The Major Talking Points From Day Three at Royal Ascot

There has been no shortage of talking points at Royal Ascot this week but, perhaps the most controversial incident of them all came in the opening race on Thursday, when Paul Hanagan received a 10-day careless riding ban for veering halfway across the track en route to victory in the G2 Norfolk S. aboard The Ridler (GB) (Brazen Beau {Aus}).

From that controversy to another forgettable afternoon's work for Frankie Dettori, out of luck aboard Stradivarius (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) in the G1 Gold Cup and The Queen's 2-5 favourite Reach For The Moon (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) in the G3 Hampton Court S., Brian Sheerin dissects the main talking points from Thursday's action.

 

Listen To Heffernan – Racing Needs To Wake Up

What needs to happen in Britain and Ireland for the stewards to start protecting riders? Let's not pretend that this is a problem confined to British racing because it is not.

Just last autumn, Shane Foley found himself on the receiving end of a five-day ban for careless riding when partnering No Speak Alexander (Ire) (Shalaa {Ire}) to victory in the G1 Matron S. at Leopardstown on Irish Champions Weekend.

Race-favourite Mother Earth (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}) was one of the worst affected by Foley edging to his left aboard the winner and there was genuine dismay from the international audience looking in on our product that the result wasn't changed.

Lessons haven't been learned and there was an element of groundhog day at Ascot when Paul Hanagan veered halfway across the track aboard The Ridler, inconvenienced a number of big-race rivals, but was allowed to keep the G2 Norfolk S.

What you permit, you promote, and the rules, as they are interpreted, meant that The Ridler was never in any real danger of being chucked out.

Seamie Heffernan gave a candid interview to TDN Europe in the immediate aftermath of the farcical contest where he raised the point that riders should have to forfeit their winner's cheque if found guilty of dangerous or careless riding.

In Hanagan's case, he was handed a 10-day riding ban for careless riding, and one can only assume he took that punishment with a smile.

Put simply, there is no deterrent for riding dangerously and, as Heffernan described, a “win-at-all-cost mentality” has crept into racing in recent times.

It begs the question; what needs to happen for the interference rules to be brought into line to reflect what happens in America, Australia and France?

Kia Joorabchian, whose Amo Racing silks were carried by the second and the third–Walbank (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) and Crispy Cat (GB) (Ardad {Ire})–was rightly fuming after the race. So, too, was Crispy Cat's trainer Michael O'Callaghan, not to mention the international bettors who got involved on the World Pool.

The damage caused by these farcical decisions pose a serious risk to the sport and Thursday's race should be the wake up call racing needs.

The problem is, this is an alarm bell that has been ringing for a while.

 

Forgettable Day For Frankie

Yesterday we spoke of how Irad Ortiz's week went from bad to worse and, unfortunately for Frankie Dettori, one of the all-time greats of the weighing room, he had a similarly forgettable day at the office.

John Gosden is not a man who goes around ruffling feathers for no reason but he was clearly disappointed with the ride Dettori gave Stradivarius in the Gold Cup, feeling the legendary rider was too far out of his ground in a slowly-run contest.

“I was a bit surprised that being in the box seat we dropped back so far,” Gosden told ITV Racing. He added, “It would have been nice to be a touch handier, to say the least.”

Dettori was once again out of luck in the Britannia S. when, in another stride or two, he almost certainly would have clinched victory aboard The Queen's Saga (GB) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}).

At least there was a 2-5 favourite to steer home, eh? Wrong. Reach For The Moon ensured this was a day that would be remembered for all the wrong reasons when, despite being sent off at prohibitively short odds, Gosden's charge fluffed his lines in the G3 Hampton Court S.

It should also be noted that Reach For The Moon represented the third odds-on favourite of the week at Royal Ascot after Baaeed (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) got the meeting underway as a 1-6 jolly in the G1 Queen Anne S and Bay Bridge(GB) (New Bay {GB}) got turned over at odds of 10-11 in the Prince Of Wales's S. on Wednesday.

Alfred Munnings (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), who runs in the L Chesham S., and short-priced G2 Hardwicke S. fancy Hurricane Lane (Ire) (Frankel {GB}), are set to start at odds-on for their respective races on Saturday.

That will bring the total number of odds-on shots at this year's Royal meeting to five. There was consternation over the fact that there were five odds-on shots at Cheltenham back in March. Where is the outcry this week?

 

Stradivarius Going Nowhere

There seems to be an unhealthy obsession, certainly in some quarters of the media, in feeling the need to bring up the prospects of retirement as soon as any top horse appears to be on the wane.

Stradivarius is clearly not the force of old, yet he ran a gallant race to finish third in the G1 Gold Cup behind Kyprios (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), and many felt he was unlucky not to have won.

The most pleasing aspect of the performance, however, was that the old boy seemed to retain all of his enthusiasm for the game, which was evidenced by the live pictures of him strutting out of the parade ring afterwards like the champion that he is.

So why this constant talk of retirement? Stradivarius is a racehorse and, to these eyes at least, he still loves to run.

Judging by his fine effort in defeat, he will go close to winning the G1 Goodwood Cup and there is also the option of travelling to Paris later in the season.

Stradivarius has been masterfully handled by John and Thady Gosden. They will know when the time is right to bring the curtain down on his career. Judging by Thursday's performance, that time doesn't appear to be any time soon.

 

Brilliant Boughey Continues To Build

It is hard to believe that George Boughey has only recently turned 30. Since sending out his first winner in 2019, Boughey has bagged a breakthrough Classic success this year and sugar-coated what has been a memorable season by adding a Royal Ascot victory to his CV when Inver Park (GB) (Pivotal {GB}) landed the Buckingham Palace S.

Boughey got his training career up and running, by and large, with early 2-year-olds, but the standard of his Newmarket operation has risen dramatically with each season, as we saw when Cachet (Ire) (Aclaim {Ire}) won the G1 1000 Guineas.

Things could get even better for Boughey on Friday when Cachet lines out in the G1 Coronation S., which is shaping up to be one of the races of the week. His stock is not just on the rise, it's sky-rocketing.

Also, it would be remiss not to mention the exploits of Jane Chapple-Hyam this week. Twice the trainer's unmissable white bridle has been carried to victory at the royal meeting, with Claymore (Fr) (New Bay {GB}) running out a gritty winner of the G3 Hampton Court S. just 24 hours after Saffron Beach (Ire) (New Bay {GB}) bolted up in the G2 Duke Of Cambridge S.

Chapple-Hyam's only other runner this week, Intellogent (Ire) (Intello {Ger}), also ran a cracker to finish second in Wednesday's Royal Hunt Cup.

The post The Major Talking Points From Day Three at Royal Ascot appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Paddy Kehoe: ‘I’ve Backed Princess Zoe to win €50,000 – I got the Value’

He didn't crack the code to the Irish Lottery, have his colours carried by the record-breaking Grabel (GB) (Bold Owl {GB}), invest eye-watering sums in the stock market and battle with the bookmakers on an almost daily basis by being short of an opinion or two. 

Now, Paddy Kehoe is preparing to back his latest theory that his pride and joy Princess Zoe (Ger) (Jukebox Jury {Ire}) can land the G1 Ascot Gold Cup on Thursday and, if correct, the 75-year-old businessman and renowned racehorse owner will net himself a cool €50,000 to go on top of the winner's cheque for the £500,000 Thursday showpiece. 

“This mare is going to win,” says a confident Keogh, as he sips through his fourth pot of tea in Dublin's Burlington Hotel on Sunday morning. 

“She has the form in the book. Tell me another horse in the race with better form than Zoe? Stradivarius (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) was a brilliant horse but he's gone. One of my biggest bets of the week will be on Zoe to beat Stradivarius in a match bet and I could get odds of 2-1 on that. I'll definitely get 6-4. 

“That is an absolute house job. If we can't beat Stradivarius we may as well give up. If he is to win the Gold Cup this year, he'll want to start on Wednesday.

“He was a great horse, it's not like he hasn't done it, because he has, but he's an 8-year-old now and we beat him easily last year. 

“That's despite the fact that we were blocked in our run. Joey [Sheridan, jockey] was too far back because he was watching Stradivarius even though I told him that he wasn't the one to be worrying about. 

“If we rode our own race last year, we'd have won the Gold Cup, and I think we're bringing a better mare to Ascot this year. Where is Stradivarius going to find the improvement to beat us? I can't see it.”

This may sound like pub talk but, then again, so, too, is the idea of devising a plan to win the lotto. But that's exactly what Kehoe, along with mathematical genius Stefan Klincewicz, did back in 1992 when they beat the system and landed the most audacious gambling coup in Irish history, changing the way the National Lottery is run as a result.

“There was every sort of obstacle put in our way,” he says, almost tired of telling the story. “I remember driving out the South Circular Road and the Gardai, the people from the Lotto and the press were all following me. It was world news at the time.”

He added, “One of the lads was on holiday and he picked up a newspaper in Spain and who was on the front of it? Me! He phoned home to Jamesie O'Donnell [another friend] and said, 'what's Kehoe after doing now?' That was a couple of years after Grabel won the richest jumps race ever run in America. It was mad stuff altogether.”

That Irish lotto coup will go down as one of Kehoe's greatest payouts and, the man who understands odds more than most, is all too aware that there is more than just probability to overcome at Ascot next week. 

Having said that, the County Wexford native is confident that his trainer Tony Mullins, who was in the plate aboard Grabel on that fateful day in Kentucky back in 1990, has Princess Zoe in even better shape than 12 months ago, when the mare finished a gallant second to Subjectivist (GB) (Teofilo {Ire}). 

“I've a lot of money on her,” he says. “I have her backed to win €50,000. We've backed her each-way at 16-1, 12-1 and I'd another €500 each-way on her the other day at 12-1 when she should have been 8-1. We have the value and we have the horse, the jockey and the trainer. If she wins, great, but if she doesn't, it won't be the first time it's happened and I'll put it down to bad luck. I know in my heart and soul that she's a better mare this year so we're confident.”

Kehoe added, “You have to give Trueshan (Fr) (Planteur {Ire}) the respect that he deserves but it doesn't look like he's going to run now because of the ground. What does that leave as favourite? Kyprios (Ire) (Galileo {Ire})? And what has he beaten? 

“He beat Search For a Song (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) at Navan and she has been well-beaten since. Fair enough, he won again at Leopardstown [the G3 Saval Beg Levmoss S.] but that was an egg-and-spoon race because he started as a 1-10 favourite which tells you what he had to beat. 

“Kyprios hasn't won beyond 1m6f either so he's not certain to get the trip. For my money, the Gold Cup is a two-horse race between Zoe and Scope (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}), the horse who won the G1 Prix Royal-Oak last year, and now I see that he's a doubt to run because of the ground as well.”

Kehoe likes a bet as much as he does a pint of Smithwick's, hates referees as much as he does jockeys, has never married and never intends to either. It's an all-singing, all-dancing operation, which begs the question, where does he find the time to fund the whole thing?

“I get up at four every morning, five at the latest-when I'm not drinking-to price jobs so that I'd have it all done. You'd be finished your work at 10 or 11 o'clock in the morning and you'd have it all done. I could never sleep. The way I look at it is, when you get to 75 years of age, every minute of the day that you're alive is a bonus. What the f*** would you be lying in the bed for?”

Kehoe makes no secret about the fact that he's fond of a good night out-and when Wexford won the All-Ireland in 1996, rumour has it there were several-but he also runs a hugely successful business that specialises in suspended ceilings, travels to race meetings and sporting events all over the world, which goes some way in explaining why sleep falls falls down the pecking order in his list of priorities. 

“A fella was slagging one day, telling me that I can remember everything that is said on a night out, and I told him I can remember the day I was born!”

It's at this point where Kehoe's phone lights up for the seventh or eighth time within the space of an hour, each number different to the last, none of which have been saved under a name. No need.

“I don't bother saving them. I know every number in there, I'd have them all in my head. I'm not big on computers. Never was. Sure my mother [Ina] is 96 years of age and she can tell me everything that's going on. I was talking to her this morning and she was talking about tennis, the results from the soccer matches, everything.

“The first thing I do every morning is check the stock markets and switch back over to Sky News to see what's happening in Ukraine. My mother would have all the sports news and everything for me. She's even booked in for the Galway races again this year.” 

It's at Galway where Princess Zoe shot to prominence, winning two premier handicaps at the summer festival before returning to Ballybrit later in 2020 to win the Listed Oyster S. and she has since confirmed herself as one of the most talented stayers in the business. 

Princess Zoe has netted Kehoe €238,500 in career earnings, not bad for a mare who cost just €39,500, but he doesn't subscribe to being labelled lucky to be associated with such a money-spinner.

“If I didn't have bad luck I'd have no luck,” he says, only half-joking. “Take Antarctic Bay as an example. He won the SunAlliance in 1985 and was favourite for the following year's Gold Cup. He never set foot on the track again after his Cheltenham win. Abbey Glen (GB) (Furry Glen {GB}) was beaten a neck in the Arkle, went for the Irish Grand National and pulls up entering the straight after breaking down. He was also favourite for the following year's Gold Cup. Two ante-post favourites for the Gold Cup. Both gone. And people tell me I'm lucky? Stop.”

A night on the town with camp Kehoe is not for the faint-hearted. It may be easier to predict the lotto numbers than to forecast the outcome of Thursday's race but the greatest certainty of them all is that the travelling contingent of Irishmen and women will make the most of the occasion.

“There'll be 15 or 16 of us heading over to Ascot and we'll be back in Cassidy's Pub in Dublin by 11.30pm on Thursday night. There's lads coming over from Paris, New York-all over the place-and they all believe that she will win. 

“I've told them not to be disappointed if we're beaten because we'll drink as much if she loses as we will if she wins. It won't make any difference.”

The money is secondary. 

The post Paddy Kehoe: ‘I’ve Backed Princess Zoe to win €50,000 – I got the Value’ appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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