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Just heard on RUK Golden Horn is a non-runner.
Strikes me as a very unsporting decision, and doesn’t do the image of racing a lot of good.
Yes, we all know the ground has turned soft, however as connections said in the week he won his maiden in good to soft. Add to that an upwards of 6lb pull on official ratings with all his rivals, and a hefty 12lb wf pull, surely the negatives do not outweigh the positives?
I was at Sandown for the Eclipse and the pre-parade ring was packed in order to see the great horse. He never appeared. Slowly the crowd moved to the main paddock. Finally after a further wait he appeared for a couple of circuits and that was it.
Racing never tires from telling us it wants to attract a new and greater in volume crowd, and yet any potential newbies who turned up at Sandown or indeed are at Ascot today will be left wondering why bother with a sport which treats its paying customers like this. Imagine if the connections of American Pharaoh had withdrawn their horse from the Preakness (a decision that would not have been criticised given the awful state of the dirt after the pre-race deluge) we would have been denied a Triple Crown winner.
I recall also how connections of Frankel resisted the string temptation to withdraw their star before the rain-softened Champion Stakes for the “good of racing”. John Gosden often talks a good story but on this occasion he has got it badly wrong imo.
I agree with you totally, I think it’s a terrible and cowardly decision. What harm would running the horse have done? He would’ve won EASILY.
I think the horse is far more vulnerable in a ten furlong Juddmonte at York than he was at Ascot by quite a way.
Deflated the whole day to boot. As you say Ivanjika any newcomer excited at seeing Golden Horn run today is now possibly lost from the game. All for what?
Exactly the decision I expected him to make and exactly the right decision. This is why Gosden is a great trainer. Many other trainers would have run him and regretted it. Head ruled the heart.
"this perfect mix of poetry and destruction, this glory of rhythm, power and majesty: the undisputed champion of the world!!!"
Exactly the decision I expected him to make and exactly the right decision. This is why Gosden is a great trainer. Many other trainers would have run him and regretted it. Head ruled the heart.
Why is it the right decision? To preserve an unbeaten record? Is that what racing is all about now? If the going was firm or even hard then fine, risk of jarring. But soft going against seriously inferior animals? We have gone from the exciting next chapter in the career of a great horse to one of the worst renewals of this great race in living memory.
You need to be a bit more objective and stop hero worshipping certain individuals.
Strikes me as a wise decision . Why jeopardise Golden Horn’s unbeaten record against inferior horses , just
because of unfavoured ground conditions.He’ll get his favored ground at York and should sluice up in the Juddmonte .
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Ivanjica you KNOW why it is the right decision and there is really no need for your stupid and juvenile comment. You are a most unpleasant poster. As the owner is saying right now, it would be unfair on the horse to run him on bottomless ground especially as there are plenty of other races for him. If this was his last run he would probably have taken his chance but it is not and they know that a hard race on this sort of ground could easily have finished him for the season. I know it is disappointing but nobody could have foreseen nearly 2 inches of rain in 1 day.
"this perfect mix of poetry and destruction, this glory of rhythm, power and majesty: the undisputed champion of the world!!!"
Wishfully thinking that they were ever going to risk him on that ground over 12F (I still think it is an issue over stamina rather than the soft ground) – remember he was not even entered for the Arc mainly because they thought 12F especially on usual soft ground would not suit him.
If you are wanting a reason for new people to go racing then seeing the marque horse of the season getting bogged down of sticky soft ground and likely being turned over in one of the poorest G1 renewals is not going to be it – however, seeing a potential G1 clash of the older horse against the top 3yr olds (at 8F & 12F) over an intermidiary distance of 10F on potentially good racing ground fits the bill to me.
Ivanjica you KNOW why it is the right decision and there is really no need for your stupid and juvenile comment. You are a most unpleasant poster. As the owner is saying right now, it would be unfair on the horse to run him on bottomless ground especially as there are plenty of other races for him. If this was his last run he would probably have taken his chance but it is not and they know that a hard race on this sort of ground could easily have finished him for the season. I know it is disappointing but nobody could have foreseen nearly 2 inches of rain in 1 day.
Is it really necessary to be so rude?
One poster has already wholeheartedly agreed with my original post. You seem to be incapable of offering objective criticism of certain individuals and Gosden is one of them. The horse has already defeated older horses over 10f. Why not try and do the same over 12f? If he gets beaten then so be it, Frankie would without doubt have been easy on him if he wasn’t getting there ensuring he doesn’t have a “hard” race. Now the only 12f race left (they have already discounted a trip to America) is the Arc when the going could be twice as testing as it is today.
Gosden did say plenty of times leading up to the race that if the going was too unsuitable then he probably wouldn’t run. He only ran 3 weeks ago, there is still plenty of racing left in the calendar and its not his fault that this years King George didn’t have an abundance of great runners.
He was also right about the ground at Swinley bottom being very soft as you could see the mud flying about in that area.
It was disappointing, but blame the weather not the connections.
I don’t want to squabble but some of the comments above attacking John Gosden are atrocious.Gosden did say plenty of times leading up to the race that if the going was too unsuitable then he probably wouldn’t run. He only ran 3 weeks ago, there is still plenty of racing left in the calendar and its not his fault that this years King George didn’t have an abundance of great runners.
He was also right about the ground at Swinley bottom being very soft as you could see the mud flying about in that area.
It was disappointing, but blame the weather not the connections.
I don’t want to squabble but some of the comments above attacking John Gosden are atrocious.Pretty much spot on Chivers, you could see Gosden wasn’t happy walking the track and his stick going in 10 or 12 inches. It wasn’t the original plan to go for this race and it’s only just over 3 weeks to York.
When Frankel took his chance on the soft at Ascot he’d had a 2 month break and it was the last race of his career, I’m sure the same would apply to Golden Horn under similar circumstances.
I expect the decision would be a lot more acceptable to all if he was going to be kept in training at 4.
My view is that the best horses should be able to handle all grounds so don’t agree with the decision to withdraw Golden Horn from a less than stellar King George.
Like him or loathe him, absolutely no doubt Gosden’s a hugely experienced and highly successful trainer. He didn’t get there making poor decisions about his horses. And the correct one was made today, granted I’d imagine team Golden Horn are gutted at how things panned out for them with the weather. A massive pot and all that prestige, forfeited for the greater good. As always, an articulate explanation for Channel 4’s viewers by the trainer on the horses non participation at the start of their coverage this afternoon.
Was a hugely enjoyable race anyway, great ride by Atzeni.
We’ll see Golden Horn in a few weeks at York.
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Jonibake wrote:</div>
Ivanjica you KNOW why it is the right decision and there is really no need for your stupid and juvenile comment. You are a most unpleasant poster. As the owner is saying right now, it would be unfair on the horse to run him on bottomless ground especially as there are plenty of other races for him. If this was his last run he would probably have taken his chance but it is not and they know that a hard race on this sort of ground could easily have finished him for the season. I know it is disappointing but nobody could have foreseen nearly 2 inches of rain in 1 day.Is it really necessary to be so rude?
One poster has already wholeheartedly agreed with my original post. You seem to be incapable of offering objective criticism of certain individuals and Gosden is one of them.
I offered an opinion that happened to be different from yours and you accused me of hero-worshipping John Gosden and not being objective. Is having a different opinion to you not being objective? You then say I seem to be incapable of offering criticism of certain individuals. Where the hell do you get that from? I write on here almost every single day and my bets are open for all to see as is my reasoning for those bets. I would not be very successful if I couldn’t be objective would I?
On the contrary Ivanjica you seem to have a dislike of me springing from I don’t know where. You have written nasty, spiteful little posts about me several times without the slightest provocation. You accused me of jumping on a Cecil bandwagon despite the fact that I had followed him for 40 years and written about it countlessly on here. You accused me of jumping on Frankel’s bandwagon when I was one of the earliest people to say what I thought of him. And now you accuse me of jumping on Gosden’s bandwagon. I mean apart from anything else how pathetically infantile to suggest someone would even want to do such a thing. My post was not rude, yours was. If you can’t see why GH was withdrawn today then you are brainless.
"this perfect mix of poetry and destruction, this glory of rhythm, power and majesty: the undisputed champion of the world!!!"
I like Golden Horn – best Derby winner since Sea The Stars – but today showed the difference between a good horse and a great one.
Frankel faced Heavy – not soft – ground on his final start and, in Cirrus Des Aigles, the second highest rated horse in the world and a horse at his best in deep mud.
Frankel ran and, though not at his 147 best in the conditions, was still too brilliant to get beaten.
Golden Horn, 130, might have got beaten – so they withdrew him.
Simple as that.
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It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"All to do with stud value I’m afraid. Lots of value lost on the horse if he was beaten. GlenEagles will probably be withdrawn from the Sussex if it is too soft. I can take or leave gosden but he does tend to dither over running horses,like roger varian over Kingston hill,and that can become tiresome.
It is just over halfway through the season though with another huge race on its way in a few weeks time.
Comparing Frankel and Golden Horn in this way doesn’t work.
Like Yeats stated, Frankel raced on heavy on his final ever start after a good break. Golden Horn probably would have won today but at what cost to the rest of his campaign?Comparing Frankel and Golden Horn is absolutely fine btw, *to have two horses of this calibre racing across these lands is something to behold and discuss for years to come*. *read in Morgan Freeman voice
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