THE big days are designed to pull out the best in our sport and that goes across all aspects of it, from those at the coalface, performing on the track, to those reporting on the drama to the public and race fans.
A line from the great racing writer Alastair Down came to mind this week as we spoke to Johnny Murtagh ahead of Irish Champions Festival where he runs Zahrann in the Irish Champion Stakes.
After Murtagh won the Derby at Epsom on Sinndar in 2000, Down reflected that Murtagh had experienced the whole range of human emotions from AA to Z.
I thought it one of his many memorable sentences and the symmetry came back this week as we went looking at Murtagh winning the Irish Derby on Alamshar and now, as a trainer, sending Zahrann out to battle in those famous Aga Khan colours. Could he come full circle from an A to Z big success?
This particular weekend and those colours are embedded in the Murtagh story. They combined with Timarida to win the Matron Stakes in 1995 and came back the following year to win the big one, in the Irish Champions Stakes.
And it was the Matron Stakes, at a bleak Covid-bound Leopardstown in 2020 that gave him his first Group 1 success. It was one of the memories of that week, having to celebrate and abide social distancing!
You can be sure there’ll be nothing like that and a lot more boisterous scenes should the Night Of Thunder colt manage to upset the favourites today.
Odds against
Can Zahrann step up? The odds are against him. It’s very rare, at this stage of the season, for a horse to win one of the top Group 1s on his first attempt at such level. Though as we pointed it out, Economics came to buck that trend last season here at Leopardstown.
Before that, you have to go back 30 years to the three-year-old Pentire who broke his Group 1 duck at Leopardstown in 1995, although he had finished second in the King George at Ascot.
For all the pacemaker/not a fair playing field banter from Aidan O’Brien and the Gosdens recently, when it comes down to it there shouldn’t be any fear that this will not be a clean race, with eight runners and one pacemaker. You imagine after York, and the O’Brien post-race comments, Delacroix will be closer to the pace this time.
British challenger Anmaat has a turn of foot on softer ground but it was a messy British Champions Stakes that he won last autumn. At seven, Royal Champion can’t be good enough?
I’m not convinced Shin Emperor is a straight-forward ride in a race where you will have to react quickly. He got into some trouble last year.
It leaves White Birch as a bit of an enigma. He has been absent for long spells and was beaten on this day in a mile and a half Group 3 two years ago.
I find it hard to oppose Delacroix, his Eclipse win is among the best races of the season.
But if Zahrann is coming with a late challenge, we could have one memorable rounding of a circle for his trainer.
THE Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe picture became as clear as mud last weekend with trials day at the ParisLongchamp track and the September Stakes at Kempton failing to clarify the big race picture in a month’s time.
Mud may be the appropriate word as the seasons are changing and the going looked faster than normal last Sunday.
We might be engulfed more rapidly by global warming in recent years but the last six runnings of the Arc have had plenty of cut in the ground. So it’s best not to get too carried away by form on decent, faster mid-summer ground.
2019 Waldgeist (Very Soft)
2020 Sottsass (Heavy)
2021 Torquator Tasso (Heavy)
2022 Alpinista (Very Soft)
2023 Ace Impact (Good to Soft)
2024 Bluestocking (Very Soft)
Triple Group 1 Oaks winning Minnie Hauk remains prominent though she was absent from the Vermeille where Whirl was a disappointment, and Aventure stepped to the fore, while the Prix Foy was won on decent ground by another Japanese runner in Byzantine Dream. I’d fancy Sosie to reverse the from on worse ground and maybe the forgotten horse after his recent defeats is Los Angeles.
The merits of the three-year-old colts may become clearer this weekend and Cualificar was quite impressive in the finish of the Prix Neil.
Los Angeles - worth a wager at longish odds in the Arc?
In the September Stakes, current favourite Kalpana also had her prep run away from the Group 1s but was beaten.
Minnie Hauk looked a bit of a stayer, really seeing out the mile and a half at the Curragh and holding off Estrange at York, though that filly’s previous Lancashire Oaks win had left her with plenty to improve on.
The time figures from York gave more hope. Time analysis data made both races better than they looked. But I can’t help feeling something could come faster and later as often happens in the Arc on softer ground?
Kalpana got her Group 1 win on British Champions Day on soft ground, but Saturday’s effort was a bit disappointing. Aventure, Los Angeles and Sosie were in the first four last season and seem bound to be involved again, Los Angeles is a big-looking 40/1 in places, with softer ground welcome.
ONE of the most entertaining pieces written over the last week came in Saturday week’s Racing Post from punter Steve Palmer, speaking out about the increasingly negative portrayal of people who like to bet regularly. It’s worth a read.
This just an extract, it’s worth going back for a read.
“..it is the false image of the betting public in the eyes of the public which I find so disturbing. The way people have been made feel shameful for betting. …They are all degenerates.
They are all out to steal their grandma’s handbag to fund their evil addiction. They all ruin their marriage. They are all terrible parents. They are all suicidal.
Look over there – that poor, misguided broke soul had had a fiver on Liverpool to beat Arsenal at 2/1. What a loser. What a sad tale. He can’t be far from financial Armageddon.
Oh look over there – that lovely lady has just spent £500 on a few new pairs of shoes. Must be off to a nice party or a wedding …She can’t possibly be addicted to buying shoes, because that’s not a done thing, is it, Derek?
WITH a lot of negativity on the cost of going racing, it’s worth looking at the comparison prices for this weekend of big races here and in Britain.
For two top class cards, in terms of racing quality and betting opportunities, it is €35 entry fee for Leoaprdstown and the Curragh.
By comparison, in Britain, anyone who saved an entry fee on Wednesday’s blank day, could make a choice:-
Doncaster: £46 for grandstand, pre-parade ring, parade ring, grandstand public bars, grandstand eateries, main betting hall and outlets, food court
Chester: £39 Tiered standing, access to all the action of the paddock and parade ring, the buzz of the Pavilion Lawn and exhilarating trackside views.
Musselburgh: £30 if pre-booked or £35 on the day for general admission ticket that provides access to all public areas and a variety of options for place to eat, drink and bet.
Bath is £27 and Lingfield £23. You can’t say that it’s not extremely good value for our two big flat racing days.