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Scorpion backers (yes, I was one) have been stitched up good and proper by Coolmore today. After 100 yards of the race it was totally obvious that only one of their horses was there to win
To be fair, Dylan Thomas would probably have won no matter who or what made the pace and how quick they did it, but for Scorpion to be used like that when connections were stating all week that both were going to Ascot with a more or less equal chance leaves a slightly nasty taste in the mouth.
Scorpion won the St Leger making the running, I didn’t think he was there as a pacemaker today. Don’t forget he’s a stamina horse whos won over further and got beat in a Group 2 last time out. Front running tactics suited him when he won his classic so I’m not surprised they tried the same tactics today. Unfortunately it didn’t work, I can’t really work Scorpion out other than he generally runs somewhere between 111 and 119 and is best when the ground is very soft.
Dylan Thomas was suited by Scorpion making the running granted, but why anyone backed anything other than the favourite today is a mystery. The times suggested the ground isn’t that soft and the horse (DT) had about half a stone in hand of his rivals – the second in the betting was beaten in a Group 2 last time out and struggles to achieve a rating in the high teens.
I can’t bring myself to back anything trained by O’Brien anymore. He talks rubbish. Don’t trust anything he says…Yes he trains some brilliant horses and yes, Dylan Thomas was good today but there was no way Scorpion was there to win. Luckily I did not have a bet nor will I if he has more than one runner in a race.
I think Scorpion was in the race in case the ground was soft or heavy. I believe there has been some rain about down south!
Wallace appears to be spot on here, there’s no way Scorpion was a pacemaker, the ground dried out therefor Dylan Thomas was a good thing, had it rained and the ground became soft/heavy then Scorpion would’ve probably won as I think Dylan Thomas may have been pulled out anyway.
I’m surprised by some of the crazy comments on here.
If I backed Scorpion to win today I would have been disappointed if he didnt make the running. Kinane in an interview today before the race stated he would be ridden much more aggressively…something which he was critised for not doing in the Hardwick.
When I saw Scorpion in the paddock, I expected him to empty out in the race, so it wasn’t that big a surprise.
I certainly don’t think he was being used as a pacemaker.
Anyway, the class horse of the race won on ground that’s known to suit him. So it’s hardly a travesty of a result.
Steve
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Wallace appears to be spot on here, there’s no way Scorpion was a pacemaker, the ground dried out therefor Dylan Thomas was a good thing, had it rained and the ground became soft/heavy then Scorpion would’ve probably won as I think Dylan Thomas may have been pulled out anyway.
I’m surprised by some of the crazy comments on here.
Scorpion was definitely used to make the pace today, and it was obvious from very early in the race that that was his clear intention.
The other only time in his career he has adopted this tactic was in a very slowly run 6 rnr St Leger on heavy ground when he was left with little option.
As he has shown in a number of other races, he has enough turn of foot in a truly run 12f race to make his presence felt without leading all the way, indeed Septimus was used to give him a lead to allow his win in this year’s Coronation Cup romp.
His stable has shown once again that they have little regard for running each horse on their merits and, as was made clear in the Eclipse, are willing to sacrifice any other of their runners to give their main hope a better chance.
The frightening thing is, had the ground remained as slow as it was earlier in the week, it could quite well have been DT making the pace and Scorpion in the winner’s enclosure?
And no, I didn’t have a bet in the race.Oh that O’Brien, a sneaky ****** alright!!!!!!
That seems to be the consensus with some of the preceding posts anyway. Personally I don’t see it like that. Enter two horses, one to cover each of the likely ground conditions. Good planning I call it. DT was always the most likely winner and duly triumphed. Skullduggery for sure.In the space of the last seven days alone we have seen Kevin Ryan’s second string Tamagin beat River Thames in a Redcar handicap, Tom George’s Dyneburg beat stablemate Carthys Cross in a Newton Abbot novices’ chase, and now Dylan Thomas giving Aidan O’Brien a King George with Scorpion ultimately well beaten.
River Thames was given an estimable ride, Carthys Cross has now placed in 11 out of 14 chase starts without winning and looks a dog, and Scorpion had to make his own pace on ground which hadn’t deteriorated as much as he may have preferred.
Rather than getting so exercised over defeats of the respective trainers’ other runner, all of which can be explained away to varying degrees, aren’t our energies perhaps better spent considering whether the coupling of stablemates in the betting, as per France, is the way to go from hereon?
Jeremy
(graysonscolumn)Jeremy Grayson. Son of immigrant. Adoptive father of two. Metadata librarian. Freelance point-to-point / horse racing writer, analyst and commentator wonk. Loves music, buses, cats, the BBC Micro, ale. Advocate of CBT, PACE and therapeutic parenting. Aspergers.
I backed Scorpion earlier in the week when conditions looked like they were gonna be on the slow side.
When it was obvious that was not going to be the case i laid him at a shorter price.
It isn’t going to happen anytime soon, GC, but coupling saves an awful lot of angst and is the fair method, imo. I agree with you.
- Total Posts 17716
Rather than getting so exercised over defeats of the respective trainers’ other runner, all of which can be explained away to varying degrees, aren’t our energies perhaps better spent considering whether the coupling of stablemates in the betting, as per France, is the way to go from hereon?
Jeremy
(graysonscolumn)Jeremy
Aren’t you really suggesting that, rather than deal with this cheating, we accomodate it in the betting? A number of jockeys, most of whom did nothing to prejudice the actual result of a race, found themselves out of a job for far less heinous activities.
It is against the rules of racing to run a horse as a pacemaker, though the HRA, in their cosy and convenient interpretation, turn a blind eye as they do with much else that is wrong with the sport.
And where does it stop; a questionable ride on Scorpion or Septimus, the gamesmanship of the Eclipse or, maybe one day soon, the sacrifice of a long odds-on shot in a Classic?
Scorpion yesterday was a heavily backed 2nd favourite in a very high profile race, and his supporters had every right to expect the horse to be ridden completely on his merits; that he wasn’t, and it is so readily accepted, says more about what is wrong with British racing than suspending a few jockeys ever will.I am against coupling,Bregawn’s Gold Cup is the best example,on his own he was freely available at 100/30,and was a fair bet,but coupled the Dickenson stable would have been well odds on.Anyone who wanted to back both Obrien runners in the King George could do so.
If you go to back a certainty always buy a return ticket.
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