Wesley Ward, an American trainer, is at Ascot with six horses. John Velasquez flies in from New York to ride Ward’s horses.
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| Mastercraftsman |
In the St James Palace, Aidan O’Briens’s Mastercraftsman is as short as 11-10 in the market. A jihn Murtagh mount, Mastercraftsman was a runaway winner in Curragh’s Irish 2000 Guineas on heavy ground. O’Brien has expressed the view that Mastercraftsman will be equally at home on fast ground. John Murtagh was the leading rider at Royal Ascot last year but he is not the favourite this year. A ban that was imposed on Murtagh for careless riding on Frozen Fire in the Coronation Cup will begin on June 19. That would mean jockey Murtagh will miss the last two days of Royal Ascot. An appeal that Murtagh lodged with the British Horseracing Authority has been rejected.
Ryan Moore, Sir Michael Stoute’s retained jockey, is the 5-4 bookmakers’ choice to be Ascot’s leading rider. Ascot takes the cake when it comes to proposition bets. Odds are being offered on what color headgear the Queen will wear on any given day.
The Queen Anne field is headed by Gladiatorus who won three in a row at the Dubai carnival including the Dubai Duty Free. Ahmed Ajtebi partnered Gladiatorus and will be the rider at Ascot although Frankie Dettori, Godolphin’s jockey, will ride Alexandros. Gladiatorus is officially the leading active racehorse on the planet. He has a 127 rating. Saeed bin Suroor will seek his eighth win in the Queen Anne on Tuesday. Suroor spoke about his trainee’ work in Newmarket. “He had a break after Nad Al Sheba but is now in good form. He has been working away on our private gallop and this was only his second piece of work on grass.”
Another fancied runner in the Queen Anne is Paco Boy. A disappointment in Newbury’s Lockinge Stakes, Paco Boy was found to have been suffering from an infected off forehoof. Paco Boy is expected to go if the ground is not very firm. Mac Love, winner at Epsom, has been supplemented. Main Aim, a Stoute runner, has also been supplemented.
Tartan Bearer is a general 2-1 in the Prince of Wales over 2000 metres. The Stoute-trained Tartan Bearer won in his 2009 reappearance and missed the Tattersalls at Curragh because of unsuitable ground. Tartan Bearer was second to New Approach in the 2008 Epsom Derby and was seriously interfered with as the favourite in the Irish Derby. Ryan Moore will ride.
Vision d'Etat will oppose Tartan Bearer. The 2008 French Derby winner will have a new jockey. Olivier Peslier will replace Ioritz Mendizabal. Jockey Mendizabal was aboard the pace-setting Feels All Right at Chantilly last Sunday in the Jockey Club. Feels All Right threw in the towel once looked in the eye. Feels All Right's connections who also own Vision d'Etat were not happy with Mendizabal's Derby ride and have elected to get a new rider for Vision d'Etat in the Prince of Wales.
Aidan O’Brien has responded to the Derby paddock controversy. “I apologize. It is my fault. None of our jockeys had a ride in the race before and we were given permission to tack up. We went out and I wasn’t watching my watch as I should have been, but that's nothing to do with gaining an advantage. All we can do is our best and stay in the rules."
In another surprise move, Vision d'Eatat, the 2008 French Derby hero, will not be ridden by Ioritz Mendizabal. Olivier Peslier will; be the replacement. Jockey Mendizabal rode Feels All Right, an Eric Libaud-trained colt in The Prix du Jockey Club at Chantilly last Sundaay and set the pace. Feels All Right threw in the towel once looked in the eye. The connections of Feels All Right who also owns Vision d'Etat were not satisfied with Mendizabal's ride and that, it has been reported, is the reason for the change to Peslier.
Rene Douglas is out of intensive care. He is not able to move his legs as a result of neck and spinal cord injuries. Darrem Razo, wife of jockey Eusebio Razo and a friend of the Douglas family, said, "Rene is in excellent spirits. His pain level has dropped. He is tired of being idle. He's ready for the next phase."
Yeats is the 9-4 favourite with William Hill to win the Ascot Gold Cup. The venerable Saddler's Wells progeny will be seeking his fourth consecutive win in Ascot's showpiece. Yeats, winner of the 2005 Coronation Cup, had a disappointing race in his 2009 reappearance. The race course came up heavy at Navan that day. Aidan O'Brien expressed optimism."He's well at the moment. Obviously, he is a year older and a year wiser. He's fine and we are happy. He is a marvelous horse. We must understand that Navan had bad ground."
Patkai is a 3-1 chance in the Gold Cup. Patkai was beaten by Geordieland at Sandown two weeks ago but Sir Michael Stoute is optimistic. Patkai was a winner at Royal Ascot last year and Ryan Moore will ride.
Here are some items of interest. Niall McCullagh has been aboard Mountain Coral for three successive wins in Ireland. On May 15, Niall won with Mountain Coral (9-2) at Dundalk's all weather surface. It was a 1200-metre sprint. On June 6, the pair won again over 1200 metres at the Curragh and the odds were 10-1. On Friday, in a twilight card at Navan, Niall and Mountain Coral won a 1000-metre race and what do you think the odds were? Mountain Coral was a 15-2 chance.
At Market Rasen on Friday, a jumps track, in the 3 00 race over 3900 metres, the number one horse was Ramvaswani. As the race ended, Ramvaswani's record stood at 0-42.
I am a believer in 'name-rhyming' and it works despite the apparent silliness. On Friday in England, this is what happened. At Sandown, North Cape won at 4-1. In the twilight card at Chepstow, Cape Melody scofred at 15-2. In the final race at Chepstow run at 9 15 P M, the winner was Cape Rock. How about three 'Capes' winning on the same day?
Richard Hughes was on fire at Chepstow on Friday. He made it all in the opener with Sir Parky, an even money choice. El Dececy, a 12-10 favourite in the second race, gave Hughes a quick riding double. In the 8-10 race, Hughes connected with Laish Ya Hajar to make it a riding treble. Laish Ya Hajar, a Grand Lodge gelding, made it all in the 2000-metre race. From 8-1, Laish Ya Hajar was bet down to 7-2. Jockey Hughes has several good rides at Royal Ascot.
In the 5 05 race at York on Friday, a gelding by the name of Joe Jo Star went postward. Joe Jo Star's 2009 record read 1212. Joe Jo Star won at Ayr on June 3. He was second at Beverly on June 10. On Friday June 12, Joe Jo Star was a runaway winner in a 2400-metre event. In England and Ireland, the saying 'make hay while the sun shines' is taken seriously.
France Galop has responded to the call made by leading trainers and jockeys that the Prix du Jockey Club be restored to its 2400-metre distance. Since 2005, the French Derby has been run over 2100 metres. It has been said that the shorter distance is not the criterion by which a Derby winner's quality is judged.
No wonder the Irish riders do well in India. In Ireland, every track poses a different challenge. They are right and left-handed. They are uphill and downhill. The fields are big. Fifteen is the average number. In many a race, the favourite is a 6-1 chance. In Ireland, the meetings are a lot less in number than what you have in England.
