Royal Jumpers Being Primed for the Festival

It was the late Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother who was the major supporter of National Hunt racing within Britain's Royal Family, but King Charles III and Queen Camilla could be represented at the Cheltenham Festival with both Reach For The Moon (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) and Steal A March (GB) (Mount Nelson {GB}) under consideration for the March showcase.

Reach For The Moon, now five, won the G3 Solario S. at two as well as finishing runner-up in the G2 Champagne S., and was at one stage considered a potential Derby candidate. Last September, he moved from the stable of John and Thady Gosden to join National Hunt trainer Jamie Snowden. Though yet to race over hurdles, the gelding has been given an entry for the G1 Sky Bet Supreme Novices' Hurdle on March 12 and will be campaigned in partnership by HM The Queen and Sir Chips Keswick. He is now registered in the colours of the latter, the former chairman of Arsenal FC.

Snowden said of the 105-rated performer on the Flat, “He was obviously a very good horse for John and Thady Gosden and he was a leading contender at one stage for the 2022 Derby.

“He had a few little issues on the Flat hence the reason why he has ended up jumping with us as opposed to doing anything else. With a horse that has that kind of rating on the Flat, we have to give him an entry in the Supreme, but we will see how he takes to everything over the next month to six weeks.

“Racing is steeped in the tradition of the royal family. The Queen Mother loved it, and the late Queen was a big supporter of the sport. It is wonderful that the King and the Queen are supporting racing as much as ever before.”

He added, “We have got some nice horses for them and hopefully Reach For The Moon can fly the flag high. We are lucky to have a horse of his talent and hopefully we can do him justice.”

Reach For The Moon was bred by Queen Elizabeth II, as was Steal A March, who runs in the Pertemps Network Handicap Hurdle series qualifier at Huntingdon on Thursday.

Trained by Nicky Henderson for the King and Queen, the 9-year-old missed last year's Festival with a setback. He recently returned at Newbury after a year off the track.

Henderson said, “Steal A March was going to the Cheltenham Festival last year, and he was all ready for it, but he had a little issue three weeks before which was real bad luck.

“He has got a run under his belt, which is a help, as he needs a huge amount of work. He is a horse that takes plenty of getting ready. The step back up in trip to three miles one (furlong) will suit him as well.

“That was the plan to have Steal A March run at the Cheltenham Festival last year so let's hope we can do it this year.”

The King's niece, Zara Tindall, shares her great-grandmother's love of jump racing and is on the committee of Cheltenham Racecourse as well as being patron of the Retraining of Racehorses charity.

 

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Reach For The Moon Returns At Saint-Cloud

One-time Derby favourite Reach For The Moon (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) will return to action at Saint-Cloud on Saturday.

Connections of the John and Thady Gosden-trained colt opted to sidestep the Derby after he picked up a mid-season setback.

Instead, Reach For The Moon was aimed at Royal Ascot, where he was beaten as a 2-5 favourite behind Claymore (Fr) (New Bay {GB}) in the Hampton Court S.

Now owned by the King, he is back in action over a mile in Paris for the Group 3 Prix Perth, with Robert Havlin in the saddle.

The King's racing manager John Warren said, “We think the ground and trip should be just what we have been looking for. He needs to get back racing again and it's a shame we are nearly at the end of the season as John Gosden is very happy with him.

“We are hopeful of showing his best form, especially as his form with Bayside Boy (Ire) (New Bay {GB}) looks very solid.”

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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.

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Gosden Keeps Royal Ascot Option Open for Emily Upjohn

   Emily Upjohn (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), who was narrowly out of luck in the G1 Cazoo Oaks, could bid for G2 Ribblesdale S. glory at Royal Ascot next week, according to her joint-trainer John Gosden.

A clear-cut winner of the G3 Musidora S. in her Epsom prep, John and Thady Gosden's 'TDN Rising Star' endured a luckless Classic run, losing a handful of lengths at the start when stumbling coming out of the stalls before being beaten just a short head by Tuesday (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) at the line.

That was Emily Upjohn's third start of the campaign, having also cantered home by 9 1/2 lengths at Sandown on her return in April, and John Gosden has not completely ruled out a swift return at Group 2 level next Thursday.

He said, “The Ribblesdale is a very important race, she's never won a Group 2. You wait until the end of July and you're looking at two possible races, then the [G1] Yorkshire Oaks.

“If she's in good form, it's something that needs to be considered and thoroughly looked at, you don't just say 'oh we'll wait seven weeks or two months'.

“In her life she's had four races, which isn't an awful lot. We'll see, she's fine, she's been eating well and looking well. She's cantered and seems happy, so we'll keep the options open.”

Inspiral (GB) (Frankel {GB}), the winter favourite for the G1 QIPCO 1000 Guineas who has yet to grace the track this season, is on track to return in the G1 Coronation S.

Gosden said, “It can happen to some fillies in the spring, she's taken a long time to come right and you don't want to rush them. She's pleasing me now and going the right way. She's goes for the Coronation.

“She's coming to herself and I think we're beginning to see the filly of last year, so we'll hope for a big performance. I think she's getting close to being exactly where we want her and as long as the next few days go all right, she can put up a bold show.

“We have been [keen to run], but sometimes in this game you just have to be patient.”

Reach For The Moon (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) was another Gosden Classic hope over the winter, with many hoping the colt could give his owner The Queen a G1 Cazoo Derby win in her Platinum Jubilee year.

However, after suffering a setback at the end of last term, Reach For The Moon was ruled out of Epsom some weeks before the Classic, instead making his reappearance in the Listed Heron S. at Sandown last month.

Second to My Prospero (Ire) (Iffraaj {GB}) over a mile there, Reach For The Moon is now likely to edge up to 10 furlongs in the G3 Hampton Court S. rather than be pitched in over a mile and a half in the G2 King Edward VI S.

Gosden said, “We're thinking Hampton Court for Reach For The Moon, over a mile and a quarter. He's pleased us in his work and we're very happy with him.

“I think when you've sustained an injury like that, you have to go very gently and it just wasn't going to happen in time.

“Obviously the owner-breeder was very keen to do everything right by the horse, so that made it simple for me in a sense. Just get a run in at Sandown and go to Royal Ascot.

“He's a character, he likes to play and shout. He enjoys the prelims–you'll hear him, he's a character that boy.”

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