5 minute read
Don't back Europe
...when its horses are racing abroad – Paul Haigh’s New Year’s resolution
New Year Resolution time. And the only one that occurs immediately is: “Don’t bet Brit horses blind in international races”. It’s lazy, arrogant and usually unproductive – especially in sprints. Bit like Brexit maybe. A wiser head than this one solemnly announced before the first of Hong Kong’s four end-of-year Longines international Group 1s that: “The locals will win them all”.
Cue scoffing, and flat contradiction of such defeatist negativity.
The strongly held theory that European (and, particularly, British-trained) middle-distance horses are superior to those trained anywhere else took a savage corrective blow when Hong Kong’s Exultant and Japan’s Lys Gracieux drew clear of the rest in the last furlong of the 2,400m (1m4f) Hong Kong Vase.
In the circumstances Eziyra, trained by Dermot Weld for the Aga Khan, produced a terrific performance under Christophe Lemaire to finish just under 3l third.
Arc fourth Waldgeist ran fifth, Rostropovitch seventh, Cracksman’s once near-conqueror Salouen ninth, Irish Derby winner Latrobe 11th, Red Verdon was second last, while Sir Michael Stoute’s much-fancied Mirage Dancer (and so much-backed that it was almost time for an unprecedentedly early departure for the dreaded Walk of Shame to the ATM) with Ryan Moore on board trailed home to complete an Euro-rout. “He ran bad,” said Moore. “I don’t know why.” Well yes, Ryan. But all of them? Nobody really expected Sir Dancealot to do much better in the Sprint which, with the huge exception of Japan’s Lord Kanaloa, has been virtually dominated by Hong Kong-trained Australian-breds.
And Sir D didn’t surprise, also finishing last, although only about 5l behind local hero and last year’s winner, Mr Stunning.
How much better “we” were going to do in the Mile wasn’t the main question beforehand. That was whether anything was going to get near the defending champion, the Hong Kong-trained Beauty Generation, already rated the world’s best Turf miler.
No need for suspense. Nothing could. With Purton on board again, the six-year-old gelding, clear 2f out, humiliated all pursuers.
Nothing’s got a sniff of him all season. Perhaps only Winx could hope to do so. Neither Beat The Bank nor
the Prix de La Forêt winner One Master had a prayer. This time the uncoveted final spot went to Godolphin’s Andre Fabre-trained Inns Of Court.
Could Europe maintain its tailend monopoly in the Hong Kong Cup itself? Well, of course not. We have our pride. Stormy Antarctic, on ground much too firm for him, battled on gamely to uphold it, beating Japanese veteran Staphanos home.
And that wasn’t the only aspect to leave Brits with heads held high rather clutched in our hands.
Not only was all-the-way Cup winner Glorious Forever ridden by Britain’s champion Silvestre de Sousa – okay, he’s Brazilian, but don’t pick nits – but the horse was trained last year by Ed Walker, while in third place came his full-brother, last year’s winner Time Warp, who as is now a matter of folk lore long ago broke his maiden at Southwell for Sir Mark Prescott. Some horses do improve when they reach Hong Kong.
Other excuses for the invading contingent include the obvious truths that playing at home is an even bigger advantage in racing than it is in other sports, and that this was, as usual, way out of season for most of “ours” who’d built their reputations in high summer.
But anyway not many of us Brits will be walking that jaunty swagger that says “You do know we used to own this place, don’t you?” next time we arrive at Sha Tin.
The Orient in general is not an easy place to penetrate these days. That’s why hardly any of our horses have been sent to contest the Japan Cup since Alkaased won it for the now-retired and already much-missed Luca Cumani, except for those just below the top class.
Thundering Blue, who certainly fits that category, ran a very respectable race in the 2018 renewal for the up-and-coming trainer David Menuisier.
But there was never the slightest chance he was going to within hailing distance of the latest superstar filly to grace world racing, Japan’s Almond Eye.
What is it about this sudden explosion of super-fillies: Black Caviar, Winx, Zenyatta, Treve, Tepin and Enable are just the ones we can all think of off the top of our heads.
And now Almond Eye? She’s a daughter of Lord Kanaloa and she seems to possess all of her father’s monstrous finishing kick at 6f, except that she can produce it at the end of distances twice as far.
Last month this column enquired discreetly whether the time could be approaching when some latter-day Admiral Rous might like to have another look at the 3lb sex allowance.
Now – feminists will love this, but we’ve got to be realistic – maybe he’d even like to turn it round the other way!
Another resolution: “Never underestimate the females in any race”. Not like the Americans, who do (or did) for many, many years, tend to throw up their hands in wonder if any filly could successfully “take on the boys”.
One male Euro, however, who has saved our Occidental blushes lately is Almond Eye’s rider, Christophe Lemaire.
Lemaire is one of the cleverest men in any jockeys’ room, which may be one of the reasons he’s chosen to build his career in Japan where the prize-money is highest (not per race, that’s Hong Kong, but overall) and now he’s gone and broken their adored Yutaka Take’s all-time record for the most winners in a season.
Glorious Forever wins the Hong kong Cup
Oh, and here's another resolution, one for columnists and commentators, not actual participants in the sport. The ridiculous suggestion that racing should get rid of the whip has resurfaced in Britain, thanks to the intervention in a newspaper article of a quite famous tennis player, who has become quite a famous journo.
You might say he’s trying to pick up a few cheap points with some easy backhand flicks, but perhaps his opinion is sincere.
Whether the same can be said of all those who virtue signal by claiming abolition of the instrument is all that’s necessary to unleash a great stampede of new supporters into racing is debatable.
But the resolution is just not to debate with them: not to fall into the temptation of telling them its indispensable to the sport and to the safety of the players, both human and equine; not to tell them that to do away with it is just to ruin the game and sentence almost an entire breed to redundancy.
The problem, one suspects, is in the use of the word “whip”. It’s one that carries with it as baggage any amount of ancient cruelty and criminality, and it’s way out of date.
The modern whip, real horsemen insist, is not an instrument of punishment or bullying – it’s far too light for that – and they wouldn’t tolerate it if it was.
It’s a tool to get the horse’s attention and to help the jockey steer.
Change the name to “cajoler” or to the already in use “persuader” and the problem of those who try to score points by continuing to argue that this is a brutal, callous sport might well be solved.
Now on to Dubai, and remember: no more blind Brit backing, no more underestimating mares, and no more arguing with misguided trolls who try to do racing down. They just hate to be ignored.
Happy New Year!
