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Did Cracksman’s connections ever seriously entertain an Arc bid whilst Enable was fit? We all know he performs better with cut in the ground but Anthony Oppenheimer’s comments in the Post leave you scratching your head! Apparently he thinks it’s very firm, he can’t act on it and they don’t want to do any damage to the horse, fair enough. However in the very next breath Oppenheimer says he’ll go to the Champion stakes, even if it’s good to firm because it will be his last race! Is this really doing what’s best for the horse or just running scared of enable?
I think they were hoping that Cracksman would improve from 3 to 4 after his super win in the Champion Stakes but if anything he has been disappointing after a reasonable 1st time out effort. They said he bumped his head on the stalls when beating Saloun by the skin of his teeth and was already getting a few smacks of the whip before the Royal Ascot race and getting ridden a long way from home as if the horse had developed a bit of laziness. Things certainly haven’t gone to plan with him. Both Gosden and Frankie know Enable is the better horse and even although Cracksman has been below par he is still capable of going close in the Ascot race especially if the going is on the soft side giving Gosden/Frankie a chance of winning both races.
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Yes, this old fart Oppenheimer makes a quite dubious and confused impression here
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If he is convinced of his horse, he should insist on running in the Arc, otherwise he should shut up!I am long of the opinion (and gave it) before last years Arc that he would have beaten Enable and that he should have run.
I am also of the opinion that whilst the good to firm ground is far from his ideal surface, to me it wasn’t the reason he got beat at Royal Ascot as he wasn’t constantly changing his legs or hanging to indicate he was ill at ease on the ground. His mind clearly wasn’t on the job that day as Frankie had to ride him as he set off to the start and was giving him several slaps with the whip whilst walking around behind the stalls. Even with all that, you take the winner out of the race and he would have been a 8L winner of a G1 and nobody would have said squat about the ground.
His performance in the Ganay was on officially good ground and reports at Longchamp on Monday also gave the ground as good (although many have questioned the validity of their reporting of ground). There is rain forecast both Saturday & Sunday but it would need to be biblical to turn the ground into the ideal surface for him but personally I would be looking to run him in both races.
Unfortunately connections seem to have convinced themselves he can’t act on good to firm and being that Ascot is currently quoting good ground with several days of rain forecast in the coming week, I fully expect them to bail on Longchamp (again) and wait for Ascot.
Part of me hopes Ascot ends up being good to firm just to see whether they will have the gaul to run him after all the nonsense AO has spouted about the ground previously.
Totally agree with you LD73, and you know there wouldn’t be any hesitation if Enable picked up an injury and was forced to miss the race.
If they gelded him he wouldn’t have been eligible to run in an Arc anyway plus AO is a breeder so it was never likely to be an option as he needs another stallion to go with Golden Horn.
It’s all about options, Worzel’.
You say yourself “We all know he performs better with cut in the ground”. Cracksman had an option of running in the Arc; but the probability is Ascot in late October will be softer than it was in Paris. Therefore it makes sense to wait. Yes, he could’ve run in both races, but a hard race or a slight setback would’ve ruled him out of the Champion.Since the disappointment of second place in the Prince Of Wales on good-firm, Cracksman has been entered in several races and because of our long hot summer pulled out each time in favour of the next option. However, the Breeders Cup and/or Japan are not options because the going is highly unlikely to be advantageous there. Therefore Cracksman might as well run even on good-firm in the Champion Stakes because there are no other options. Would only be pulled out on unsafe/very firm ground.
Yes, in a way I think Enable did come in to the decision. Had he gone through this campaign in flying colours am sure Cracksman would’ve taken on Enable; but he hasn’t been in the same form. Winning an inferior Ganay, scrambling home from a second rate field in the Corry Cup and then beaten at Royal Ascot. Connections understandably want to go out on a high. Cracksman is still capable of running well on good-firm, proximity to Poets Word proved that. However, POW rating significantly worse than last year’s Champion.. Which in turn means although may be able to win some Group 1s when running on good-firm, is highly unlikely to beat a real top notcher – eg Enable – unless it’s on the soft side. Therefore it again made sense to avoid Longchamp in favour of Ascot.
Value Is EverythingI’ve not read all the posts about Cracksman but this is my theory…
As we know Enable had a setback between Kempton and the Arc. In most cases this would mean the trainer aiming another dart at the race with a horse capable of being competitive. There was also possibility of rain in the forecast a week before the race. Despite these scenarios Cracksman didn’t run. I think he may be ‘finished’ and I will likely take him on in the Champion Stakes if the usual suspects turn up.
The problem is we will now never know whether it was just purely the ground at Royal Ascot that was the reason for his defeat because connections never gave him the chance to prove/disprove that theory that they came up with.
In the preliminaries of the POW he clearly didn’t behave in a manner of a horse that was focused on racing, he also just happened to have an opponent in Poet’s Word that was tuned to the minute. My question would be this, take PW out and are connections having the same discusion about a horse unsuited by fast ground? I think not.
Ascot is currently soft and from Friday to next Wednesday there are only two days that are predicted to have no rain, so no doubt connections will be applauded by the press for waiting for Ascot and his favoured conditions – if he is in the form they say he is then he will have to repeat last year’s performance and if he does most will be left wonder yet again……what if.
I’ll never fully forgive them for depriving us of ‘Enable v Cracksman’, but it was an absolute pleasure to witness that live on Saturday, and I for one, forgave them just a little bit more than I would have a fortnight earlier.
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