L’Arc de Triomphe

The three horses who led into the final straight all fell away as the lactic acid paralysed their straining muscles. This left Enable in front and she put clear water between herself and the rest, only to “hit the wall” about fifty yards from the post, where she was mugged by the French horse Waldgeist.  Unless I am misreading the facts, this was the first time in her life that Enable has run on ground described, not as “Good to Soft” or “Soft”, but as “VERY Soft”. So her performance, even in defeat, confirmed how thoroughly she deserves her superstar reputation. The news that she will stay in training next year surprised me and delighted me in equal measure.

Another aspect of this great race – it provided the culmination of a learning curve which I have been experiencing over the last few months.  Last few years, I should say.

In 2016 a French flat jockey rode more than 200 winners during the season, riding at every racecourse in that country, and it turns out that there are masses of them. I concluded that he was a talented provincial jockey making hay at a level where the competition was extremely weak and map-reading was as important as jockeyship.  The following season he repeated the achievement with knobs on. Numerically he became Europe’s top scorer ever.

In 2018 I found him having a few rides for Andre Fabre, the Napoleon of French racing, who would really prefer to be associated with the winner at Waterloo rather than the loser, an indication of his standards and his charm (his father, I seem to remember, was a diplomat).  So I concluded that my hard-working provincial jockey had been noticed by France’s top trainer and was being given a helping hand at the top level. I wondered if he could survive there.

It was well into 2019 before I discovered how wrong I was on every count. My jockey was Pierre Charles Boudot. He had been apprenticed to Napoleon/Wellington/Fabre since he first went into racing, and he had been top apprentice the year before he started winning races at such an amazing rate. Clearly (I am guessing) it had been part of Monsieur Fabre’s plan for World Domination which had sent Pierre Charles scurrying round the backwaters of France in pursuit of experience. This brings us back to this year’s Arc. When Waldgeist emerged from the pack 300 yards from the winning post and collared Enable with twenty yards to run, it was Pierre Charles Boudot who saluted the crowd.

Postscript 1. Pay attention, pigskin groupies! Television cameras visited the jockeys’ changing room immediately after the race and showed us the winning jockey being congratulated by his colleagues. What now became evident – apart from his happiness – was his size: he is extremely tall for a jockey. So weight problems may well restrict his career. At present he cannot ride at less than 8 stone 9 pounds.  However he will be performing at the top level for the present and will I am sure be a regular visitor to Great Britain. We must make the most of him before he becomes too big for his boots (a little joke.)

Postscript 2. A week after the Arc I was discussing it with an ex-trainer who revealed that he had backed the winner (at 16-1). He instructed me to have a look at the video of the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot two months previously, on the 27^th of July.

I found myself watching the last two furlongs, during which Enable and Michael Stoute’s champion Crystal Ocean were neck and neck, and two excited commentators were exclaiming that this was the race of the century (which Enable won by a neck, incidentally).

I played the video again. Still following instructions I looked behind the two protagonists and what did I see? Half a furlong from the line a horse emerged from the chasing pack at least four lengths behind the battling superstars. Half a furlong later he crossed the line one and three quarter lengths behind them. Think about it….they were going for their lives…. and he was going faster than the pair of them! Name of the beast? Waldgeist!

“That is why I backed him in the Arc,” my ex-trainer friend had said, and that is what had kept a smile on his face ever since. I spent the next fortnight kicking myself. I am still kicking myself. What an opportunity….on a plate…. in the video age…. How could I have missed the opportunity of a lifetime…?

Actually all is not lost, thanks to young jockey Jason Watson who won the Cesarewitch on Stratum at 28 – 1, carrying my five pound note. He is just one of the top-class young jockeys who are currently plying their trade on our racecourses. I cannot remember a time in the last forty years when British racing has had such strength in depth as regards jockeys. All credit to the British Racing School at Newmarket and the Northern Racing College at Doncaster for the part they play in educating their students so well. I very much hope that the BHA has played a part in the development of both these establishments. If that is the case, this is an achievement of which it can be very proud indeed. (It is not often that one finds oneself writing a sentence like that. I hope it becomes a habit.)

Donec also deserves a pat on the back in this connection. In 1980 the British Racing School was a building site and the first London Marathon was scheduled for the following spring. Donec’s representative (at that time a racehorse syndicator) drummed up some sponsorship, endured months of training, and completed the course in three hours, 57 minutes and 38 seconds. When he recovered consciousness he sent £800 to the building site mentioned above. The rest is history….

 

ANIMAL WELFARE
ANIMAL WELFARE

It cannot be stressed too strongly that British racing is second to none in the way it treats its horses. One mentions the pain-free whip (developed in Britain over a twenty-five year period) as evidence of this fact.  It is quite a good idea to remember that nowadays the pain-free whip has been adopted by virtually every racing authority on the globe. Does that mean that a certain amount of the credit for the global AW improvement among horsemen belongs to Britain? It certainly does.

However, British Racing must watch its step. For example, British steeplechasing employs two systems of starting races, one of which is perfect and the other of which is not. However the BHA has turned a deaf ear to repeated suggestions that the flawed system should be phased out.  If that fact became common knowledge, what would the public think?

Here are two extracts from Donec, SPORT 69 (1^st June 2017):

Extract 1.

“Whereas it has been universally acknowledged throughout the racing world that the atmosphere at the start of races should be as calm and as stress-free as possible, the BHA has in recent years allowed the start of big-field Jump races (which include many of the most prestigious races under National Hunt rules) to be preceded by a process that is unfair, seriously upsetting for horses and riders, and dangerous.”

It is unfair because the runners are formed up in a close-packed procession, and those at the back of the procession have further to run than those at the front. Does it make a difference? Of course it does. In all sport the participant’s right to a fair start has never been questioned, until about 2011 when the BHA decided that in future big-field starts should be processional and therefore unfair. That decision must be reversed, but so far the BHA has refused to budge. No reasons offered, just sullen indifference.

It is upsetting because the procession is required to go round and round in circles before the start, and mass rotation of a large number of close-packed horses is so uncomfortable that it has never previously been employed by any equestrian community.

It is dangerous because “close-packed” increases the chance of horses kicking each other. In addition on many occasions half the field do not get a proper view of the first obstacle until too late. Their vision is obscured by the mass of horses ahead of them.”

Extract 2

“1.35 p.m.  Aintree, 3/12/16,  Becher Chase.  22 horses crammed together, jogging and trotting round in circles and getting more and more stressed. Runners head towards the starting gate and grind to a halt. False Start. After the re-start two fell at the first, two more at the second.”

Cause for concern? Certainly. If the BHA wishes to defend its attitude towards Animal Welfare, it has every right to do so, but only as long as its arrangements are of the highest standards.

IMPACTING

At the recent Ascot meeting I found myself televiewing an elegant tent entitled JOCKEY SCHOOL. In front of it was a mechanical horse galloping on the spot (designed to hone and test the skills of would-be jockeys), and perched upon it was a television presenter – or was it a member of the public? I can’t remember; he was bouncing too fast in several directions at once.

It occurred to me that something similar (another elegant tent) could appear at racemeetings on a regular basis – once a month perhaps? Nationwide. Within the tent would be machinery that measures “impact.” The medics who deal with boxers and/or car crashes must have plenty of relevant data. Using a bit of imagination it might be possible to show the public exactly how much (or how little) impact the padded whip is capable of applying.

The public could hit something with a whip, note the results, note the implications, pay a pound to the Injured Jockeys Fund, then move on to a video system that would show how jockeys hit horses. Slo-mo would reveal how often the whip does (or doesn’t) touch the horse’s body.  Another pound to the IJF and Mr and Mrs Racegoer would emerge from the elegant tent “yea gladly rejoicing” and considerably wiser. Popping in and out of the tent could become a rite of passage for all racegoers who are interested in the truth.

Worth a try?

GENIUS

In 1947 Mr Fred Darling, for whom Sir Gordon Richards rode for many years, produced a 2-year-old called THE COBBLER at Salisbury. He ran quite unfancied, but won in a canter. He went on to win four races out of four including the Coventry at Royal Ascot. But he was very temperamental and difficult at home.

He was due to run in the Middle Park for his last race of the season, but some weeks before that engagement Mr Darling ran him at Chepstow.

In his autobiography Sir Gordon takes up the story. “I know that it does not go down well to take the winner of the Coventry to Chepstow for a little race, but we did just that. We were living with the horse and we knew just how difficult he was. As a matter of fact that easy race at Chepstow just made him. He went to Newmarket in great fettle, battled out every inch of the course and won the Middle Park by a head.”

Why do I turn the clock back to the distant past? To remind you that Fred Darling was a genius (six Derby winners), who could think “outside the box” when necessary. That’s part of my motivation.

But what really sent me scurrying to my library and thumbing through Sir Gordon’s memoirs was a hurdle race at Cheltenham last Saturday. Quel Destin scooted up that formidable hill (in spite of deep ground) like a tiger, looking neither to the left not to the right, and won with his head in his chest. Was this not his first race of the new jump season? It was. So why no signs of fatigue?

It is quite normal these days to comment on a horse’s first run of the season over hurdles or fences with the phrase “needed the run.” Translated into English, this means that a slight lack of fitness meant that the animal had made hard work of the last few furlongs and the obstacles involved over that stage of the contest. As a result the race will improve the animal’s fitness, but the discomfort may leave its mark on the animal’s reaction to that particular outing. This is regrettable.

All credit therefore to trainer Paul Nicholls, for thinking “outside the box”. Because ten days before Cheltenham Quel Destin had run third in a two mile contest at Bath – on the flat. The moral of the story? Great trainers have bigger brains than ordinary mortals and are constantly surprising and delighting their admirers. Quel Destin was ridden at Bath by Paul’s daughter Megan, he finished a respectable third and the experience did much to improve him, and nothing to cause him discomfort. Consequently he went to Cheltenham ready to run up that hill like an express train. End of story.

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Best wishes,

DONEC.