- This topic has 15 replies, 9 voices, and was last updated 15 years, 11 months ago by
.
- Posts
Glancing at the card in the Racing Post, I see that of the 24 runners, no fewer than 12 had at least one Group 1 victory to their names.
Has there ever before been a race in the UK contested by so many G1 winners?
It was a fantastic international race, I wish we could have more of them. Contests like this are the future of the sport.
The winner is an outstanding physical specimen, reminiscent of his "bull-of-a-horse" sire, Choisir. It’s just a shame that he’s due to retire to stud in Australia later in the summer ($33,000AUS a pop if you’re interested).
I very much doubt it but I suppose it depends on how highly you rate the sprinting division since the better ‘handicappers’ merged with Group horses. Personally, judged on today’s race I don’t think the winner is any better than the great sprinters of the past.
also interesting to note the course record set by Starspangledbanner stood for a mere 35 minutes before being beaten in the following contest.
Yes it is Venusian – can’t believe that there are racing folk talking about two bit handicaps with domestic runners when we have the fastest horses on turf gracing our shores.
Great to see Ascot and Newmarket embracing the Global Sprint Challenge – just wish we’d send more of our sprinters to it instead of running in the Temple Stakes or the Palace House.
- Total Posts 17716
To address the thread question directly: certainly not! Let’s not confuse quantity with quality, or be swayed by the hopeful pre-race hype.
It’s a truth universally acknowledged that sprint Group 1’s are comparatively easy pickings, and it’s not surprising there were 12 such runners in the race. Compare the top ratings of this lot with the top three rated in the Queen Anne, which was a far stronger race in prospect, and something like a classic (small c) in action.
In the Golden Jubilee, Society Rock managed to come in as the respectable runner-up. With all due respect to him and his fine trainer, this tells us everything we need to know about the strength in depth of the race – even ignoring the time from the Wokingham half an hour later, and half a second faster.
Or do we think Laddies Poker Two is by three lengths the finest mare ever to grace Ascot’s six furlongs?
Personally I can’t get enthusiastic about sprinters, a race can be won or lost in the draw or the start….or pampered three year olds that get shuffled off to stud with indecent haste after 3 or 4 races.
I’d say Rite Of Passage breaking Royal Gait’s long time course record whilst winning what I’ve always considered the top race in the British Flat Season and in the process joining such real greats as Yeats, Ardross, Levmoss and Le Moss to name but four represents the pinicale of achievement at Royal Ascot
- Total Posts 17716
I’d say Rite Of Passage breaking Royal Gait’s long time course record whilst winning what I’ve always considered the top race in the British Flat Season and in the process joining such real greats as Yeats, Ardross, Levmoss and Le Moss to name but four represents the
pinnacle [sic.]
of achievement at Royal Ascot
A very respectable position, which would have been held by many before the race began to lose its status in the decades before World War II. The attractions and huge purse for the "newfangled" Eclipse Stakes had rather dented the lustre of the Gold Cup even before then, but since 1945 very few classic victors outside the slower St Leger winners have gone near the race.
Yeats was an interesting exception – he’d probably have been the Derby winner of his year had not injury intervened (North Light, where are you now?). It was the Gold Cup’s fortune that it did. I feel sure he’ll prove a magnificent sire, if given half a chance.
The fact that the race is still the most valuable at the Royal meeting is a testament to the marvellously rich diversity of our flat racing scene. But "pinnacle": alas, no longer, in any meaningful sense: the Gold Cup is a nowadays a mere speciality turn.
- Total Posts 17716
Duplicate post
- Total Posts 17716
Duplicate post
Yeats was an interesting exception – he’d probably have been the Derby winner of his year had not injury intervened (North Light, where are you now?).
Pure speculation with there being little evidence to suggest Yeats’ 12f form was superior to that of North Light’s. North Light was sold to stand in the States (surprising imo given his stamina laden pedigree) and has had few representatives in the UK, just 4 so far, though producing a pretty smart one in Artoc Cosmos.
- Total Posts 17716
Rock solid gp1 form, imo.
Society Rock has always been highly thought of by his stable, and since his debut had met with just 2 defeats prior to Saturday’s race: once over 7f, a distance his trainer knew was too far, but ran in for the huge purse (garnered almost 10k for 7th place); and once when he saw too much daylight for a hold-up horse. There’s little doubt he’ll eventually endorse his new gp1 status, and with 2 of the world’s better sprinters close in his wake, little doubt he maintained the improvement he’d shown in his previous races.
SSB only ran as fast as he had to to win the race, and it was noticeable that he had enough left in the tank to cart his jockey for another 3 or 4 furlongs before responding to restraint.
It will take an exceptional performance to lower his colours in the July Cup – imo, of course.It’s clearly a top Group 1 sprint. For the fact it brought together SSB, Fleeting Spirit and Kinsale King – it’s the best sprint this year. In an ideal world I’d like to see the race conducted in one group, but it’s not going to happen with a field that size on a straight course. There are NO Group 1 sprints in Europe that are run round a bend, unless you include the Prix de la Foret, which is actually run over 6 furlongs and 180 yards.
I don’t think it’s the highest class race ever run in the UK based on the number of Group 1 winners though. Some of those Group 1 winners almost prove that there are too many Group 1’s.
You had the following:
Best Sprinter From Australia – SSB
Best Sprinter (Turf) in the US – Kinsale King
Best Sprinter (Synths) in Dubai – Kinsale King (this past Carnival)
Best Sprinter (Turf) in Dubai – Joy And Fun (this past Carnival)
Best Sprinter in UK – Fleeting Spirit
Best 3yo Sprinter in UK – Society Rock
Second Best Sprinter in HK – Happy Zero (also same rank in Mile division)
Other Top Australian Sprinters – Joy And Fun, Alverta (massively improve for the run)
Best 5f Sprinter in France – Marchand D’Or
Best 6-7f Sprinter in France – Varenar
I doubt we’ll be seeing so much as the best horse in 2 jurisdictions in any other race in Europe this year let alone 4!! (Australia, Hong Kong, Europe and USA).
A very respectable position, which would have been held by many before the race began to lose its status in the decades before World War II. The attractions and huge purse for the "newfangled" Eclipse Stakes had rather dented the lustre of the Gold Cup even before then, but since 1945 very few classic victors outside the slower St Leger winners have gone near the race.
Reply
I’d have to agree reluctantly, but I’m an old fashioned chap and expect to see the top flat horses stay in training to at least five. Vinnie Roe, Vintage Crop, Goldikova, Zenyatta, Yeats etc
More recently breeding seems to be more important than winning races and as you said, The Gold Cup doesn’t fit the current fashion yet it’s no so long since Levmoss went on to win The Arc while Ardross was probably the unluckiest loser (sht hd) in the history of the race.
Perhaps Harbinger or Profound Beauty will win the King George, go to to take The Arc and come back next season to win The Gold Cup? Sadly I fear I’ll have to dream on……- Total Posts 17716
Pure speculation with there being little evidence to suggest Yeats’ 12f form was superior to that of North Light’s. North Light was sold to stand in the States (surprising imo given his stamina laden pedigree) and has had few representatives in the UK, just 4 so far, though producing a pretty smart one in Artoc Cosmos.
Pure speculation perhaps, but based on what the pair eventually went on to achieve on the racecourse. Aidan O’Brien is hardly unbiased, but he for one would agree with my speculation.
Official Ratings don’t support me, rather surprisingly, as North Light’s highest mark (122), achieved when he was 2nd to New Morning in the Brigadier Gerard as a 4yo, precisely matches Yeats’s highest mark (122) which was achieved on 3 occasions in 2009 – curious that apparently he was better at 8 than at 5, 6 or 7, but there we are!
I don’t think North Light has been causing any
aurori boreali
at stud in the States, for the reason you suggest.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.