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Falakeyah didn’t look short of speed in her only two previous starts and yes I know she was dropping back in trip but she took a keen hold in those two starts but was held up both times – she is/was obviously very short on experience and I am not sure that changing the tactics and asking her to lead was the right thing to do in this instance……yes, I know its easy to say in hindsight but you are asking her to do something that she has never been asked to do to whilst chucking her in at the deep end to boot.
I remember a couple of years ago Gosden had a Shadwell filly called Al Asifah who had also bolted up in her first two races (the second being a listed race) and then they rocked up to the Ribblesdale and was made odds on to beat future multiple G1 winners in Bluestocking and Warm Heart and it turned out that she simply wasn’t up to that level………might just be that Falakeyah could also fall into that category to
I remember Al Asifah well LD, good comparison. Crowley can sometimes throw you off the scent with these Shadwell horses too, always rides them like he he has loads of horse under him but only he will know, sometimes he has but a lot of the time its smoke and mirrors.
She’s Perfect on a form line through the runner shows they made the wrong race choice
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Or it depends how fast they are going at the time. ie If they were going a slowish pace and Falakeyah was pulling – then Crowley could let her go a bit more, get the lead and has a chance of staying there.
Whereas if they are going a strong pace and the jockey allows her to go even faster… The filly won’t learn how to act in future. Or worse, believe it’s what the jockey actually wants in future.dont train in public, in that moment today, letting her go was what was best for her optimal finishing position, what is better for her long term is irrelevant, as is the case 90% of the time when a horse is pulling hard, let, them, go.
Yet when she was pulling in her first two races they held her up and she won (albeit at a vastly lower level) but I am pretty certain that had they employed those same tactics, it would have elicited a better finishing position than the 9th place she managed yesterday, granted I don’t think she would have won the race regardless of what tactics they actually employed as her form was very much style over substance.
They one thing they do have to get her to do going forward is settle in her races or she will never be able to build upon the promise she created in her first two races and they might have to lower their sights in the immediate future – if Burrows is sure that she is a special horse, then maybe they might also consider getting a pacemaker for her.
Start of the race Crowley tries to place her about 3rd but she was pulling for her head so he let her drop her head by going to the front rather than fight her for most of the way.
Maybe he might have been better off half missing the break so he could drop her in because the one thing he could pretty much count on before the race was that she was going to be keen early on and thus you should have several plans accordingly.
That is aftertiming but being one of the better jockeys with a lot of experience riding in big races like this, you would expect that the plan would be something more than ‘we will jump off and then see what happens’ type thing.
Did they even have a plan in mind?
As my mum always says, in order to change a plan you need to have a plan in the first place.
I do agree LD, she was never going to be happy sitting close to the pace, either out the back or just go off infront, he did seem to ride her like “hopefully she doesnt do what she normally does”
I keep saying it- but Calandagan and Zarigana need a better jockey- Senor Catalonia just doesn’t galvanise them in a finish-his whip hand is all over the place- no driving rhythm.
Falakeyah was touted by all and sundry (inc Segal) but the time at Newmarket wasn’t that special and she beat nowt. Could still be a Nassau contender but Desert Flower and Lake Victoria are much better. Understudy was the most interesting filly of the week- going from a Southwell C5 maiden to 2nd in a Ribblesdale. One to follow in races like the Lillie Langtry and Park Hill and the Fillies and Mare turf here in the Autumn.“dont train in public, in that moment today, letting her go was what was best for her optimal finishing position, what is better for her long term is irrelevant, as is the case 90% of the time when a horse is pulling hard, let, them, go”.
They weren’t “training in public”, Crowley was trying to do what was best to win the race. ie In the Pretty Polly Falakeyah made all and yesterday Crowley tried to make all. At Newmarket she was keen in front – just as Ascot. Difference was other riders also wanted to lead – or at least race alongside… And that competition sparked her to pull too hard.
To know whether the filly would’ve done better had Crowley let her go even faster – to get an outright lead – we must look at the sectionals. Fact is the final 3f was run at pretty much the same speed as the first 5f that preceded it. Therefore we know that had Falakeyah been “let go” she’d have gone from a strong pace to an overly strong one; which would’ve been detrimental to her chance. In all likelihood had Crowley done what you suggest she’d have been beaten even further. AND learnt nothing from the experience.
At Newmarket it was a similar story as far as times go. The final sectional being very similar to the rest… Which means although quite keen in the Pretty Polly leaving her to race that fast was not detrimental to her chance of winning. Because the fractions were perfect. ie She didn’t need to go TOO FAST in order to have that outright lead.
She also sweated up badly before the Coronation, so her mood may well have contributed to pulling hard, as well as being taken on up front. Had she been taken on for the lead at Newmarket she could have pulled too hard there as well. Having said that, I didn’t notice her sweating badly there. Maybe the hot day made a difference.
Hopefully Falakeyah has learnt from the experience. If I were connections I’d be looking for a race between 8 and 10f that had no other prominent runners… And put ear plugs and a hood on her.
Value Is Everything“Maybe he might have been better off half missing the break so he could drop her in because the one thing he could pretty much count on before the race was that she was going to be keen early on and thus you should have several plans accordingly.
That is aftertiming but being one of the better jockeys with a lot of experience riding in big races like this, you would expect that the plan would be something more than ‘we will jump off and then see what happens’ type thing”.
Yes, in future they may well change tactics back to holding Falakeyah up – like they did on debut. However, when I was analysing the Coronation beforehand… There were two likely scenarios that I wrote about. Either Falakeyah went on herself… Or Cooolmore would dictate a slow pace with Exactly. I suspect connections know that if she was held up in a slowly run race she’d be pulling even more… And held up in a slowly run affair at a mile… would not be in favour of one that can pull hard and had already proven herself at 10f. So with there being just the one filly that might (only might) take her on… I can understand their decision to try leading in this race. It was probably the percentage call. Just a percentage call that didn’t work out.
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