WHEN Oscar Knight was declared a non-runner on the morning of his intended Grade 3 novice chase engagement at Naas on March 12th 2017, it created a unique situation for racing. It meant that there was only one owner - Gigginstown House Stud - represented across the four horses running.
It’s days like these that we should be thankful that the Coolmore partners have three different sets of silks. You might, to an extent, get away with a Grade 3 novice chase, but a Group 1 flat race of this stature is a different story.
Of course we could still have a situation where the Ballydoyle silks are the only ones on show, should Andrew Balding view the ground too soft for Kameko, a real possibility this morning.
Whatever happens this is an entirely undesirable situation for racing. Competition is key and even if three different sets of silks slightly mask what is a blow-out situation, steps should be put in place to ensure this doesn’t happen again.
No blame at all can be put to Coolmore or Aidan O’Brien. In fact Doncaster should be thanking them because without their participation, today’s Verterm Futurity would be farcical beyond comprehension.
The show goes on and its business as usual for Ballydoyle. The main objective is to launch a credible contender to take Pinatubo in next year’s 2000 Guineas. This could very well happen today as you need only look at the previous two renewals to find the previous two Guineas winners - Magna Grecia and Saxon Warrior.
Both of those were winning on just their third starts and both Mogul and Innisfree fit this kind of unexposed profile.
It’s a busy weekend for the Ballydoyle team given they have runners in four different countries, beginning with Magic Wand and Hunting Horn in the Cox Plate this morning (6:55am).
It may be significant that O’Brien is sending three to Newbury, perhaps evidence he is gunning for a seventh British champion trainer title, after his two British Champions Day winners gave him a late foothold in the table. O’Brien trails Gosden by £132,000 but with £200,000 in prize money on offer in the Vertem Futurity, it is forseeable that he could move ahead of Gosden today.
THE jumps season begins in earnest in the UK this weekend with high class action in Cheltenham and Aintree, and cards in Wincanton and Kelso.
The Old Roan Chase is the first graded chase of the season and its roll of honour includes the multiple Grade 1 winners, Kauto Star, Albertas Run and Monet’s Garden.
This renewal lives up to the standard with Grade 1 winners Kalashnikov and Frodon set to face up. Kalashnikov competed his novice season with a Grade 1 win here in April and receives a stone from the popular Ryanair winner. With the Skelton team in good form Born Survivor is not out of it either. He fulfilled some of his potential with an easy Ayr win last spring and has had wind op since.
The 2017 Grand National winner One For Arthur reappears in Kelso tomorrow in a three mile, two-furlong chase where Sue Smith’s Vintage Clouds, a faller when well fancied for last year’s National also gets his season under way.
In what is another big weekend of racing around the world, Almond Eye makes her return to the racetrack in tomorrow’s Group 1 Tenno Sho in Tokyo (7:40am).
The five-time Group 1 winner and once Arc contender this year, was turned over on her previous run but is still rated odds-on to win, facing 15 rivals. Her main rival is Saturnalia who Christophe Soumillon is jetting in to ride. Almond Eye will be ridden by her regular jockey Christophe Lemaire.
Compiled by Ronan Groome and Anne Marie Duff