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Three questions:
(1) Has any previous Derby runner won a 2m Hurdle (at Strasbourg) as his prep race?
(2) Who will be brazen enough to endure the joshing in the jockey’s room and accept the ride?
(3) By how many lengths will he finish last?
I suppose Maidstone Mixture’s presence adds to the Gaiefty of Nations, but really!
A joke. Poor decision from connections; owner is a complete idiot for continuously doing this in big races; please bring in a rating cap where a horse has to be rated over a certain mark – please! This is an unwanted farce, but one we have witnessed again and again recently and last season saw the very moderate staying handicapper Noddies Way make his debut.
1) No
2) Frankie Dettori?
3) 42 at a guess!
A ratings minimum was introduced for G1s over the jumps (130), however Fergus Wilson horses have an uncanny knack of making the threshold by just a few pounds! You’ll be glad to know he’s retiring from ownership after this particular day out he’ll be enjoying on Saturday.
…but his wife isn’t, so the possibility of further, um, ambitious entries being made in top class races hasn’t been eradicated entirely (for all that I don’t think she’s quite as barking stars as he is).
gc
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.
It’s a slight concern that Wilson considers Maidstone Mixture a front-runner. At least his NH horses are ridden as hold-up horses and stay held up. I hope the horse isn’t thrashed to get to the front and I really hope that he doesn’t impact the race in any meaningful way as he inevitably folds coming down the hill.
- Total Posts 17716
… please bring in a rating cap where a horse has to be rated over a certain mark – please! This is an unwanted farce, but one we have witnessed again and again recently …
On the other hand, sentiment tells me that The Derby wouldn’t be the fantastic race it is without the Carnival element (as British as the Quixotic no-hopers who stand at Parliamentary elections) and provided Maidstone Mixture doesn’t get in the way I suppose little harm is done.
There’s also a problem that if ratings were used, it’s possible that the odd winner would be barred. See for example:
http://www.horseracinghistory.co.uk/hrh … nt?id=1243
Merry Hampton had never run before, never won again, but it was a poor year, he was no long shot, and ran out a thoroughly deserving winner!
Not sure if jockey Michael O’Connell has even ridden on the flat as he is a NH jump jockey.
Not exactly the ideal race and/or course to be making your flat debut in if that’s the case.- Total Posts 17716
P.S. Much more recently of course there was Morston, who only visited the racecourse twice. Unraced at two he made a winning debut in a ten furlong maiden at Lingfield on 11th May 1973, at odds of 14-1. Twenty-six days later he created an even bigger shock by winning the Derby by half a length from Cavo Doro, this time as a 28-1 outsider. He never ran again.
Would he have got into the race if a rating system had been in force?
If there were to be a rating cap, would Epsom not have to refund all the entry fees to owners of horses who failed to get in? That’s a lot of £9,000s.
Whip-wielding jailbird Michael O’Connell hasn’t ridden on the Flat in GB (I don’t have complete figures for Ireland) since early 2003 when he had a spell as an apprentice with David Evans. He rode 17 times, all bar one for Evans, finishing third once (no better than sixth on any other occasion).
O’Connell, however, can compare himself to the greatest Derby jockey of all-time in that both have spent time at Her Majesty’s Pleasure.
I hear he’s gonna have ten bags of sand on the beast @1000, leveraging it into 500. He’ll the borrow another ten bags on the equity he now has as the market suggests the value of his investment has doubled. He’ll keep on repeating the process until the beast is odds on.
On a positive note we do know that he is one horse who will get the 1m4f trip.
No reason why he cant run when you consider the no hopes who run in the big G1 races at the Festival.
No reason why he cant run when you consider the no hopes who run in the big G1 races at the Festival.
The ones he owns you mean?
Lovely a thread mocking a Derby runner . I remember a couple of years ago getting excellent 50-1 from Paddy Power that Noddies Way would be beaten less than 50 lengths by the Derby winner, he was beaten less than 40 – and Meath from the mighty yard of the great Aidan O´Brien had been beaten further the year before.
Let him run and then if he´s tailed off after a furlong start the threads then – any less than 80 lengths by the winner at 50´s going?
Let’s face it Martin, it is a bit of a joke really! Not least, since has been pointed out, they plan to make the pace – as has also been said, let’s hope he doesn’t impede anything else when he falls in a hole.
Mind you the biggest joke of all is that Wilson intends to stand it at stud in the UK – yes, that’s all we need in this climate of overproduction, another shite animal covering poor quality mares (cos let’s face it, he’s not going to cover anything decent, is he??)
I know it is (arguably perhaps) an owner’s prerogative to run his or her horse in any race in which they see fit, assuming that the horse is qualified, but I do think a line has to be drawn somewhere, to eliminate such complete no hopers as Maidstone Mixture, and to ensure that no unnecessary accidents occur.
Speaking as someone who has never owned a horse (and would probably never be able to afford to own one), my own preference, if I had a horse, would be to run him in his own class, starting off at the lowest, and working my way up, should the horse be good enough. I’d much rather see my horse win a 7 furlong maiden at, say Folkestone (for argument’s sake) than be tailed off last miles behind at Epsom or Royal Ascot, and only running at the last named meeting to give the owner the kudos of saying he had a runner at Royal Ascot.
Certainly, I do not condone the way in which Mr Wilson enters his horses for such races – it reminds me very much of an incident many years ago, when an unraced 18 year old horse (yes – 18 years old !
) called Prestidigitateur (meaning magician or conjuror, for those unfamilar with French) was entered for the Champion Hurdle ! There was a huge outcry at the time and fortunately, the horse never ran, but what on earth induced this entry in the first place is totally beyond me.Does anyone else remember this ?
Let’s face it Martin, it is a bit of a joke really! Not least, since has been pointed out, they plan to make the pace – as has also been said, let’s hope he doesn’t impede anything else when he falls in a hole.
Mind you the biggest joke of all is that Wilson intends to stand it at stud in the UK – yes, that’s all we need in this climate of overproduction, another shite animal covering poor quality mares (cos let’s face it, he’s not going to cover anything decent, is he??)
I won´t deny it´s a joke but the whole Derby is Jim Bolger´s antics, the "we won´t run at Epsom" brigade from across the sea and the standing him at stud just tops it off. He wouldn´t be the first, Ted Caine stood Salty Behaviour at stud – if he has that many mares surely he could send them to the cheaper stallions? It´s not like the stud fees for NH horses are huge
) called Prestidigitateur (meaning magician or conjuror, for those unfamilar with French) was entered for the Champion Hurdle ! There was a huge outcry at the time and fortunately, the horse never ran, but what on earth induced this entry in the first place is totally beyond me.- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.