THE case for rolling out a loyalty scheme for returning racegoers in Ireland has been well made in the past, and if the Curragh ever opts to embark on such a programme, there is only one horse who their initiative should be named after.
A loyalty system where racegoers get their pink and black ‘Big Gossey card’ stamped for repeat appearances at Irish flat racing headquarters - rewarding racegoers with free admission after a set number of meetings attended - would only be fitting following the remarkable record this grey veteran has developed here. He has been one of the best stories to emerge from the Curragh in the track’s post-redevelopment era.
Speaking to those on the ground, it feels as though the feedback was largely positive coming out of Sunday’s Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby day card. The hope is that those floating voters went home with a favourable experience and will return again, but retaining those who shell out their hard-earned cash to come through the gates on a regular basis is vitally important too; even if they are never part of the headline figures we see referenced around Ireland’s major festival crowds.
It should be said, this is not a Curragh issue. The matter applies to every track across the country. Even something as simple as a free coffee voucher and a racecard for anyone who pays in to attend three meetings at an Irish racecourse if they come a fourth time would be a small show of appreciation for those who go to at non-marquee racedays. It might make those backbone racegoers feel valued at a time when the prominent meetings are entering a festivalisation feel, and the smaller, industry type days are shrinking into meetings with little to no atmosphere at tracks around the island.
As for the sensation that is Big Gossey, his numbers make for spectacular reading at the age of nine. He shows no signs of stopping either.
Half century
Sunday’s win in the Listed Jebel Ali Racecourse & Stables Dash Stakes was Big Gossey’s 10th course win on his 52nd appearance at the Curragh. His prize money is now close to the €650,000 mark, having also posted eight seconds in group, listed or premier handicap company at his favourite track. There was a real push from the crowd as he powered clear late on under Billy Lee last weekend - his final furlong surge bringing him to almost 40 total miles he has raced at this track in his career.
This has all been achieved from most humble beginnings. Charles O’Brien, ably assisted by part-owner Gary O’Brien, has seen a box-walking son of the frankly unfashionable Gutaifan progress from being “not very nice as a young horse” and unsold at €21,000 as a foal, to fan-favourite status - and that is no mean feat for a flat horse in Ireland.
The fact we have seen the Allegro Syndicate’s stalwart campaigned over a variety of distances on all types of ground, in all kinds of races, has given a real opportunity for the public to latch onto him. For example, he started his season running on heavy ground off 10st 3lb in the Nua Healthcare Irish Lincolnshire when rated 108, then he beat Albert Einstein in listed company over seven furlongs on soft to heavy, dropped to five furlongs on good ground behind Royal Ascot hero Mission Central and was winning over six furlongs last weekend.Day in, day out, regardless of conditions or race programme, Big Gossey turns up on Irish racecourses and brings much-needed vibrancy to cards.
Rewarding and incentivising punters who do the same at Irish tracks feels like an easy win for the authorities.
ESTRANGE ensured the Paddy Power Pretty Polly Stakes was won by British connections for the third time in four years (a 10th visiting winner of the race since 2008), though another neighbouring handler left his mark on Irish Derby weekend.
After a marvellous Royal Ascot, which saw him register four winners, a second and two thirds, William Haggas struck at the Curragh once again with the improving King Of Earth - a half-brother to Group 1 winner King Of Change and a clearcut winner of the €100,000 Tulfarris Hotel And Golf Resort Handicap on Sunday.
Progressing from a Wolverhampton maiden win at the fourth attempt last month to winning an ultra-competitive 16-runner handicap for three-year-olds in another country represented quite the piece of training. It fits in with a wider theme that must be factored in for the remainder of the campaign in Ireland; Haggas simply warrants maximum respect when sending any runner to these shores.
King Of Earth’s success brought the Newmarket-based trainer to a record of 10 winners from 37 Irish runners since 2022 (an impressive 27% strike rate).
That tally of winners stands above the equivalent visiting record of fellow British trainers such as Karl Burke (9-45, 20%), Ralph Beckett (4-20, 20%), Richard Fahey (4-15, 27%), Charlie Hills (2-8, 20%), Richard Hannon (2-13, 15%), George Boughey (2-10, 20%), Ed Walker (1-13, 8%), John and Thady Gosden (1-6, 17%), Charlie Appleby (1-6, 17%) and Andrew Balding (0-12).
If isolating his last two years’ worth of runners, Haggas is operating at an even hotter 33% strike rate in Ireland, saddling four winners from 12 runners here. Placing a €1 stake on each of his representatives here in the last five years would have you €9.01 in profit. He has also had another five seconds in Ireland during that period, so his beaten runners aren’t often far away from the target either.
READERS of this column will be familiar with my dissatisfaction with the decision to declare Benvenuto Cellini a non-runner in the Betfred Derby at Epsom, but it must have been a highly satisfying result for connections to see him back to his true potential at the Curragh last weekend. He clearly relished the switch to better ground and showed his class.
Again, after being loaded late deliberately, the Frankel colt wasn’t overly quick into stride here - only James J Braddock and Raaheeb were slower to reach 20mph, as per the RaceiQ metrics. How did that compare with his relevant 0-20mph time at Epsom, though?
Well, it took Benvenuto Cellini 3.37 seconds to get to 20mph in the Derby, ranking him 13th of the 14 runners breaking from the gates. In comparison, the winner and second, Christmas Day and Maltese Cross, reached the same speed in 2.76 seconds and 2.62 seconds respectively.
Timeform described the ground at Epsom as being soft, and the same organisation’s sectional guide estimates that a second on that going is equal to five lengths. So Benvenuto Cellini would have lost roughly three lengths on Christmas Day in just that early portion.
At the Curragh, ‘Benny’ got to 20mph in 2.91 seconds versus Christmas Day’s very similar 2.87 seconds (both much faster than Cellini’s original Epsom time of 3.37 seconds).
Even if he looked a little slow away from the gates at the Curragh, this was chalk and cheese compared to the start he had at Epsom. He was a different proposition when getting away on four legs rather than three on his previous run.