Racing review: Hotpots and howlers from five memorable days at Royal Ascot
WHAT a week it’s been, with five fabulous days at Royal Ascot flashing by in the blink of an eye.
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 Royal meeting.
Hotpots
First things first, let’s take a look at some of the top equine performances of the week.
I was blown away by Pinatubo in the Chesham. Charlie Appleby’s colt shattered the two-year-old course record when thrashing Lope Y Fernandez, and he is already favourite for next year’s 2000 Guineas.
Sangarius has always been highly-regarded by Sir Michael Stoute and he strutted his stuff in the Hampton Court Stakes. He will be winning Group 1s in the not-too-distant future.
And, of course, Blue Point was sensational in winning both the King’s Stand Stakes and Diamond Jubilee. He is one of the best sprinters on the planet and this was a remarkable feat.
Frankie Dettori and Ryan Moore garnered the headlines, but Danny Tudhope had an incredible week at Ascot.
The Scot got off to the best possible start when driving Lord Glitters to a narrow success in the Group 1 Queen Anne, and he ended day one with victory aboard Addeybb in the Wolferton.
Further victories followed aboard Move Swiftly in the Duke Of Cambridge on Wednesday and Space Traveller in the Jersey, meaning he ended the week with four wins and three placed finishes from just 10 rides.
He has always had a huge amount of talent, but this was the week when he showed it to the rest of the world.
A shout out as well to the first-time winners at the Royal meeting.
Charlie Fellowes and Hayley Turner (the first female rider to win at the meeting since 1987) teamed up to land the Sandringham with Thanks Be.
Ian Williams, a cracking trainer under both codes, saddled The Grand Visir to win the Ascot Stakes while young David Egan showed tremendous composure to steer the favourite Daahyeh to victory in the Albany.
And last but not least, King Power Racing, after a number of near misses, gained an emotional Royal winner as Cleonte took the final race of the meeting under SDS. The late Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha’s dreams have been realised.
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Howlers
The whip is a contentious issue in horse racing right now. Personally, I want to keep the whip and feel it would have a hugely negative effect on the sport if the do-gooders ever did away with it.
But on the biggest stage, there is even greater scrutiny on the jockeys and their whip use, and there were 10 separate bans dished out due to whip offences during the week.
Jim Crowley (Afaak, Hunt Cup), Harry Bentley (Biometric, Britannia) and Hayley Turner (Thanks Be, Sandringham) all went over the permitted level in gaining a narrow victory.
I get that there is a lot of pressure on the jockeys to get a winner at Royal Ascot, but there have got to be sterner punishments for the riders if they break the rules.
I’m not in favour of disqualifying a horse if the jockey goes over the allowed number of strokes, but the only way I can see this being curbed is by stripping a rider of their cut of the prize money. Simple as.
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We have been spoilt at Royal Ascot in recent years with top-class overseas performers gracing some of our biggest races.
The likes of Black Caviar, Tepin and Lady Aurelia have lit up the Royal meeting in recent seasons.
But this year, the course were unable to attract any international challengers of note.
Prize money has to be the main issue. There is just no incentive for Australians to race their horses at Ascot where they will compete for a fraction of the prize they can earn at home.
Let’s hope this year was a one-off and the stars return in 2020.
Perhaps a shade harsh to include Aidan O’Brien on the howlers list, seeing as he claimed leading trainer at Royal Ascot for the 10th time with five winners during the week.
However, I get the feeling that Ballydoyle and Coolmore will be disappointed with the week as a whole. Yes, they claimed Group 1 glory with Circus Maximus on the opening day.
But this was followed by high-profile defeats for Magical, Ten Sovereigns, Hermosa, Norway and Le Brivido to name a few.
From 53 runners, they had just five winners. O’Brien is one of the greatest trainers of all time and we judge him on his own ridiculously high standards, but victories in the King George V Handicap and Windsor Castle Stakes count for very little to the Irish machine.