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And now Ten Sovereign retires. Being a sprinter, surely he could have raced on for another year.
@greengrass – She was a great mare and we thoroughly enjoyed her this year. Winning Irish and British champion stakes and running creditably in arc, all within 5 weeks is great effort. As per news, No Way Never will cover her next year.
Now the question is…who will give competition to Enable next year with both her arch rivals – Crystal Ocean and Magical gone.
For people like us who only follow flat racing, champions day is crucial but there are definite scope for improvement.
Champions day is a brilliant concept and perfect culmination of flat season. Though I agree it was a bit disappointing this year due to testing ground but hey no one can control weather. Also, retirement of class horses like Crystal Ocean, TDH, Calyx,Masar etc made the event bit handicapped with lack of superstar horses. And this is always a drawback with flat racing where horses don’t have a long career unlike jumps.
But overall, Champions Day is a brilliant concept and qipco is doing a good job.
Are there scope of improvement? Sure, there is. I would do the following to make it more interesting:
1) Include 2 additional races – 1 for 2yo fillies only and another for 2 yo colts & fillies. Why Newmarket gets so many juvenile races in autumn? Move Royal Lodge and Fillies mile on champions day.
2) Encourage more international participation. Run a champions day challenge series aka breeders cup including races in States, Britain, Europe, Aust, Japan, HK, South America etc where winners get automatic entry.
3) Include a long distance (2Miles 5furlong) handicap.
4) Organize in different venues every year (where G1 races can be organized)
I think if we do above…the reputation of champions day will increase a lot.
Then again, I am new to racing…so the above points are the only ones I could think off
Pretty poor from Gosden here TBH. He has the best horses in his stable but cant prepare anyone for the Guineas in time. I am not saying Gosden is causing his horses getting injured but too often we have noticed his main horses miss the big races with miraculous injuries/excuses. Lah Di Dar before Oaks last year gets injured, Enable out injured almost whole year, Calyx gets injured just after 2 runs and still not ready, Cracksman missing many good races due to not enough rain excuse and now TDH is out. If Prince Khaled not pushed, Enable would have called off the season after Arc last year and never traveled to America. Remember, Kingman was also given a poor campaign and retired too soon.
As race lovers…we would want to see the best horses running in a major races like Guineas. But with both TDH and Calyx out we miss out on the opportunity to watch the best horses run. Thank god Frankel was not trained by Gosden.
I would now bet on Advertise to win the 2000Guineas under Oisin Murphy.
Wow very impressive from Qabala. I was in Newmarket when she ran her first race beating Desirious and Rainbow Heart. Though I expected big things from Rainbow Heart this season….didn’t expect this horse to improve so much during winter. Not trying to jinx Qabala but her running style reminds of Alpha Centauri
Newspaperofrecord should come here for 1000 Guineas.
Curious – Has any American horses ever won any British classic?
Gosden should allow Calyx to run a 7F prep race before making a call. Let TDH run in Craven and Calyx in Greenham and then decide. If all 3 -TDH, Calyx and Ten Sovereigns turn up, it will be the best Guineas of the last 5 years. Then there are horses like Quorto, Jash, Madhmoon, Magna Grecia, Advertise…wow wow wow. Cant wait for the day
Dubai Millennium Stakes tomorrow has 8 runners and 6 of them from Godolphin. What is the purpose of such races?
Nabeyla – Roger Varian Trained filly looked amazing in Wolverhampton yesterday with a 6length win in his debut race.
Elisheba – Gosden trained filly (daughter if Australia) is the one to note as well.
What is wrong with Moore these days? No winners since October. Is it just a poor form or he is no longer good enough? It will be interesting to see if Ballydoyle retains him in the upcoming season.
It will be interesting to see whom Dettori choose to ride between Calyx and TDH. I think only one will run in the Guineas.
