Tropics

It had to happen eventually.  After several weeks of unbroken good weather, the heavens had to open some time.  And they have duly opened today.  But (dare I say it?) this doesn't look as if it's going to mean the end of the good weather.  The going is soft at Newmarket this evening, but we've had the rare pleasure of rain that isn't unpleasant.  It's been like being in the tropics.  We had two very wet thunderstorms this morning, but the sun was out and the temperature rocketing up by 8 am.  When the heavens re-opened during evening stables, it was 32 degrees.  Looking ahead, we seem to have further storms heading our way, but continued high temperatures, and mostly sunny conditions, for at least another fortnight.

Yesterday we had a preview of today.  We had our only runner of the week, Hope Is High at Doncaster.  I went there expecting ground only slightly faster than good, somewhere on the good side of good to firm.  When walking the track (well, the last furlong of it - it was hot, I was tired as nearly always and lazy as always) I thought that that was exactly what it was.  I should have smelt a rat because there had been an article in the Racing Post after the last meeting in which Doncaster's local trainer David Griffiths had offered the opinion that the track was a lot slower than described; but 'good to firm' it was called, and 'good to firm' it seemed to me.

It was beautiful ground: we've been having a freaskishly hot and dry spell, but it was ground on which one could safely and happily gallop any horse, any day.  At the end of a very hot afternoon there was one short, wet thunderstorm before racing, but quarter of an hour afterwards one would hardly have known that it had rained.  However, I was rather taken aback in the parade ring when our jockey Gerald Mosse (who had ridden in the previous race) asked me if she would handle the ground.  I replied that she should love it, as ground just on the fast side of good is perfect for her.  Gerald's response disconcerted me: "This isn't fast ground.  It's quite soft!".

Anyway, within the first furlong it was plain that she was not handling the track.  The ground was quite loose and she dipped, looking slightly to lose her footing, a few times along the back straight and then most obviously turning into the straight.  She ran her usual game race, finishing fourth of the four runners, beaten just over six lengths.  Gerald Mosse's report was succinct: "She couldn't handle the ground at all, but she tried hard and did her best.  She's very genuine."  So that's been our week!  (And the good thing is that, following my disappointment after her previous race when a well-beaten second of four had seen her raised a pound and thus put out of 0-70 (ie 0-72) company, we should now go down at least a pound for finishing last and should thus once again be eligible for a more suitable grade).

Incidentally, I didn't offer a 'reason for a disappointing run' to the stewards.  It would have been silly to have done so.  (And, had I done so, I would imagine that they would sensibly have refused to accept it, as happened when I found myself in a similar situation on a previous occasion).  Hope has won five races: two on good to firm, one on good, two on good to soft.  (I'd actually say that she has won four races on good to firm and one on good to soft, but that's by the by).  Anyway, she loves ground that isn't too far from good, whether it's on the fast side or on the soft side. Yesterday's ground was (officially) good to firm.

If I had gone to the stewards and told them that Hope hadn't handled the "good to firm" ground, I would just have made myself, Doncaster and the form book all look like idiots.  And that's before we come to the fact that the likelihood is that the next time she runs will be on good to firm.  Furthermore, I'm not really of the belief that it's the trainer's role to offer such an explanation.  I didn't ride her in the race.  If the jockey wants to volunteer such an opinion, that's his prerogative.  It's the trainer's duty to inform the stewards if something comes up subsequently to explain the disappointment, eg the horse being lame.  And there's nothing to report there: she's fine today, so I hope that we'll run at Yarmouth in 12 days' time - when the ground will, almost certainly, be 'good to firm' once again.

I should add that there was a further short thunderstorm after our race (the third) and that the ground was changed to 'good' after the fourth; and that it was further changed (to 'good to soft') after the fifth.  Whatever - Yarmouth next.  I would have entered her for Bath next week, doing so on the basis that if some rain were to fall (which is likely to be what will happen) we would probably run, but if it remained totally parched we probably wouldn't.  But the meeting has been moved to Wolverhampton AW, where presumably the fields will be significantly bigger but the crowd significantly smaller, so we'll wait for Yarmouth.  I'd like to run her on fast ground, not Tapeta or Polytrack.

I'll end by saying how pleased I was today to watch Nicola Currie riding in a Listed race (at Ascot) for the first time.  As apprentices can't claim in Group or Listed races, it's always notable when one picks up a ride in such a race, so that was a great milestone.  Henry Candy is one of her very good patrons, which is particularly good as I don't think that she has yet ridden a winner for him; and it was very good to see him give her this iron-cast vote of confidence.  She has made truly remarkable and richly-deserved progress up the ladder over the past 12 months, and I'm delighted to see it.

A couple of weeks ago we had the July Cup, which is usually run on the second Saturday in July.  On July Cup Day last year she rode her third winner, and more pertinently her first 'outside' (ie not for her boss, Richard Hughes) winner, when riding Kryptos to victory in an apprentices' handicap at Chseter, having ridden her first winner eight months previously and her second winner four months previously.  Roll on 12 months, and on July Cup Day this year her career tally stood at 54.  I think that now, 13 days later, it stands at 59.

I know that one could say this about plenty of jockeys and apprentices, but any success which she gets has been worked for very diligently and very hard, and is richly deserved.  It's good to see this (rare!) example of  honest hard work, skill and professionalism being rewarded.  The only disappointment, of course, is that we haven't been able to add to her tally during 2018.  (But, in my defence, when we're struggling to muster one runner a week that's hardly surprising!).  Fingers crossed, we might be able to put that omission right sooner rather than later.