Racing review: Hotpots and howlers from the last seven days in the world of horse racing – Chester, Ascot and elsewhere
ANOTHER week has flown by in the world of racing. There’s been plenty to discuss on and off the track as the focus leans to Epsom.
Take a look at our latest instalment of Hotpots and Howlers, where we pick out the good, the bad and the downright ugly from the past seven days.
What a week it’s been for the King of the Flat, John Gosden.
His horses have continued to shine on the whole, no more so than Mehdaayih at Chester and Anapurna at Lingfield on Saturday.
I won’t go into detail on each performance, as that’s been done elsewhere within Sun Racing. But it was Johnny G’s actions after each race that shot him into the ‘Hotpots’ this week.
On ITV and Sky Sports Racing, he came into his own, giving interviews you could listen to all day.
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Gosden can be a bit camera shy pre-race, but barring a horror show on the track, he is worth every penny post-race.
He went into detail on how Anapurna had not even worked on turf prior to Lingfield and how Mehdaayih could well be supplemented for the Oaks.
He loves this time of year and his tag line has quickly become – ‘there’s only one Oaks.’
If everyone in racing was like John Gosden with the media, we’d be in a much better position promoting the sport.
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Things weren’t so smiley with young jockey Cameron Noble.
Noble has vowed to ‘prove himself’ after a horror show in the Chester Cup consolation race, where he drove his horse Michael’s Mount home an entire lap early…
He realised his mistake entering the straight, and managed to get home for fourth. But in a way that makes it almost worse, as his horse would have gone mighty close to winning without the early push.
We all make mistakes, and it would be ludicrous to hold this against him in the long-term. But, it wasn’t pretty and it’s up to Noble to prove it was a stupid one-off.
It somewhat went under the radar that Sylvester Kirk had a day to remember at Ascot on Saturday.
The Lambourn trainer banged in a 168-1 treble, led by the admirable Salouen in the Listed Buckhounds Stakes.
Kirk scooped close to £60,000 in one afternoon and his stable star Salouen looks to have a big season ahead of him.
I’m sure there were a few sore heads in Lambourn come Sunday morning as the Kirk team went out on the gallops.
Another horse that deserves some plaudits is Forest Ranger, a hardy and typically well-bought Richard Fahey horse.
The five-year-old made it back-to-back Huxley Stakes, and has now won more than £350,000 in prize money after being bought for less than £25,000. Some effort.
He’s not quite a Group 1 horse and not the easiest to place, especially with another Group 2 penalty to lumber. But it’s likely he’ll be off on his travels again and providing his owners with plenty of big days out.
He’s already raced in Dubai, at Royal Ascot and in Korea. Anything now is a bonus.
Out of the Huxley Stakes comes another ‘Howler’ however.
Addeybb was well-fancied in many circles and screamed home for a fast-finishing fourth under James Doyle.
The Doyler rarely gets it wrong, but he had a horror show on Addeybb who had conditions in his favour, but was ridden far too negatively.
On another day, it could have been Addeybb in the Hotpots, and Forest Ranger in the Howlers. What a game.
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The last Howler of the week is awarded to summer jumping.
The cards over the sticks of late are nothing more than a farce, and a complete waste of anyone’s time.
Largely un-competitive and attracting poor fields, they only aid to keep so many poor horses in training that then clog up the entries when the proper horses come back into training as summer turns to autumn.
There’s no problem with the odd card through the summer, but three, sometimes even four a day is a ludicrous amount and is damaging the sport as a whole. It’s time to wake up. Less can be more.