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According to Sir Henry he is still ‘work in progress’ with the Dante a possible next race or another run at Newmarket this month.
On Saturday Tom Queally had him tucked in behind and tactics by Gosden’s Michelangelo to hold him in failed when a break appeared and he was able to quicken, but when he did finally get going he asserted nicely over his main danger Mariners Cross.
Seeing him in the paddock on the day he is very similar in looks and build to Frankel, apart from all the headgear he wears, and he definitely looks one who will suit further.
Currently 20-1 for the Derby but will he take part? whatever happens he is an exciting horse to watch out for this year.
Sorry for the hijack, but I noticed your signature, are you connected to Darley in any way? (It’s Dalham Hall BTW) I worked for around six years for their buiding contractors and have worked on most of the major buildings (Racing Office, Foaling Unit, stallion yard etc. Back then Alec Notman was in charge (Liam O’rourke now I think.) and we often had to cease work while the likes of Daniel Wilderstein and Louis Freedman strolled about and looked over the horses.
Seen some awesome stallions come and go too. Sharastani, Topville, Reference Point (Nasty buggar!) Ajdal, Danncing Brave and many other stellar names. Mares too like the magnificent Inian Skimmer. (Won me a small fortune in the Prix De Diane Hermes)
Had some great times up there.
I’d love to see Sir Henry nab a Derby winner, and 20/1 is my kind of price, however the colt has yet to run on anything other than softish ground. I wouldn’t be surprised if we are seeing very fast ground at Epsom in early June. I’d prefer to see the horse act on faster ground before risking my hard-earned.
…Perhaps Sir Henry has purposefully nursed the youngster towards easy going for his races in this respect?
Also, a new film has just been released, "Outside Bet". See
IMdb link:-http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1772422/
The film to which Hammy refers is "The Rocking Horse Winner".
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0042898/
It`s quite a dark film, and also there`s some nice old footage of
Goodwood.That’s the one. It’s not a bad film from what I can remember.
Dick Francis’s Dead Cert with Dame Judi Dench!!
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071394/
Might have to look a copy of that one up at Amazon. Love my DF novels.
Anyone remember the film where the kid foretells future winners by going into a trance on a rocking horse?
There’s a film about Mill Reef called, ‘Something To Brighten The Morning’
A terrific win by HQ no doubt, however I think it might be a bit early to be heralding this filly as a truly great horse. The fillies are all over the place. It must be the coldest spring I can recall. Half of them probably still carrying wool. There’s no doubt the local fillies are backwards yet. Added to that we had a completely bizarre start to the race with the horses having time to cool down and perhaps for their performances to be affected I think it entirely possible that the form will be turned on its head before the seasons close.
Forgot to add that she had ground there that you would never expect at Newmarket in the spring. It’s like a bog here at the moment comparatively speaking. It may also be that she revelled particularly in the soft conditions.
The point I’m trying to make is that there were a number of anomalies that you wouldn’t expect from a ‘normal’ Guineas.
I guess time will tell if she’s genuinely the world beater that she potentially looked yesterday.
Backed the second in both of the classics at my local course this weekend. At least I backed Starscope each way today.
It’s funny but I got the impression he was completely relaxed when they passed me today. I’ve watched the gallop on Youtube since and he did take a keen hold.
I guess he justs makes running look so easy.
Speaking of Canford Cliffs, here’s a snap from the start of last year’s Guineas. The favourite on the day is behind him in the picture.
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6008/6008454927_8255891459.jpg
Canford Cliffs by Chris Hammond2008, on Flickr"You’ve all seen the old westerns where the aging but still very deadly gunslinger is trying to live in peace. Yet in every town he encounters a young punk looking to make a name for himself. The gunslinger is tired of all the killing but can’t escape his reputaion. That is lastword. "
You shouldn’t be trying to ban this geezer. You should be looking to sign him up…
… for Comic Relief!!
He’s priceless!
You the man LW.
They’ve just announced that Canford Cliffs has been retired to stud. The report I heard didn’t offer an explanation but my guess is they’re cursing their luck in taking on and being soundly beaten by Frankel and are adopting a policy of damage limitation with regard to the horse’s stud value.
As a newcomer it seems a bit over the top to me too, this notion of banning a fella for debating a little robustly and a bit of verbal banter. It is, when all is said and done, easy enough to ignore his posts should you wish to.
I’m happy to let the horse prove him wrong as his career unfolds. He could easily end up as the greatest miler of all time.
Thanks Pinza, (I have friends living in Pinza Close.
)I have nothing like the knowledge of racing that some of you guys have, but living here I’ve not surprisingly had quite a bit of contact with the sport.
For instance Dancing Brave gets mentioned a fair bit. I lost a wad on him at Epsom (And believe it or not I moved to Greville Starkey Avenue a couple of months later.)
Well he went to stud a few miles up the road at the Darley stud flagship stud farm Dalham Hall. I worked there on most of the new buildings as the arabs transformed the place. I’d see Dancing Brave every day. He was a bit of a lemon to be truthful and not an animal that filled the eye well. Another of my friends dad’s shoed the horses at Dalham Hall and he gave me a few of DB’s spent shoes as mementos. He wore a three quarter fore at that point.
The stallion list there was legendary. By far the most successful was a really spiteful little stallion called Shareef Dancer (If my memory isn’t getting mixed up.) He used to have to stand on a ramp to cover a mare he was that small. Others I can recall were Topville, a giant big horse, Adjal, and Reference Point. Sir Henry’s Indian Skimmer was a really sweet mare who spent her days in the paddocks there. I have good pictures in old print format of many of the ‘greats’, if I’m allowed to call them that.
…sorry for the waffling.
… a famous little mare named Diminuendo, which a few of you will no doubt remember.
Ah, good old Diminuendo. Loved her and I thought that Timeform were a bit parsimonious in rating her only 126- her demolition jobs of Sudden Love at both Epsom and, particularly, York merited closer to 130 in my eyes. Mind you, the Halifax organisation probably stuck more closely to the facts back then…
You may remember she found the Seven furlongs of the Nell Gwyn just a wee bit to sharp for her? We were convinced she had only to turn up and piled fortunes on her. D’oh!
Not sure gow much faith to put in it but I bumped into the lad who does D’arcy’s ‘Edinburgh Night’ in today’s Steward Cup in the town this morning. He said they’d backed it fairly heavily ante-post, though he did admit they wanted more cut in the ground. It is more than likely stable lad loyalty to his own horse, but he suggested it might run into a place and be worth a little each-way. Might be interesting to watch.
Perhaps not my place to say as a newcomer, but internet trolls are generally uninformed and set on nothing but insult and disruption. While this chap ‘Lastword’ appears to have a healthy dose of stateside arrogance and the social skills of Ghengis Khan, it is difficult to contest that his replies are cogent and apparently heartfelt.
I only wish I had the racing knowledge to figuritively kick his rude American backside. Unfortunately I don’t. My opinions are based simply on watching this horse and many others over my lifetime and comparing their impact and results.
At the risk of dropping my guard to him I’ll concede that my opinion is always going to be tempered by a degree of sentiment. There’s no doubt I would like with all my heart to see Sir Henry lording it over the winners enclosure in the biggest races with his wonder colt.
As a young man I spent a fair bit of my lifetime in and around Henry’s stables. My best mate’s father used to do (As they say around here.) a famous little mare named Diminuendo, which a few of you will no doubt remember. On more than one occasion when I’ve been walking up the famous Warren Hill to visit my friend Sir Henry has stopped in his Merc and offered me a lift. He’s genuinely that nice a bloke.
A great man and a great horse, no question in my mind.
