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Chapter Five IN THE GROOVE b f Night Shift ex Pine Ridge
Alongside Dead Certain, DE had another potentially useful 2-y-old filly in 1989, and another one bought for a bargain price of 20,000 gns. That certainly looked cheap when you saw her on debut, as on appearance alone, she stood out that afternoon at Newbury. In the race, she missed the break, stayed on, but looked as if 5f was too sharp for her, beaten 3/4L by a Hannon trained 33/1 shot. That promised good things, but she flopped at Windsor as the 4/6 fav next time, returning home sore and given a break.
The benefit of that was clear at York in the Convivial Maiden at the Ebor meeting, where she ran away with the race, scoring by six lengths. That tempted DE to send her over to Ireland for a Group 3 over 7f at Phoenix Park, perhaps taking advantage of the presence of Steve Cauthen, who was there to ride the favourite in the Cartier Million. Whatever the reason, it didn’t pay off, as she faded back to third after leading inside the final two furlongs. So ended an up and down first season, leaving her in much the same position as Indian Ridge at the same point in his career – useful, but not yet proven as a Group class performer.
However, her trainer still clearly viewed her a top class prospect, and she started well as a 3-y-old, finishing second in a tight three way photo for the Nell Gywn at Newmarket. A reproduction of that form in the 1000 Guineas should have seen her placed at least, as the Nell Gywn winner, Heart Of Joy, took second behind Salsabil. In The Groove pulled hard, never got into the race at any stage and was beaten over 20L back in 8th place. Apart from Heart Of Joy, she also finished behind Sally Rous who’d been fifth in the trial race.
That run prompted a change of tactics on her next start, the Musidora at York. With Cauthen claimed for the hot favourite Sardegna, Ray Cochrane took the ride, and he had In The Groove settled in last until producing a strong run down the outside from two out to lead and draw clear. No rest for In The Groove, as she was out again eleven days later, dropped back to a mile in the Irish 1000 Guineas. Reunited here with Cauthen, he adopted the same waiting tactics, only moving out of last place passing the 2f marker. From there a sustained run took her to the front and a 3L success, with Heart Of Joy (the 4/6 fav) in second. A great result for all concerned and still the only Classic win for the trainer.
Inevitably, the Oaks proved too tempting, but probably also came too soon after four previous races in quick succession. She finished a laboured fifth under Asmussen, who copped a ban for excessive use of the whip. She bypassed Ascot, the Eclipse, the July meeting and Glorious Goodwood, only returning to action in the Juddmonte International at York. If that decision was based on her obvious liking for the track, she justified it fully, beating the colts that had filled the first two places in the Eclipse, again held up and producing her now familiar late burst under Cauthen.
With no suitable options for a Group 1 winner in the UK before the Champions Stakes, DE opted to send In The Groove to France, firstly to finish third in the Prix Vermeille, then unplaced in the Arc De Triomphe. In the latter, Richard Fox got a last minute call up to ride after John Reid had been injured in a stalls accident prior to the previous race. And of course Reid had only been booked because Cauthen and Asmussen were committed to their retaining stables, Cecil and Fabre.Any disappointment over the Arc was quickly dispelled when In The Groove, back at 10f and reunited with Cauthen, once again showed her power in a finish at Newmarket. She started second favourite at 9/2, with the Nassau Stakes and Sun Chariot winner Kartajana (Stoute/Swinburn) sent off at 13/8. The race followed the now familiar pattern, with In The Groove held up in last and having her challenge delayed until the final quarter mile and hitting the front inside the last 150 yards. The favourite disappointed, well beaten in sixth, a performance blamed on the good to soft ground.
In The Groove thus ended the season unbeaten in three runs at 10f, two of them against colts and older horses – combined with three defeats at 12f that pointed pretty clearly to what suited her best. With that record and an Irish Classic to her name as well, it seems likely that 90% of owners/trainers would have accepted that little could be gained by keeping her in training as a 4-y-old. But it’s also no surprise that DE would be part of the other 10%!
As to whether the results supported the decision, I suppose a case could be made either way. In The Groove began well, coping with a drop in trip and a Group 1 penalty in the Trusthouse Forte Mile at Sandown at the end of April. Defeat followed in the Lockinge, a four runner event, a pedestrian pace and a 5lb penalty proving her undoing behind the useful French colt Polar Falcon (later winner of the Haydock Sprint Cup). Then after those two runs at a mile, she was tried again at 12f in the Coronation Cup and prevailed in a bunch finish from Terimon and Rock Hopper, looking likely to win comfortably when making her usual late run out wide, but seeming to idle in front – Cauthen seen at his best in this race.
That was her last success, as she could only manage fourth in the Eclipse, although she beat Terimon more easily than she had at Epsom, their running at Sandown rather emphasising the weak nature of the Coronation Cup that year. As in the previous season, she then had a break until the Group 3 Select Stakes over 10f at Goodwood, where she finished second at odds on under a big penalty. That had been planned as a prep for a second try at the Arc, where she got a bit closer in sixth this time, but never looked like winning.
And so back again to the Champion Stakes at Newmarket and with Cauthen required to ride the Sheikh Mohammed owned Stagecraft, Asmussen was back in the saddle. To say that this was not his finest hour, would be world class understatement. Held up as usual, In The Groove was at least twelve lengths off the pace as the eventual first and second quickened off a slow pace three out. Hampered as she tried to make progress, the filly was left with an impossible task and only re-appeared in shot on the TV coverage in the last few yards, as she and the Piggott ridden Ristna stormed up the hill in vain pursuit of the 16/1 shot Tel Quel. I’ve no doubt at all that the jockey would have not enjoyed facing DE after that, but it didn’t result in a permanent breach, as a week later he rode Seattle Rhyme to win the Racing Post Trophy at Doncaster.
And there was no rest for In The Groove, who travelled to the USA to contest the Breeders Cup Turf at Churchill Downs, where she finished seventh. Looking at her overall form, her wins all came on tracks with at least a three furlong run-in, so no surprise that the tight US track proved unsuitable. She was then sold privately to Sheikh Mohammend for a reported £750,000. Add that to the £820,000 she collected in prize money and her owner got a pretty good return on his original investment. But a lifetime around racing has also taught me that owners can be the most odd of people. The year after In The Groove retired, Mr Cooper had two horses in training, one with Michael Bell, one with William Jarvis. Later in the 1990’s, he also employed Amanda Perrett and Lady Herries. Only in 2000/01 did he have another horse in training at Whitsbury.
Finally the achievements of In The Groove also seem a good point at which to assess the importance of the partnership DE developed with Steve Cauthen. I confess I have no idea how they met and would have enjoyed talking to the jockey about his experiences of riding for DE. But whatever the circumstances, it looks to have been a crucial part of the big race success the stable had in the 1980’s. He gave DE his first Group race with Heighlin in 1982, he was on board for four of the five career wins by Indian Ridge, three of the fours wins by Dead Certain as a 2-y-old and he won six times on In The Groove, including all her four Group 1 successes. It seems reasonable to guess that he also introduced DE to Cash Asmussen as a super sub when he was required to ride for his retained stable.
Personally, I’ve only seen one rider that I would compare with Cauthen as a judge of pace, and that was Gary Stevens, during his brief period riding over here in 1999. Both were superb on front runners, but as Cauthen showed on Heighlin and In The Groove, he could settle a horse and deliver it late as well as any man.
Chapter 6 ISLAND SANDS b c Turtle Island ex Tiavanita
The official statistics that tell us how trainers have performed, concentrate on two things – the number of winners and the total prize money won. What they don’t mention is something that’s equally, if not more important to their owners, the resale value of their horses. I confess that this was something that had not occurred to me until an experience at the Tattersalls Newmarket Horses in Training Sale in October 2009.
I was seated in the circular auditorium that is the centre of the sales complex, waiting for a horse I was interested in to take his turn in the ring. Before him there were a number of horses being sold from Heath House, the local stable of Sir Mark Prescott. One of these was a 3-y-old called Royal Diamond, who had a typical Prescott career to date, three moderate runs late on as a 2-y-old, then four consecutive wins in 1m 6f handicaps in the months immediately before this sale. His handicap mark had risen from 66 to 99 for those wins. I had all these figures to hand in the Timeform guide that I’d purchased weeks before the sale, which also told me that he’d been bought as a yearling at Goffs for 70,000 euros.
I thought he’d show a nice profit on that price, but in common with 99% of those present, I was amazed when he sold for 400,000 gns (i.e £420,000). That prompted me to do some research on my return home, which confirmed that Prescott had a long and consistent record of producing horses to peak just before this sale and getting top dollar for them. I realised then for the first time, how important that would be for an owner, and how it would justify the patience they have to show while the trainer waited for the right opportunities.
As I’ve already recorded in some of the previous chapters, DE also provided owners with substantial profits on horses like Mighty Fly, Indian Ridge, and In The Groove. And my choice for the sixth and final chapter in the flat race category is another in the same mould.
Island Sands was bought by DE at Goffs as a yearling for 18,000 Irish punts and subsequently ran in the colours of Mrs Michael Meredith. I had met Mr Meredith when he was clerk of the course at Salisbury in the 80’s, and he had also worked for a few years at Sha Tin in Hong Kong after leaving Salisbury. On his return, I believe he helped out at Whitsbury, using his knowledge of the admin side of the sport to deal with partnerships and syndicates. In the second half of the 90’s, I often chatted with him and his wife on race days at Salisbury and he told me about this cheap colt that was showing some promise on the gallops.
But on the day Island Sands made his debut, I was at York for day three of the Ebor meeting, so I didn’t take advantage of the information. DE used the fact of his low purchase price to run him in a maiden auction, and he proved much too good for that level of opposition, winning with plenty in hand at 3/1. Six weeks later, he was back at Salisbury for a 6f conditions stakes, in which he faced two useful rivals, both of whom already had an official rating of 100. Despite that, the winner of the cheap maiden auction (Fallon up this time) went off the 4/6 fav, with the other pair at 7/2. Held up, Island Sands put the race to bed untroubled, earning a 107 rating from the Racing Post and running a decent time on officially heavy ground.
I was there that afternoon and did see this race – in fact my betting diary for 1998 tells me that I took 4/1 about the runner-up! Hey ho, it’s all about the prices ….
Another juvenile with useful form, going into the winter break with the promise of more to come as a 3-y-old. But when Island Sands ran again, it was in the colours of Godolphin, who in the terms of the standard cliche, made the Merediths an offer they couldn’t refuse. The actual sum was never made public, but I was told that half a million was about right. Given how much can go wrong with even the best thoroughbred, who would turn down financial security in retirement and take the risk.
As to who got the best of the deal, well Sheikh Mohammed was probably more than satisfied when Island Sands thrived during a winter on the desert sands and returned to win the 2000 Guineas on his seasonal debut. So DE has still never trained a UK classic winner, but he did buy this one and train it as a juvenile. It will never appear under his name in the record books, but I reckon he can claim a good deal of the credit.
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