Good Friday ramble

Good Friday. Three racemeetings: Lingfield, Newcastle and Bath.  That'll be good entertainment on the TV.  I haven't looked at the cards yet, but Wissahickon is running in the Coral Easter Classic and he's a terrific horse, and I'm sure that the rest of the racing at Lingfield will be really good too.  Might be asking a bit much for there to be another Permian racing at Bath, but one never knows.  I presume that the valuable three-year-old handicap which he contested last year still exists; and, if so, that Mark Johnston has again got a few runners in it.  And the racing at Newcastle will be very good too.

We've just had the Craven Meeting, and that was very pleasant.  The lovely weather helped.  It ain't what it used to be; and in this case it genuinely ain't what it used to be, because it used to be the meeting at which several obvious Classic contenders would be running.  That isn't the case any longer, largely because Aidan O'Brien very rarely runs his best three-year-olds at the meeting.  There was one horse whom I was thinking of as a genuine 2,000 Guineas chance (the Charlie Appleby-trained Zakouski, a most interestingly-bred colt who had made a hugely impressive winning debut at Kempton last autumn) but he ran badly.  Still, we might have seen the 1,000 Guineas winner, or even the 2,000 Guineas winner.  Who knows?

The highlight of the Craven Meeting for me was a rather surprising one, Stuart Williams training his first Group winner with a 66/1 shot (Keystroke).  There was nothing in the form book to suggest that Keystroke, a seemingly exposed 7-year-old, could win the Abernant Stakes, but it was only his third run for Stuart, and Stuart's ability to improve his recruits is remarkable.  I'd imagine that most trainers, if asked who was the best trainer, would like to say, "I am" because we all believe that we're very good.  Of course we do - if we thought it could be done better than we're doing it, we would be doing it differently!

But in Stuart's case, I've been saying for a long time that Stuart is the best trainer in Newmarket, and I'm saying that as someone who trains here.  One might deduce that all the biggest-spending owners have different ideas as none of them patronises Stuart's stable - and their disinclination to do so can't spring from any fears about not getting a fair deal there, because Stuart is as honest as the day is long, and I would imagine that his fees are significantly lower than those charged by the most fashionable trainers - but it's not unrealistic to hope that this Pattern-race triumph at one of Newmarket's biggest meetings of the year might open a few eyes.

In fairness, it's probably worth pointing out that Adam Kirby made a significant contribution to the fact that Keystroke was able to win the race, as did (unintentionally, obviously) the jockeys who rode the horses who disputed the lead in the first half of the race, all of whom looked to go too fast, too soon.  (Which is a mistake often made on the Rowley Mile, including several times this week).  Still, that's one important facet of training: making sure that the right jockey is on the horse, and then briefing him/her well enough to make sure that he/she gets the tactics right.  When I have a horse ridden poorly, I get annoyed with no one but myself.  By the same token, I find it satisfying to have a horse ridden very well, irrespective of whether the horse wins.

Looking ahead, I imagine that Roy will be well ridden at Brighton tomorrow because John Egan will be on board.  He generally gives his mounts every chance of winning, and is one of the few jockeys who occasionally wins a race which he shouldn't have won by getting his horse to over-perform.  Sometimes, obviously, jockeys win a race which they shouldn't have done because they've done nothing wrong and the rider on a superior horse has made a mistake; but John is someone who can win on horses who shouldn't win without his rivals getting things wrong.  As is the case with Stuart Williams, I have long felt that many people have never realised how effective he is.

Then I hope that John will be on Sacred Sprite at Wolverhampton on Tuesday too.  She's found the opposition too good for her in novice races, which is hardly surprising as she's had some very good opponents, but she's now eligible to compete in her proper grade, so I hope that she'll find things a lot easier in 0-55 company.  Now that she's out of novice company she can run beyond a mile and a half, and I think that that will help her too.  She isn't blessed with much speed, but she seems to stay quite well, which is what one would expect from looking at her: she has the classic long-distance runner's physique in that she is very lean, very wiry.

There's not much of Sussex Girl either, but she is a bit more muscular.  She's also a bit more hot-headed so, while both her wins have come at a mile and a quarter, it proved a mistake last year to start her off at that distance as she was too fresh first time out, pulled too hard and weakened badly at the end.  This year I'm starting her off at a mile, and I hope that she'll have a chance at Yarmouth on Tuesday.  Unlike Roy, who won three handicaps last year and is consequently relatively high in the handicap at present, she ought to prove well treated after a disappointing 2018.  We'll see.  Whatever happens, it's safe to assume that she too will be well ridden as I've been able to engage one of the best jockeys in the world, Oisin Murphy.  He rode a superb race to win on Sussex Girl's half-sister Ethics Girl at Epsom when he was an apprentice, so let's hope that the formula can work once again.