Oxx and Weld rule: The Curragh stages racing on Saturday and proceedings are dominated by Charlie Weld and John Oxx.Weld has a double, including taking the featured National Stakes. He trains Decies, a son of Pardal, to win in the hands of Buster Parnell by three-quarters of a length and one length and a head from Great Heron, French Score, and the odds-on Prince Tenderfoot in fourth. The winner is returned at 33/1. Reporter Dave Baker points out that Decies thus presents a compliment to another two-year-old colt, Nijinsky, who beat Decies by five lengths at the Curragh in August.
Weld’s double is completed in the last race by Lets, ridden by John Smith.
Oxx’s treble starts with Buffy taking the opening juvenile filles race; and later Santayana wins the Turf Club Handicap, both ridden by Des Coleman. For the Merrion Handicap, Coleman decides to ride St. Quivox, so apprentice Jim Molony takes the ride on Evening Storm, who wins at 20/1.
Lively sale: Off the track, big event of the week is the Goffs September Sales at Ballsbridge. These take place on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, with a horses-in-training sale on Thursday.
Monday’s report is on page six, accompanied by a list of sales results. After a steady start, it is not until the evening when 146 yearlings are sold for an aggregate of 292,300gns, and the average is 2,002 guineas, up from 1,633 last year.
The top price paid is 8,600gns for a filly by Crepello. The buyer is Senor Antonio Blasco, who is President of a Spanish bank. Bloodstock agent Jack Doyle buys 17 yearlings for a total of 31,620 gns. Another busy man is Lord Harrington, whose shopping trolley includes a colt by Whistle for 8,200gns.
Good day for Stackallan: The Tuesday report is on page seven. It starts: “The top vending position at the Ballsbridge Yearling Sales is acknowledged to be 3pm on the second day and it is a position which must be earned on past performances.”
It’s a good day for Stackallan Stud. On Tuesday afternoon, they sell six yearlings, making an aggregate of 54,300guineas. They include 13,500gns paid by Staff Ingham for a son of Tesco Boy; Lord Harrington goes to 8,000gns for a son of Tudor Melody; and James Ryan bids 10,000gns for a daughter of Vienna. But the sixth lot is a daughter of Santa Claus, out of Twice Blessed, and she is knocked down to the Anglo-Irish Agency for 16,000gns, a new Goffs record for a filly.
The Tudor Melody colt is one of ten lots bought today by Lord Harrington for his main patron, owner David Robinson, for a grand total of 66,200gns. Bloodstock agents Kerr and Co spend 39,600gns for 23 lots.
The final Tuesday aggregate is 414,860gns, up about 6,000gns on last year; but the average is down by nine guineas to 2,803.
Million mark looms: Wednesday’s report is on page eight. After two days of excitement, the pace drops, and the average for Wednesday is 1,217gns, though this is over 200gns higher than the third day average last year.
The report says: “as has become normal for these sales, the good wine was kept until last.” This means after 6pm, and top price today is 7,700gns for a filly by Ballyciptic, bought by the Curragh Bloodstock Agency.
The paper published a table of combined statistics for the three days of the yearling sales. A grand total of 418 yearlings are sold for an average of 858,875gns, and average of 2,055gns. This compares with 1968 aggregate of 769,650, and a 1968 average of 1,859.
On Thursday, Goffs has a horses-in-training sale, and the report is on page 13. Out of 201 horses in the catalogue, 55 are absent, and 67 are unsold. But the quality is generally good, and the average actually increases by 151 guineas. The top price paid today is 5,100 paid by Con Horgan for a three-year-old gelding by Vulgan.
Over the four days, the full aggregate is 918,865 guineas. The reporter writes: “it is obvious that the million mark for the week will be reached in the near future.”
People-watching: Pages ten and eleven (the centre of the paper) make up a two page spread of photographs of people at the sales. The photographer is not named. Among those pictured are Captain Michael Hall on his rostrum in the ring; one photo has the quartet of Robert Sangster, Jack Doyle, John Sutcliffe and Mick O’Toole; and another of Lord Harrington with Newmarket trainer Paul Davey.
Also attending the sales is weekly columnist “Pandora”, who is also people-watching. She writes: “I wasted the first hour of Monday afternoon searching for Omar Sharif.” Pandora is tipped-off about the presence of the Egyptian heartthrob but it turns out to be a false alarm. She believes her source has confused Sharif with Senor Antonio Blasco from Spain. Pandora writes that Blasco intends to set up his own stud in Spain and is here to buy foundation stock. Over the first two days, he spends 33,700 guineas on seven horses. On Tuesday, while the 16,000gns Santa Claus filly is being sold, Pandora writes that the crowds in the ring are “12 or 14 deep”. She also compares the style of two leading agents. Bert Kerr “never left his habitual corner, to the left of the rostrum, from start to finish each day”; while Jack Doyle is “in and out of the ring like quicksilver.”
Pandora does not ignore the fashion scene and gives her top marks to: “a fitted ankle-length black maxi-coat garnished with a yellow scarf and worn by fair-haired Miss Carolyn Quirke.” The coat and Miss Quirke appear in a photo on page ten.
English racing: Lester Piggott goes to Newbury last Saturday just one ahead of Geoff Lewis in the race to become champion jockey. By the end of the day, he is four ahead. Correspondent “C Mc A” writes about Piggott’s treble, highlighted by victory in the Peter Hastings Stakes on Principal Boy, beating dual Guineas winner Right Tack.
Racing on TV: Today, the BBC are showing two races from Kempton, and one from Ayr. Commentators are Julian Wilson and Michael Philips at Kempton, with Peter O’Sullevan and John Penney at Ayr.
BBC will show three races from Ascot on Thursday, and one race there on Friday. The commentators are Peter O’Sullevan and Clive Graham.
RTÉ Radio today, Saturday, will broadcast five races from Baldoyle, with commentary by Michael O’Hehir.
Leopardstown works: The redevelopment at Leopardstown proceeds and the paper reports that racing will not resume until September 19th 1970 at the earliest. Racing Board secretary, Pat Walsh, says that “the construction of the stand and the laying down of a new track and other improvement will take much longer than originally estimated.” The Racing Board is spending “nearly £1 million” on the work.
Death of Johnny Lehane: The death has occurred recently says the paper, of Irish jockey Johnny Lehane. A native of Co Cork, after showjumping and gymkhanas as a boy, he was apprenticed to the Dick Morrison stable, before moving to trainer Jimmy Brogan. His biggest win in Ireland was the 1958 Irish Grand National on Gold Legend.
He moved to England and finished fourth in the jockeys’ table for 1958/59 with 47 winners. A few years later, the paper states that “he faded from the scene”. He was head lad for trainer Dick Crossman, and the paper says that, a fortnight ago, he renews his jockeys’ licence. “If courage alone was needed to achieve success, Johnny would have been at the top of the tree.”
Coin toss: Charles James reports from the McKee Barracks Show (in aid of the Army Benevolent Fund). The main event is the Caughoo Cup, but due to fading light, there is no time for the final jump-off between Captain Ned Campion (on Cluain Aodha) and Tommy Brennan (riding Ambassador). So the result is decided by toss of a coin and thus Ned Campion takes home the trophy.