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I hope September does go on to make an impact on next year’s Classics. Will be interesting to have a Deep Impact in the UK/Ireland Classic ranks.
I can’t enthuse about Idaho, who I have seen tipped up.
Literally.
Let’s hope September doesn’t do a Wisconsin on us.
Too short odds for me but I’ll be watching with interest; she looks like a good ‘un.
I stuck a bit on Squats. Maybe it’s my guilty conscience calling me to do some exercise…
I’ll probably be watching ITV today as RUK are also covering fifty other meetings.
The fashion stuff has always been the same on the mainstream channels. It’s an intrinsic part of the meeting, like it or not, and lots of casual fans enjoy it. My grandma is always on about the hats and dresses when she watches it, although it makes me yawn.
There is no getting away from it without watching the dedicated channels, I don’t think.
I personally haven’t noticed any more fashion crap on ITV than I did on C4 or BBC, but maybe that’s because I don’t pay enough attention to it!
I was thinking this. It’s gone quite soggy in places by the sounds of what they were saying yesterday.
Plenty of natural watering up here in the North West… Ascot are welcome to some of that if they want it!
I really want Winter to win this because I think she’s fab, but won’t be betting at these tiny odds. I don’t see how the French filly’s price is as high as it is; she deserves more consideration.
I’m sitting this one out bettingwise. I just want to see what happens. Looking forward to it!
Wonder what happened with Jack Hobbs? Strikes me that horse is made of fine china; Highland Reel is made of galvanised steel.
Well Lady Aurelia is sticking around for the Nunthorpe Stakes so she will have whatever nefarious substances you folks claim she is on out of her system
Steroids are illegal in the US and the tracks take drug testing very seriously. Believe it or not American turf horses can in fact beat Europeans on their own merits.Wesley Ward IS known as a great trainer of 2yos in the US and the main reason he hasn’t won as many stakes races here recently is that he sends his best horses to run in…England.
Clenbuterol is not a “steroid” as such, Miss Woodford. But used in the right (wrong) way, it does have the same result… Which is why trainers in Europe are banned from using it on horses in training.
As I understand it use of Clenbuterol is widespread where Ward trains, he’s actually on record as saying he uses it on all his USA runners. As I understand the drug is allowed there as long as it is out of the horse’s system (untraceable) on race day. Indeed I believe official advice there is to stop using it at least 21 days before race day. Yes, Clenbuterol may be “out of its system”, but muscle growth/maturity does not suddenly disappear after that 21 days. The advantage a horse trained on Clenuterol has against one that is not trained on the drug is muscle/maturity!
For Ward’s UK runners, all he needs to do is sign a piece of paper saying that his horse/s has/have never been trained on drugs banned in the UK. On the other hand – Uk horses can be tested at any time and if found guilty trainers face the wrath of British authorities. Ward is a multiple offender of even USA rules on Clenuterol, Miss Woodford… And effectively gets a slap on the wrist (short ban) from US authorities. Would you believe this man’s signature when – not just one year but every year – he comes over with overly muscled, overly mature horses?
I wrote this in a post after last year’s Queen Mary, sorry for being lazy but couldn’t be bothered to write it out again so thought I’d copy and paste as pertinent to the discussion!
“Interesting point about the clenbuterol. I’m no equine vet and perhaps they know something I don’t, but I would question the wisdom of using a beta-blocker as a long-term measure in racehorses since it has been shown to worsen pulmonary function in humans and in horses; some researchers suggest using it for no longer than two weeks to avoid these effects.
In studies, clenbuterol has been found to reduce narrowing of the airways in response to histamine in comparison to a placebo, but several treadmill studies have found no improvement in performance with its use. It’s also worth noting that clenbuterol doesn’t seem to have much effect in normal horses (that is, those who do not suffer with allergic airway disease) – but it’s estimated that up to 1/3 of racehorses in training DO suffer with allergic airway disease. In those horses, the use of clenbuterol may be genuinely therapeutic rather than merely performance enhancing.
There ARE anabolic effects reported with clenbuterol in humans and horses – but in horses these effects are only seen at higher doses (2.4ug/kg twice daily), which is significantly higher than the lower doses used by most racehorse trainers. Additionally, the anabolic effects noted at the higher dose also seemed to wane by 2 weeks in one notable study, so I think any benefit it might have in this sense is unclear.
Clenbuterol is, as far as I am aware, banned on racedays in the USA with variable withdrawal periods dependent on state (I think it’s usually less than 72 hours). Obviously frusemide (Lasix/Salix) IS allowed on raceday across the pond and that bothers me more. Although it’s used predominantly for its diuretic effects to reduce blood pressure within the lungs and reduce the severity of EIPH (exercise-induced pulmonary haemorrhage), I know that frusemide does have some airway-expanding effects in some species. I honestly don’t know if the same applies to horses.
I see it as no coincidence that the States breeds some of the most unsound Thoroughbreds in the world, when they are permitted to race on so many medications. Personally I can’t wait until things move on and there is a greater crackdown on the use of drugs in racehorses for reasons other than bona fide medical treatment.”
I’ve backed G K Chesterton each way. I don’t normally bet on the big handicaps as I’m flipping useless at it lol.
I’m finding this really difficult to decipher, and I’m unable to choose between Le Brivido, Dream Castle and Daban.
Gone for an each-way punt on Solomon’s Way. He looked pretty tough at Epsom last time out so hoping he can get his nose in somewhere near the front.
Laugh Aloud a non-runner this morning; heat in her leg.
Surely this leaves it open for Qemah? I must admit I backed Mix And Mingle each way after Lingfield. I think Qemah was below-par that day but I’m hoping MAM can be there at the finish.
Hmm… the Racing UK channel on my TV seems to have crashed. Good timing RUK.
Off to ITV we go…
Thanks for the update, I do hope we see him again before long.
I’ve never seen him race in the flesh but saw his sire Arakan beat Trade Fair at Newmarket a few years back; he was a smashing looking horse. Must have been one of the last of the Nureyevs by that time.
Steroids are illegal in the US and the tracks take drug testing very seriously. Believe it or not American turf horses can in fact beat Europeans on their own merits.
