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Not pocket talking but that ride from James McDonald is one of the worst I have ever seen in a big race – and I am usually a fan of him.
Pulling the horse out wide and asking for a huge effort so far out meant he was always going to be vulnerable in the closing stages.
If I was the horse’s owner or trainer, I would be furious.
Bad luck to anyone who backed him. The best horse lost.
That was some race.
On the day, I’d say the best horse lost and after watching that, I’d say Romantic Warrior is probabably the best horse on the planet.
No doubt he would want that ride back – I think his arrogance in thinking he was that much better than his rival(s) led him to wanting to put on a show for the crowd and it blew up in his face.
Going that wide around the turn was a bit eye opening and I thought at the time was a mistake especially considering how he was running all over those on his inside at the time – he could have easily just sat in behind Forever Young and let him lead him halfway up the straight and then pull him out and go with one decisive kick that wouldn’t have given Forever Young any time to respond and fight back.
By kicking on that early he set himself up as a target to be chased down and while some would say it is an after timing comment, I did actually feel that exact same way as the race was going down live.
I did as well, LD. I thought at the time how the manoeuvre out wide was an odd thing to do. It had to cost him at least a length or two.
And then to ask the horse for such a huge physical effort so far from home. I said to myself at the time “I hope you know what you are doing”. He had to pay for it in the final stages.
I agree it did have more than a hint of arrogance about it. Looking up at the big screen doesn’t look too clever now either.
George Baker on RTV looked annoyed about the ride. When asked if the best horse had won, his “No” sounded like an aggrieved punter!
Forever Young deserved that after gritty runs in Kentucky Derby and BC Classic hes got some ticker .
Romantic Warrior a dead set great imho , connections could have stayed in HK and cleaned up year after year , but have took on the world with success ,wins in top level races HK, Japan , OZ , Dubai just superb. He goes Royal Ascot hes streeting them , he can sit wide and still hose home on turf no probs .Seeing the replay Forever Young looked beat. Don’t think anyone expected him to come back at Romantic Warrior the way he did. What a race. Gave me goose bumps. To be honest don’t know much about either horse but they’re now ingrained in my greatest races mindset.
In general, HK press and racing fans think this is acceptable.
The connections always emphasised avoiding kickback as it is the first time for Romantic Warrior to run on dirt. Taking 5 wide in final corner just followed the instruction of connections. Also, They decided to skip Dubai World Cup long before Saudi Cup due to heavy kickback in Meydan.
I believe he was beaten by a better dirt horse. Following Forever Young was no way to beat him.
Had he been on the outside of the field for the whole race then that reasoning would have made perfect sense but it wasn’t until they went into the final turn that he went outside his field – he had plenty of time to hate the kickback and back out of things when he was sitting in behind the leaders getting a faceful of it prior to that part of the race.
Can’t convince me that the move to the outside (into a quickening pace) and the extra distance he had to cover to do that wasn’t the difference between winning and losing, the winning distance was only a neck!
That change of geared he showed coming wide off the home turn to go a few lengths clear would have been a winning move had he followed Forever Young through and waited until halfway up the straight and deployed it then. Conserving your energy and deploying it at the right time clearly wasn’t what McDonald did here and it ended up costing him the race plain and simple.
Connection can say what they like publically but you know privately they are all thinking that it was the race that got away and it was through no fault of the horse himself – to me he is clearly the better horse of the two (even on a dirt surface).
I find the media are quick to praise great rides to high heaven but find every excuse in the book (and some outside it) to try and absolve a jockey (especially a big named one) of any blame when they ride a bad or even an ill judged race.
Both those horses got their races on Dubai World Cup night sown up barring very bad luck. The third a good yardstick and it was daylight back to him .
Well said, HCMW. If I wouldn’t be a biased European pr*** I’d say this was one of the top five races I’ve ever witnessed. Both horses are easily 133+. Plenty of useful yardsticks beaten between 10-20 lengths behind them. Plus how many horses in the history of G1 races have proved as consistent and versatile as Romantic Warrior?
Completely agree with CAS and LD73 on this one: the extra ground covered going five-wide going around the bend has cost Romantic Warrior the race.
Hindsight is 20/20, of course, but there is no doubt in my mind that he would have won if he had stayed to the inside.
I used to think RW was very good in HK , then turns up in OZ wins Cox Plate , i thought well OZ is bit flimsy at 2000 WFA but still v v good effort , but turning point for me to drop back to mile and beat a full field of Japans top milers in Japan in a prized race and then maintain that level onwards , imho hes a great .
JMac’s inexperience riding on dirt tracks found him out and got his horse beat. He was clearly on the best horse and was giving RW a good ride until they hit the top of the stretch.
Anyone who follows dirt racing knows that the best/fastest part of the track is towards the middle of the track where the crown is. JMac’s novice move to the rail, usually the deepest/slowest part of a dirt track, cost him the race.
All he had to do was keep RW down the middle and he wins easily. JMac is an excellent rider on grass, but still has much to learn about riding on dirt.
If they go to Meydan, they may want to find a proper dirt rider.
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