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BSB,
What boycott ?
This isn’t an organised protest set up by the NTF, it’s just a few wealthy trainers that got together on Newmarket Heath and decided not to run their horses at Yarmouth.
Nobody asked Christine Dunnett her opinion – they just tried to bully her into going along with it after they’d acted. Her owners, who pay for her services, wanted to run – in their position I’d have done the same.
AP
Fair enough AP…I thought this was an organised exercise.
I still don’t think she should have declared. Saying that, the horse in question hadn’t beaten anything in two starts, and its very existence is why we are in this position anyway. Clearly, a walk-over is the only chance connections have of getting any return for their investment anyway.
John Gosden has shown himself up for what he is with his mean spirited and nasty comments towards Christine Dunnett.
For what it is worth, I would actually much rather send a horse to Christine Dunnett than to John Gosden. He gets enough top class bloodstock to mask the fact that he isn’t actually all that good, whereas Dunnett consistently wins races for her owners with cheap and moderately bred horses.
All power to her.
Nine winners for Dunnett last year from over 200 starts. Not one winner earned more than £2900 in any single race.
Unless she’s training horses for free, you would have lost your money with every single horse in that stable. thedarknight…you are taking rubbish here.
Such is the stupidity of Haggas and his cronies that by only thinking up the idea of a boycott (a word introduced into this by the Racing Post) after they had entered horses, they have managed to cost their owners money with no prospect of a return.
AP
According to the RP – her last five seasons have returned 8/15/29/17/10 winners.
Maybe last season wasnt her best, but I would suggest getting 29 winners from a yard that size in a single season is a terrific achievement.
Feel free to disagree though. Most people in racing live in this fantasy world where the likes of Gosden are hailed as geniuses for winning a few Group races with one of their regally bred horses.
Irrespective of her stance on the boycott, it is hard to fault her record as a trainer. She gets dirt cheap horses and does remarkably well with them imo.
What would John Gosden have achieved with Warden Warren, Smithy?
Nothing, Nada – ZILCH.
Dear old WW.
Gosden didn’t achieve much with Kennington either, James. That sort of cast off is the scrap she has to work with though – 2,500gns from Gosden, 7 wins and nearly 40k in prize money.
Based on a conservative estimate of training fees at £150 a week, not a single horse in her yard would have yielded anything close to a return last year. OK, so horse owners aren’t supposed to make any money out of the game, and you’re clearly only as good as the horses in your care, but it rather wipes away much of the romanticism.
Mark Johnston probably made more money from his share in the Middleham cafe he half owns than Christine Dunnett makes from her horse race training fees.
Whilst there is no doubt Mark Johnston has done well since starting out training on an old airfield in Lincolnshire he does seem to be obsessed with money.
When Warwick was abandoned last year he invoiced the track twice for £942.38 for his transport costs on behalf of his two owners Sheila Brookhouse and Sheik Mohammed.
He was not actually in the country but in the U.S.A. at The Keeneland Sales at the time but he thought it wrong that his two owners should be paying for his transport costs for a meeting that was abandoned.How many times do National Hunt trainers have to set either the day before or early on the same day with horses to race at winter National Hunt meetings that face morning inspections? Do the owners always face the transport costs when a meeting is abandoned? Yes of course they do.
If I was an owner with a moderate horse with Christine Dunnett I would be relying on her to find the easiest chance to earn me some prize money.
As AP has already stated Mark Johnston runs a horse today in a Class 5 maiden with prize money just £647.70 pence more than the Yamouth race that Christine Dunnett was according to him not meant to run in due to low prize money.
I’m not one to defend Johnston but with the Warwick case, wasn’t the meeting abandoned because of the negligence of the clerk of the course rather than unforseen weather complications that affect NH trainers. In my opinion, Warwick should have compensated all owners and trainers that ended up out of pocket for that incident.
Based on a conservative estimate of training fees at £150 a week, not a single horse in her yard would have yielded anything close to a return last year. OK, so horse owners aren’t supposed to make any money out of the game, and you’re clearly only as good as the horses in your care, but it rather wipes away much of the romanticism.
That is simply the reality of owning cheap racehorses, BSB. I’m sure if you worked out a return on investment on Gosden’s six figure purchases over the years it would make frightening reading.
I have to say I used to have a great deal of time and respect for Mark Johnson, however his arrogant attitude with Christine Dunnett has made me revise my opinion.
Johnson and Gosden in particular come out of this affair with no credit whatsoever – arrogant bullies is one of the kinder epithets I can think of.
I always thought Mineshaft was a good indicator of Gosden’s ability. Under his care he picked up just under £25k in two seasons, the only win in a maiden at Newmarket.
Transferred to the States, he proceeded to win nine races in the space of ten months, including four Grade 1’s and total pize money of £1.4M.
AP
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