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Kingman isn’t the first top class 3 year old to be retired to stud , and he won’t be the last.
I think the owner has made the correct decision in view of the circumstances. Why spoil the horse’s reputation if , because of illness, Kingman raced again and was beaten by horses he has laughed at previously.
Kingman is one of the best milers I have seen – he won me a good few quid . His turn of foot was a sight to behold . The way he quickened away from another top class horse, Toronado , at Goodwood , was proof ( if proof were needed ) of his brilliance .
I hate to see champion racehorses tarnish their reputations by going to the well once too often . Happy retirement champ.
But at least Toronado was raced long enough to try to give weight to younger horses. With Kingman we’ll never know.
Some good and well balanced posts here ,,,,its probably fair to say there is too much AW racing as is , and will be increased even further by chelmsford and newcastle….we are saturated with it…which kills the real spectacle of British racing ,,viva la difference …..
However its here to stay like it or not , so we have to accept it and or ignore / play its your choice
so lets get to the core of the argument , its not so much the spectacle and surface I object to , its the fiddling , by jockeys and all parties concerned , whilst fighting for first prize of 1900 quid …the low grade part , which is the majority during the winter , is in my opinion totally corrupt , as punters you would do well to just ignore it in its entirety
If you like it and make it pay , good on ya …Enjoy it
If you are at all dubious , you must just leave it alone
The choice is yours , it will never , ever , be as good as turf racing , and will never generate the excitement of jump racing , its simply bookie driven , aided by the BHA, fodder for mugs in the main , losers to fund racing , regardless of the consequences …in my opinion those are just a price too much to pay
IMO
Another interesting piece by Richard Hughes in his RP column today where he calls for more claiming races, partly with the aim of stopping what he describes as "cheating" in the many low grade handicaps.
Well said, I had nothing against the AW when it started. It filled the void when the turf courses were frozen solid for weeks at a time. However, that was when the fixture list was at a sensible level.
I have plenty of video of the early equitrack and fibresand races, including AW jumping! Then the novelty wore off as the fixture list expanded and the BHB lost control of their allocation.
You can’t really knock the racecourses for putting on the fixtures, they have a business to run and an AW track can put on so many more fixtures than a conventional turf track.
Those who see racing as just a betting medium probably aren’t bothered what surface it’s run on, but the rest of us who just enjoy watching the sport would like to see much less AW racing and less fixtures in total. You can have too much of a good thing and there is too much.
To fully appreciate the sport you need a break now and again. There used to be natural breaks during periods of bad weather, now there are just three days at Christmas. To compensate AW racing does not happen as far as I am concerned. I won’t watch it and it wouldn’t matter if they started (and they will) running group races on the AW. That way I’m guaranteed a break at some point without having to miss any turf racing.
A very fair post.
There is a surfeit of racing in general staged in at the behest of the bookies for betting shop fodder. Few people have got the time to keep up with it all and several national newspapers have sacked their racing correspondents and don’t carry all the racecards. Outside of "saturation" Saturday afternoons, most UK racing is dross comprising Class 5s and 6s with £1900 to the winner. Described as "racing for rosettes" by Hannon snr it is no surprise that corruption is perpetuated and owners try to lay their horses on the exchanges. It is unfair to blame all this on the AW as there are plenty of similar turf races at Bath, Chepstow,Brighton etc. Given ARC’s prominent position in racecourse ownership much of this is their responsibility but not exclusively so. Let’s be honest, part of the hostile response generated by ARC’s proposal to dig up the turf at Newcastle was to have a pop at ARC and their prize money levels.
Regarding AW, ss Richard Hughes said in his RP column,once you have laid the track surface, AW racing is cheap to stage as all you require is a tractor. Racecourses can then generate revenue by staging more meetings and selling booze if anyone attends. The BHA resemble the John Major Govt as "being in office but not in power" as they as the supposed governing body seem to have little control over the fixture list. Those in control are the racecourses and bookies. I do understand that the surface is consistent and can be good for horse welfare.
What makes AW boring is the numbing sameness of it all. Same surface, same tactics, same draw bias, same way races are run.No variety. Like US racing without horses on drugs. Of course I understand that serious punters make like the lack of variables.I am an ARC annual member and have spent many a winter’s day peering across the turf track at Lingfield watching the AW on the track laid inside it. In the winter the attendance is abysmal. No-one has ever really watched flat racing at Kempton whatever the surface.
IMO as a spectacle there is enough AW racing without Chelmsford and Newcastle.
Very much an up and comer.
Also won the G3 at Salisbury yesterday with New Providence.
Connected to the Huntley and Palmer biscuit family he is very well connected.
Educated at Eton and Newcastle Uni he has worked for Lord Huntingdon , Cheveley Park, John Warren (Queen’s racing manager), Patrick Chamings, Hughie Morrison and Gai Waterhouse in Australia.
Very media savvy, his website and blog are up to date and he used the exposure offered on C4 last Saturday when his horse won a G3.
Top jocks like Moore ride for him. As long as he produces results they will continue to do so.
I take the point about criticising people in an insular sport. Depends who it is doesn’t it? When he criticised claims made by Derek Thompson no-one was bothered were they?I agree with some of the comments about Stoute. I cringe when he’s interviewed and walks off when he feels like it.
I don’t know the man but he comes across as pig ignorant and the day he retires from the training ranks will be a good day for the sport.
A man of his age you would expect to have developed manners, humility and decency, long ago. The fact that those attributes appear to be lacking from him is rather degrading on himself.
In terms of press relations his stable jockey went to the same charm school
I’d agree with Steve. Buick was pathetic and Dettori not much better out of his ground on a stayer.
Verrazano looks like Tarzan but runs like Jane. Held at a mile by the likes of Olympic Glory and Toronado.
Night of Thunder is a top class miler who nonetheless fluked a Guineas over Kingman who he won’t beat again. Possibly because of the surfeit of mile talent in the Hannon yard and desire to keep them apart, he is another one being messed around in distance and made into something he is not. iler Olympic Glory got stuffed over 10f in France. Montiridge is a G2/3 miler who lacks the early speed to be a Group sprinterBradley’s application to train has been dragged out by the BHA for ages.
Compare and contrast with Al Zarooni conveniently being run out of racing in 72 hrs after he was deemed to have acted alone and leaving lots of unanswered questions.Hindsight shows that Kool Kompany needs to be up with the pace and not given a waiting ride as he does not have a finishing burst. Think he will turn out decent but not a top notcher.
Lingfield you say and I quote "the only way they might have beaten the winner" Why they have already beaten the winner in the Guineas using Fallon; have you forgotten? As for the ferocious turn of foot mentioned by another I wonder how it would compare with the Derby turn of foot displayed by Australia when running down Kingston Hill? Just wondering.Incidentally I thought that last year’s Irish Two Thousand Guineas was more easily won than this year without half the fuss from the press.
The Hannons have so much talent amongst the milers and various formlines that they should know where they are both within the stable and against the opposition. I think they are realistic enough to realise that the way the groups panned out in the English Guineas meant that NOT got the race to suit and Kingman didn’t. Remember that Kingman previously slaughtered NOT by four and a half lengths in the Greenham when NOT was ridden by Moore. Certainly Hannon is in no rush to take on Kingman over a mile again in the short term at least. This is what he said on his website:-
Reflecting on Night of Thunder’s defeat, Hannon said:"No complaints – we were beaten fair and square. They are two good horses, but Kingman has a better turn of foot than us, though I was encouraged how well our fellow finished his race. Hughesie and I agree that it would be worth trying him at a mile and a quarter, so we might have a look at the Eclipse Stakes at Sandown."
As regards jockeys you appear to be a Fallon fan. He has no association with the Hannon yard and the winning Guineas ride was just a lucky spare. Hughes is first choice and they use Moore (was apprenticed there) next in big races if available. Moore was committed elsewhere for the Guineas. For the Guineas Hughes felt he could hardly get off Toormore which was rated champ juvenile. After another defeat at Royal Ascot (under Moore) Toormore now has a lot to prove. The only way I can see Fallon getting back on NOT is if Hughes and possibly Moore aren’t available.
All isn’t lost for NOT. He had his day in the sun in the Guineas and is a classic winner. He ran perfectly well at Royal Ascot and was just beaten by a better miler in Kingman as the betting market indicated.Both the jockey change and the change of tactics with NOT failed to produce a result like the Guineas.Too bad.I wonder why the changes?
Cos Hughes is Hannon’s number one rider and they reckoned that the tactics used were the only way they might have beaten the winner. Reportedly they do not envisage another match up.
Her best form is in races like the Vermeille and Arc over a mile and a half in soft so I wouldn’t write her off. That said she isn’t the superhorse some reckon she is.
I did drop an email to the BHA and received this cursory anonymous response below;-
Thank you for your email.
I can assure you that all races are watched closely by the stewards and monitored by betting analysts.
Any concerns over the rides given to a horse are fully investigated by our integrity department and Disciplinary hearings held where there is evidence of a breach of the Rules of Racing.
Regards
Subject: Newbury- Lockinge Stakes- ride on Montiridge
Dear Sir/Madam,
I went to Newbury on Saturday where the G1 Lockinge Stakes took place.
This of course resulted in a comfortable and populist win for the short priced favourite Olympic Glory, ridden by Frankie Dettori and trained by Richard Hannon.
However I was surprised that the stewards did not enquire into the ride given by Richard Hughes to the stablemate of the winner, Montiridge.
This horse was 9/1 on Thursday but was backed into 9/2 on the day.
The horse (which had had a start this season and should not have been over- fresh) set the pace, initially ploughing a lone course, before burning itself out after 6f and finishing last.
Ridden this way backers had no chance.
Arguably it did not run on its merits and was used as a pacemaker to set the race up for the favourite.
In his Saturday Racing Post column, Hughes strongly supported the favourite Olympic Glory and stated that the stable believed that Montiridge COULD win a G1 itself but that it would not be this one. I guess punters should have read between the lines and drawn their conclusions.
I was NOT a backer of Montiridge and have no vested interest other than the credibility of racing. I am sure that connections could readily excuse the ride but was surprised no questions were posed on the day by the stewards.Yours faithfully
There is no danger of Moore ever being nominated for SPOTY as the only racing figures that the general public have heard of are either self publicists like McCririck and Dettori or more recently McCoy due to his enduring success. To them Moore is just another jockey in an esoteric minority sport.
I don’t believe that the questioning of jockeys on course immediately after the finish should be permitted. Some lightweight broadcaster asks vacuous questions such as "what did it feel like to win?" . Jockeys should be given time to compose their thoughts before speaking. There is also a school of thought that those who should know first are the owners paying £25k per year to keep a horse in training. At one point boxing banned these intrusive interviews.
Whether by human nature or design Moore’s press relations are particularly poor and I think I read somewhere that Hannon snr had a word with him at one point. His guvnor Stoute went to the same charm school and cannot hide his disdain for the press, often beginning to walk away during an interview. In fairness Leighton Aspell also appeared underwhelmed immediately after his Grand National success this year when a mike was poked under his nose and he appeared strangely detached. I’m sure the PR and marketing types in Racing for Change or whatever they call themselves get frustrated as media training for racing figures was one of their initiatives.
Lastly in fairness to Moore I have never seen him refuse an autograph request. He just won’t engage in conversation or eye contact with the person requesting. Never did Piggott any harm but I guess times have moved on.IMO yesterday’s Lockinge was a weak renewal. Olympic Glory was in a different league. He goes well fresh and blinkers have sharpened him up. Only doubt was the ground, which he got away with but was also of no help to the likes of Tullius and Top Notch Tonto.
Of those behind, Tullius is just a G2 6 year old horse who started his season in the Lincoln Handicap. Top Notch Tonto did too much but in any event needs soft and is held by the winner on past meetings. The O’Brien horse was sweaty in the paddock but showed promise first time on turf transferred from US dirt and many of Aiden’s seemed to need a race this season. Montiridge was given a puzzling ride similar to that of Toormore in the Guineas, setting a fast pace and initially racing alone. He could have been said to have acted as pacemaker for his winning stablemate and was a spent force after 6f. If you backed him you had no chance. Hughes was strong on the fav in his RP column and said Montiridge could win a G1 but it wouldn’t be this one! Perhaps that was a clue.
The older milers look weak and I wouldn’t go overboard about Olympic Glory who had run of the race on the day. Toronado (same ownership) is talented but another hit or miss type who seems to have breathing issues. Likely they will be kept apart for a while.
Perhaps a younger pretender will rule the roost? I thought the Guineas was strong and it is too early to write off unplaced horses like Toormore. Ascot will reveal more.There is talk of stepping up Olympic Glory (and Tullius) in trip.
