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Ran a blinder! Ryan gets the double. If he hadn’t pulled the bit through his mouth at York, he might well have been the favorite for this race.
Ran a blinder! Ryan gets the double. If he hadn’t pulled the bit through his mouth at York, he might well have been the favorite for this race.
Thank heaven he did then!
Hope "Himself" was on, as every union man knows….
No Workforce, No Profit.
Kick over the statues!
Value Is EverythingHope "Himself" was on, as every union man knows….
No Workforce, No Profit.
Kick over the statues!
… or the statutes !
No, I didn’t back Workforce – although one of my sons did – being as the socialist link resonated more with him.
I was already "on" Jan Vermeer.
I did back Stoutey’s finest at York in the Dante, hoping the horse would inspire enough confidence for me to go ahead and strike a bet on him winning The Derby. He didn’t impress, therefore I didn’t bother. 
There’s always the King George & QE where I can see Workforce grinding the life out of Fame and Glory et al.
Gambling Only Pays When You're Winning
Timeform have provisionally rated Workforce on 132 after his stunning Derby victory, making it their best winning performance at Epsom since Generous in 1991…..
…….Timeform’s Flat Editor Jamie Lynch was clearly taken
Sportinglife Website
History is weird indeed, you just cannot imagine it beforehand.
Press all over St Nicholas Abbey being the ‘next’ Sea The Stars and now, if anything is going to be that impressive (and I DOUBT it) it’s Workforce who has broken the track record and is the best since Horse Of The Decade Generous.
Who could have thought?
Timeform have provisionally rated Workforce on 132 after his stunning Derby victory, making it their best winning performance at Epsom since Generous in 1991…..
…….Timeform’s Flat Editor Jamie Lynch was clearly taken
Sportinglife Website
A massive comment, even allowing for that magic word ‘potential’.
Sea The Stars was the first horse to complete the Guineas / Derby / Arc treble.
There was no Guineas for Workforce, and I’d be very surprised if he can go on to win an Eclipse, Internationl, Irish Champion and Arc.
History tells us that a horse with the excpetional talent of STS comes along once every, what, 20 years, maybe more?
I think Jamie Lynch is in need of a good nights rest. Clearly the day has taken its toll on him.
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A true great, good luck if you think you’re beating this.
The horse has run to 132 on just its third start, something even Sea The Stars – rated 140 at the end of his career – did not manage.
The use of the word "potentially" is important, not least because it recognises that Workforce is not there yet, for all his immense promise.
If you think that Workforce has shown us exactly how good he is already then you are in a minority. Of possibly one.
The use of the word "good" is also important, for it refers explicitly to the horse’s ability.
Presumably there was a reason why the sadly deluded and mouth-frothing Mr Lynch chose not to say "as good as, as versatile as, as popular as and as durable as Sea The Stars."
I wouldn’t call the horse ‘great’, but has the potential to be. Where next, the Eclipse?
‘The debate about whether this was a spectacular performance against a relatively weak field or a downright phenomenal victory is only just beginning.’
~RP ONLINE
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A wonderful statement to summarise the success of Workforce.
The Derby is such a unique contest. Immature, inexperienced 3YO colts, many of whom are tackling the trip for the first time, charging around the undulations of Epsom, surrounded by a cauldron of human anticipation.
It can make, or break, a colt.
Therefore, The Derby is not always won by the best horse in the field, but the best horse on the day. The one who handles the occasion and the demands of Epsom racecourse shall reign supreme.
In the past ten years, only four colts have followed up their Epsom heroics:
Sea The Stars – Eclipse
High Chaparral – Irish Derby
Galileo – Irish Derby
Sinndar – Irish DerbyAn even more telling statistic is that Sea The Stars is the only horse during the last seven years to follow up, with the remainder tasting defeat in various contests:
New Approach – International
Authorized – Eclipse
Sir Percy – Champion Stakes
Motivator – Eclipse
North Light – Irish Derby
Kris Kin – King GeorgeThe final quartet never even won a race after Epsom.
Many believe that the race takes a lot out of these immature athletes, but a number of beaten horses have gone on to achieve a fair level of success after the first Saturday in June. In my opinion, when the unique demands of the course are replaced by a more conventional track, the winner no longer holds the advantage it enjoyed around Epsom.
Workforce enjoyed that advantage and subsequently beat:
At First Sight – a 100-1 pacemaker
Rewilding – failed to act down the hill
Jan Vermeer – jockey never happy
Midas Touch – failed to handle the course
Al Zir – doubtful stayerThe burst of acceleration the winner displayed appeared impressive, but at that time he was asked to go past a horse who you could forgive for tiring after he had been out on his own for much of the race.
As I mentioned in another thread, despite the winner landing the prize by a distance of 7L, he only put a further 3L between himself and Rewilding down the straight, despite the Godolphin colt pitching three furlongs out and clearly not enjoying coming down the hill. Later, Frankie Dettori would say that his colt is ‘more of a Leger horse’.
Where will Workforce go next? The last horse to attempt the English / Irish Derby double was North Light back in 2004, who was also trained by Sir Michael Stoute. The horse enjoyed a similar path, taking in a Goodwood maiden as a juvenile before tackling the Dante, then Epsom.
The last five winners have tried their luck over ten furlongs and Workforce clearly isn’t lacking in the pace department.
Workforce is the most visually impressive winner since Authorized in 2007. There is, however, a distict gulf between the two lists of respective Derby winners I have printed above.
Can Workforce join the likes of Sea The Stars, Galileo, High Chaparral and Sinndar?
He must first prove he is the best of his generation. Indeed, he could start by proving his superiority over Dante conqueror, Cape Blanco.
The real shame is that we even need to have the debate, we could so eaisly have had a series of Denman v Kauto style head to heads to look forward to.
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The real shame is that we even need to have the debate, we could so eaisly have had a series of Denman v Kauto style head to heads to look forward to.
Flat racing – thank goodness – isn’t prize fighting, with two hulks slogging it out until one for them drops dead to the canvas.
Who wants such endless yankee-style "head to heads"? They’re fine as a diversion, every ten years or so, between two fairly evenly matched horses over jumps: but the flat is far more subtle, intelligent and intriguing.
Much more interesting than any idea of Workforce in "head to head" with anything, is how his later career path will be mapped out. He had a hard race yesterday, which as a young and palpably immature colt may be to his detriment for future races.
But "future races" don’t really matter too much. This was the big one, still the most important race in the world from the breeders’ perspective, and there’s only one shot at it. Workforce hit the bullseye, in a manner which nobody who saw it will ever forget.
Isn’t that enough for us? Or are we just terminally greedy for hyper-sensation?
The burst of acceleration the winner displayed appeared impressive, but at that time he was asked to go past a horse who you could forgive for tiring after he had been out on his own for much of the race.
As I mentioned in another thread, despite the winner landing the prize by a distance of 7L, he only put a further 3L between himself and Rewilding down the straight, despite the Godolphin colt pitching three furlongs out and clearly not enjoying coming down the hill. Later, Frankie Dettori would say that his colt is ‘more of a Leger horse’.
Firstly, I think Workforce’s victory is one of the finest Derby wins I’ve seen. The race itself looked like a combo of those from Shergar, Slip Anchor and Nashwan. IMO, it made Sea The Stars’ Derby appear mediocre in comparison.
What impressed me was not only Workforces burst of acceleration from 3 furlongs out to leave the chasing pack in his wake but the way he sustained his run all the way to the winning line without showing any signs of stopping. Such energy and a wonderful stride!
There may be excuses for Jan Vermeer, Rewilding, At First Sight, etc but I don’t think they’d have beaten him anyway judging by Workforce’s sublime performance. If a horse can cope with Epsom, then it should handle any other track.
We have a crackerjack with Workforce.
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How can we judge anything at this stage other than faster conditions and a better pacemaker than last year? I backed the winner and he hasn’t proven much at all yet. He outclassed a possibly average bunch on the day and that’s all we have at this stage.
The two things that concern me were Ryan Moore’s reaction to the victory and the post race appearance of Workforce. In particular I took note that Ryan thought he’d given the horse a very hard race. After being unsaddled the horse looked quite narrow to me. That could have taken plenty out of him. It could be quite some time before we see Workforce again.
Those making any sort of Sea The Stars comparison at this stage are possibly addicted to hyperbole. There’s one thing that’s certain about Sea The Stars – He only ever did what was necessary to beat whatever was placed in front of him. We’ll never know what was left in the tank. Workforce may have emptied his tank yesterday. Time will tell. I hope he hasn’t.
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