THOSE of us who grew into racing in the 70s and 80s were pretty much reared on the Derby at Epsom being the first big event of the summer. And that its winner would automatically seek a place among the greats by taking in that Triple Crown of the Irish Derby followed by a test against the best of the older horses in the King George. It was a thrill from the first week in June to the last in July.
From Grundy to Nashwan, they were the continuation of glorious times that followed the tales heard of greats such as Sir Ivor, Nijinsky and Mill Reef. And of course you expected to see those names appear in the generations of star horses.
If we didn’t know already, the Return of Mares this week was sober reading in seeing the 2018 Derby winner Masar covered the total of 10 mares this season. He is the most recent of the Derby winners standing in Europe, while those before him - Golden Horn, Harzand and Wings Of Eagles now cover NH mares. Masar has now also gone to the jumps of the industry. It means you have to go back to Camelot, winner 12 years ago in 2012, to find a Derby-winning sire standing at a decent fee of €50,000.
The 2014 Derby winner Australia stands at €17,500 - the same figure as Good Guess, whose biggest win and sole Group 1 success was in the seven-furlong Prix Maurice de Gheest.
For a time the staying races had fallen totally out of favour but more recently two of the most popular flat racehorses have been Stradivarius and Kyprios. Stradivarius had been sent some interesting mares, perhaps due to his longevity and popularity. Perhaps the Derby will be revitalised but it’s looking a bit grim.
THE removal of the Turners Novice Chase as a Grade 1 from the Cheltenham Festival was one change by the British authorities that seemed to be welcomed by the majority of jump fans. In the old days the Arkle and the Sun Alliance/Brown Advisory had catered just fine for young chasers.
But the news that Gordon Elliott’s exciting mare Brighterdaysahead is being aimed at a more logical target for the rising six-year-old, the Grade 1 Mares’ Hurdle, brought acknowledgement that you can’t please most people most of the time.
“No!” was the cry, “she would have been ideal for the Turners!” It will no doubt lead to more flak for the Mares’ Hurdle but I find it difficult to think that, as some suggested, moving that race to Aintree would necessarily have seen a horse like Lossiemouth compete in the Champion Hurdle as a five-year-old, nor would it be likely Brighterdaysahead would run in a Champion Hurdle. A match-up in the Mares’ Hurdle with Jade De Grugy, Kargese, Golden Ace and Dysart Enos is a rather decent contest.
Not for the first time, the 2024 Mares’ Hurdle was in the top 10 highest turnover races of the Festival. (Turners 16th) so it’s not that unworthy on any grounds.
Shamrock Thoroughbreds@ShamrockTBS
Massive congratulations to @cianmac01 on his first winner in Australia today. We would like to thank Cian for the many winners he has ridden for us over the years and he built up a great association with many of our flagship horses. Wishing him continued success Down Under.
irishracing.com@irishracing
Champion English National Hunt trainer Willie Mullins congratulates Champion English Flat Trainer Aidan O’Brien after Kyprios won at Ascot
Ande Humphrey@ashsh
2x Group 1 two-year-old races at Saint-Cloud on Sunday. A combined 17 runners remain entered with just ONE runner trained in France by @HeadRacing1 12 runners are trained by the surname of O’Brien IRE. Where are the rest of the French 2yos?!
James@jamesaknight
Great - a whole season geared around winning a nothing race. [On Brighterdaysahead being aimed at the Mares’ Hurdle]
Calum Madell@calummadell
Don’t think anything in this sport annoys me & frankly worries me more with the racing industry being obsessed with breeding from moderate cheap speed stallions. There’s 1 10f+ horse who ran in last 10 years on that list? So excited for progeny of Good Guess, said nobody ever. [on the 20 busiest sires in 2024]
Mike Parcej@MikeParcej
Verdict on @hotelminella? Quite simply the best hotel in Ireland for a racing fan to stay in.