Anglers Crag: A change Is As Good As A Rest

[Steeplechasing]

My main horseracing interest in the past 30 years has been the demeanour of horses when racing. The way a horse goes through a race can tell a much bigger story than its formline, which, given everything that goes into winning, is little more than a foreword in a long book.

Anglers Crag had a miserable time last season. His best run was 4th of 14 at Musselburgh, followed by being pulled up twice. Before this season began, Anglers Crag moved yards, from Brian Ellison to Nicky Richards. He’s won on his first two runs for the yard: the famous old Eider Chase at Newcastle today, and a 3m Class 3 at Carlisle last time.

In both wins, the horse has made all. In his runs last season, in-running comments start with ‘in rear’. Sometimes being held up is by design, but watching him race, especially in comparison to this season, he was just an unhappy horse with no interest in what he was bred to do.

He’s 11 years old, but his enthusiasm was obvious even before the start today, constantly buzzing and on his toes, causing a false start despite jockey Danny McMenamin’s skill in keeping him away from the others in the prelims.

He wanted the flag to go up in the same way a collie who’s just had his lead put on waits for the door to open. Then, over the next 34 furlongs, he did not see another horse, jumping at times with an extravagance that can take a bit out of a horse. Anglers Crag used up a fair slice of energy today beforehand and through the race that would have bottomed many, but he has the life back in him. Whatever psychological boost a change of trainer brought, it adds evidence, I believe, to a theory of mine that a huge percentage of racehorses — I should dub them ‘The Also-Rans’ — are well capable physically of winning, but they have decided, often early in their careers, to check out.

Horses are microscopically sensitive creatures. They feature in rehab programmes, visiting hospitals and care homes, often just to stand silently next to a patient and, seemingly, commune and comfort.

The Jonbons of the world, the Many Clouds, giving all every single time, are revered by humans. Whether horses are capable of teasing, laughing at, or condemning their fellows, I don’t know (they seem too noble for such carry-on), but, if they are, they’d be scoffing at the high achievers in the way wily old workmen view the odd lads who cannot get the wheelbarrow refilled quickly enough.

In a nutshell, horses either do not care for the workload at home in training, or don’t relish being put under pressure on a racecourse. They learn quickly, I believe, that responding to pressure only brings more and more requests to do so in increasingly hard circumstances.

With such types, I doubt there is anything that can be done. They’re just too smart. But there are horses like Anglers Crag, good workers, honest, reliable, who simply get pissed off at the way things are working under current circumstances, and they down tools. These are the ones who can be rejuvenated: a new yard, a new groom, a change of feed, an altered training plan, a new stablemate next door, a change of box … Again, like humans, certain things happen that can fill you with energy and ambition once again.

Anglers Crag has ‘form’ in this division. He won on his career debut for trainer Terence O’Brien, followed by three losing runs. A move to David Pipe brought a debut win but nowt else in six runs. A transfer to Brian Ellison saw him win four in a row, improving 28lb on official ratings with a hike to 134. The Ellison tenure ended with a PU in the Scottish Grand National.

Maybe it was the rest over the summer, the steady drop back down the handicap, the beautiful surroundings at Greystoke Castle, or a combination of those. But Anglers Crag has relit his torch — and mine, to some extent — as these types of horses captivate me. I needed something like this, as I am way too old to still muster the young man’s level of fascination I used to have with jump racing. The politics, the commercialisation, the fingers constantly scrabbling in the pie, the sheer poor management of the great game have been wearing me down for a long time. Thank you, Anglers Crag. You are in my notebook under ‘on debut for new yard, fill yer boots’.

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