THIS week I have chosen four stories from The Irish Field published on Saturday, May 7th, 2011. Two stories concern sales and what happened afterwards to the best-priced lots, one highlighted the first training success of a man who 10 years later was winning at Cheltenham, while the fourth celebrates a classic win for a now immortalised racehorse.
MANY people thought Frankel would win last Saturday’s Qipco 2000 Guineas at Newmarket.
Quite a few hoped he would do it in style, playing his part in Henry Cecil’s return to the top.
What hardly anyone thought was that he would pulverise a high-class field with a powerhouse display of front running which brooked no argument. He was simply magnificent. At the line Frankel was six lengths clear of Dubawi Gold, with Native Khan an honest third, half a length behind.
Astonishingly, it was another 11 lengths back to Slim Shady and the rest. The winner had them all in deep trouble at halfway, where he was 10 lengths clear. He idled in the closing stages but never faced a challenge. His performance had hardened race-watchers struggling to make comparisons.
If odds of 1/2 looked skinny beforehand, it looked like a gift from the gods as Frankel shot past the bushes, with loneliness the only danger.
Tom Queally is one of the thinkers in the weigh room, and Cecil clearly trusts him implicitly. The jockey has thought for a while that being held up up disappoints Frankel, and he was anxious to avoid that happening.
“It worked out exactly as I wanted it to,” Cecil said. “I thought he could do it like that if he relaxed from the front. Having been in front so long he was wondering where all the other horses were.”
“By God he showed them,” said Queally. “The first thing you think is what kind of speed we’re going, but to Frankel it feels like a routine canter. It’s fantastic.”
It is hard to believe that this was Cecil’s first 2000 Guineas success since Wollow in 1976, but there will surely be more Group 1 triumphs this season.
Frankel is by Galileo but his dam, Kind, was a sprinter and his chances of staying a mile and a half look quite slim.
“Once I’ve talked to Prince Khalid and we’ve worked it out together, we’ll let you know,” Cecil said. “Whether he’ll get a mile and a half is another matter. We want to do the right thing.”
[Frankel never tackled a mile and a half and he retired to Banstead Manor Stud unbeaten in 14 starts, over three seasons, and 10 of those victories were at Group 1 level. He is now one of the leading sires in Europe with 13 Group 1 winners]
Old dog learns new tricks
ALMOST overlooked amid all the exciting bank holiday weekend racing was the achievement of rookie trainer Paul Hennessy.
We use the term ‘rookie’ loosely as Paul is already a champion trainer of greyhounds. The Kilkenny man recently began training three racehorses and had his first runners last Friday week at Dundalk, and what a start he made. His first runner, Cheers Buddy, won by a neck in a blanket finish under Joseph O’Brien.
The same horse turned out less than 48 hours later at Paul’s local track, Gowran Park, on Sunday afternoon and won again, this time under Seamie Heffernan.
So, is this the start of something big? “We’ve had one or two enquiries but I think we will stick with the three horses we have for now. We have 50 to 60 greyhounds here and they keep us busy.”
Paul is very grateful for the guidance given to him by Seamie Heffernan, Tony Mullis and work rider Eddie Nolan. He said; “I had intended running the horse sooner but Tony told me to slow down, and then the paperwork with the Turf Club took longer than expected, which was all for luck.”
Horse racing has always been an interest of Paul’s. “We’ve had legs of horses with the Mullins family over the years.”
[Heaven Help Us gave Paul Hennessy a winner at the 2021 Cheltenham Festival in the Grade 3 Coral Cup, following the mare’s victory at the Dublin Racing Festival in February]
Demand continues for National Hunt stock
A MERE 15 horses came under the hammer at the inaugural Tattersalls Ireland Select Point-To-Point and Horses In Training Sale last Sunday, but a top price of €80,000 and live trade for other form horses gave cause for encouragement. Ultimately, eight of the lots found buyers. Hearteningly, the top two lots were bought to stay in Ireland.
“We felt for a long time there was an opportunity and need for a point-top-point and horses in training sale here in Ireland,” commented Tattersalls Ireland managing director George Mernagh. We are committed to providing our customers with a premium service and building on this positive start, though one has to question the wisdom of two such sales being held in Ireland during the same week, and for the same audience.”
Taking centre-stage at €80,000 was the Wilson Dennison-owned Ballycasey, who has run three times in points this season and produced his best effort when finishing second at Loughanmore on Easter Monday. The four-year-old son of Presenting was bought by Harold Kirk to join Willie Mullins.
Prior to this, Tony Martin set the pace when he paid €52,000 for the Bandon point-to-point winner Benefficient. The five-year-old son of Beneficial also tried his hand on the track this spring when finishing third in a bumper at Cork.
[Ballycasey and Benefficient both went on to enjoy Grade 1 success. Ballycasey won 11 races including the Dr PJ Moriarty Novice Chase at Leopardstown, while Benefficient won six times, half of them at Grade 1 level. His three top-level wins were at Leopardstown, in the Frank Ward Arkle Chase, the Deloitte Novice Hurdle and the Paddy Power Dial-A-Bet Chase]
Top lot stays at Home
A TOP price of €200,000, and a set of final figures which again illustrated the notable demand for promising National Hunt stock, saw the Goffs Punchestown Festival Sale draw to a highly-satisfactory close on Thursday evening.
This revived auction saw 14 lots sold for just over €1 million. “This evening has surpassed our most optimistic expectations, with a vibrant atmosphere from start to finish in the sale ring and in the parade ring,” said Goffs chief executive Henry Beeby.
Four lots sold for six-figure prices. The sale-topper was the Ian Ferguson-owned Home Farm, who created quite an impression when he made a winning debut at Horse and Jockey. Bobby O’Ryan had to give best to Kevin Ross who was acting for an existing owner of Arthur Moore’s.
A short while later David Minton of Highflyer Bloodstock spent €150,000 on the Lavirco gelding Royal Boy. His debut success marked out the Pat Doyle youngster as one of the most promising four-year-olds seen out in Ireland this season. The gelding will go into training with Nicky Henderson for a new client.
[The best of Home Farm’s three racecourse wins was in a listed chase at Thurles, and he also finished third in the Irish Grand National. Royal Boy won twice, one of these wins coming in the Grade 1 Tolworth Novice Hurdle at Kempton]