2007

TO a thunderclap of approval, quite a few tears and a resounding chorus of ‘For he’s a jolly good fellow’, Henry Cecil won his eighth Oaks at Epsom Downs yesterday.

However, it was his Cheshire Oaks heroine Light Shift and Ted Durcan who prevailed after stable-companion and long-time market leader Passage Of Time had flattered early in the straight. Light Shift passed the post half a length ahead of Aidan O’Brien’s 20/1 chance Peeping Fawn, with another Ballydoyle contender, All My Loving, third.

The Niarchos family has remained loyal to Cecil through his many trials and tribulations, both on and off the track. This was a fitting reward for them and for Light Shift’s sire Kingmambo, who goes from strength to strength and is responsible for top-class middle-distance horses as well as milers these days.

Light Shift, nicely named out of Lingerie, traces back to the brilliant racemare Northern Tricks, and she found stamina coming to her assistance in the final furlong. She is a credit to her trainer and should certainly win more races at the highest level.

“I thought she’d go very close, but I also thought there wasn’t much between her and my other filly,” said Cecil, who had never been known to shed a tear during his long and illustrious career, but who certainly made good the omission on this very special occasion.

“It means so much to me, and it’s great to be back again. I’d like to thank everyone at Warren Place, but especially Ted who is a great jockey and a great friend.”

Durcan, whose reception in the weigh-room underlined his colleagues’ appreciation of a true professional, was ecstatic. “Just about everything went spot on for her, and she moved up on the bridle,” he said. “She’s so brave.” Asked what it was like to ride for the former champion trainer, he added: “He’s the best in the world. Dead easy to ride for because there are no instructions!”

It was a memorable day, a moving one, and it would be a hard man indeed who failed to cheer the most heart-warming result for many a long day.

[Light Shift finished second in the Group 1 Darley Irish Oaks and third in the Group 1 Nassau Stakes at Goodwood, and she won four races and placed four times in just nine career starts. She had three foals at stud, two runners and winners, and they included the European champion Ulysses (Galileo), winner of the Group 1 Juddmonte International and Group 1 Eclipse Stakes.

Today, Ulysses’ son Piz Badile is due to line up for the Derby at Epsom, and the Donnacha O’Brien runner is related to Light Shift, being a grandson of Shiva (Hector Protector), winner of the Group 1 Tattersalls Gold Cup and a half-sister to the Oaks winner]

Mullins’ magnificent un-deux at Auteuil

2007

SUNDAY’S Gras Savoye Prix de Longchamp at Auteil saw the Willie Mullins pair, J’y Vole and Financial Reward race towards the back of the field.

They began to loom towards the leaders rounding the final turn, after which Prince Des Bois was run out of the first two places by the Irish raiders.

It was just in the last 50 yards that J’y Vole took over from Financial Reward who had looked the winner after jumping the last.

It is, apparently, the first time that a foreign trainer has saddled the first two past the post in a graded jumps race in France. Mullins said: “I am very satisfied, and just a little surprised, that we have taken the first two places.

“It was a great day at the office. Financial Reward is a very tough horse, and he has had a very busy winter. J’y Vole just loved the ground and was given a great ride.”

Winning rider David Casey said of J’y Vole, who was bred in France by the outstanding trotting professional Jean-Pierre Dubois: “She just loved the ground and was always travelling well. This is my fourth win in France.”

[Bought for €100,000 at Arqana as a three-year-old after winning her first race over jumps, J’y Vole (Mansonnien) went on to enjoy a great career as a chaser, winning the Grade 1 Dr PJ Moriarty Novice Chase at Leopardstown, Grade 2 chases at Punchestown and Gowran Park, and she was placed at Grade 1 level in the Ryanair Chase at Cheltenham and twice in the John Durkan Memorial Punchestown Chase.

Yet to produce a winner, she has a three-year-old filly Comeflywithme (Westerner), a two-year-old colt by Yeats and a yearling colt by Dartmouth]

So close in two classics

1957

THE performance of Ballymoss in running Crepello to a length and a half in the Epsom Derby on Wednesday pays tribute to the quality of three-year-olds racing in Ireland, and also the remarkable skill and versatility of trainer Vincent O’Brien.

What an achievement it would have been for O’Brien if Ballymoss could have withstood the late challenge of the hottest favourite to win the race since Bahram 32 years ago, and added an English Derby to three Grand Nationals, four Cheltenham Gold Cups, three Champion Hurdles and an Irish Derby!

A tribute also must be paid to the handling of Ballymoss by T.P.Burns (pictured), who could not have given the horse a better ride in a difficult race, and who was having his first ride in the Epsom Derby. Ballymoss was O’Brien’s first runner in the race.

Following the great effort made by Ballymoss to win the Derby on Wednesday, Mr Joseph McGrath’s Silken Glider (20/1) paid another compliment to Irish classic form when failing by only a short-head to beat Queen Elizabeth’s Carozza (100/8) in the Oaks at Epsom yesterday.

Jimmy Eddery rode a storming finish on the Irish filly, and the judge called on the evidence of the camera before giving the verdict to the royal candidate. Rose Royale II (11/10 fav) was three lengths away third.

Lester Piggott, successful on Crepello in the Derby, completed a great double on Carozza, both horses being trained by Noel Murless.

Give Irish-breds their due

1932

AUSTRALIAN breeders are being energised by the well-known, interesting writer ‘Chiron’ in The Australian (Melbourne) to make efforts similar to those being made by Irish breeders of bloodstock to advance their interests.

In The Australian of April 9th last, he wrote: “I have received an interesting letter from Captain Gerald Martin, secretary of the Bloodstock Breeders’ Association of Ireland, in which I am taken to task for having referred to the Viceroy’s Cup winner, Nightjar, as being British-bred.

“In the Australian Stud Book the state in which the breeder resides is indicated after his name, but that is not done in the General Stud Book, and on this side of the world it is often difficult to decide whether a horse is English or Irish-bred; so in the case of Nightjar the difficulty was surmounted by calling him British-bred.

“There should be no difficulty in the future in giving credit to Irish breeders for their winners abroad, as Messrs Weatherby, keepers of the General Stud Book, have notified Captain Martin that they will stamp on certificates, issued for Irish horses shipped abroad, the words ‘Bred in Ireland’.”