that the standard-bearer they sent was a five years old who made her first start at thirty nine months of age. This is not as unusual among the best runners in Australia as the crazed hype over juvenile events down under would have you believe. Mr Brightside made his debut in NZ at forty months of age and didn’t race again until making his Australian debut five months later. Since then he has made thirty two starts and earned fourteen million dollars!

The magnificent Rosallion is as good as he looks. His father may have been champion first crop sire, but had his two biggest days as a five years old. His dam is by a Derby winner.

The Prince of Wales Stakes also went to a horse who was out of a mare by a Derby winner. Auguste Rodin’s sire won twice at one mile seven furlongs and once over two miles.

The Kensington Palace over one mile went to a filly who is by a Derby winner out of an Arc de Triomphe winner.

I have written before about the ludicrous over-emphasis on precocity promoted by greedy insiders in the bloodstock world. Two years old racing is interesting as a pointer to future careers, but in terms of the prevalence it enjoys in industry support it is no more than the bloodstock industry tail wagging the sport of racing dog.

In order to prosper the industry needs the sport to thrive. In order for the sport to thrive, it needs to build an enthusiastic following that will pay to attend live racing and wager on racing whether they are present at a live event or not. Every sport needs the excitement of participating in live action to drive the interest in remote spectatorship. Both audiences can only be built if they are familiar with the principals and the product; therefore it is essential that horses have a long enough career to become identifiable.