Tag Archive for: Eve Johnson Houghton

National assignment on the radar for Vintage hero Zavateri

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A trip to Ireland for the Goffs Vincent O’Brien National Stakes could be next on the agenda for Zavateri following his hard-fought success at Goodwood on Tuesday.

Following a successful debut at Salisbury in early June, the Without Parole colt sprang something of a surprise when landing Newmarket’s July Stakes last month, but proved that victory was no fluke when bagging a second Group Two success in the Vintage Stakes on the Sussex Downs.

Trainer Eve Johnson Houghton will now look to test her star juvenile at Group One level, potentially at the Curragh on September 14.

“He’s come out of Goodwood great,” said the Blewbury-based trainer.

“He is unbelievable because he thought he’d won his race, he’d switched off and then good old Morris Dancer came for him and you could see him flick his ears, change his legs and almost say ‘oh for goodness sake, come on then!’.

“We’ll look at the Dewhurst but that’s quite a long way off, he’s in the National Stakes too so that would be quite a nice start for him with the timing – National and then Dewhurst.

“He’s fantastic, I’m so proud of him. It’s very, very exciting.”

Zavateri defies penalty with Vintage performance

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Eve Johnson Houghton’s Zavateri gamely maintained his unbeaten record when defying a penalty in holding off Morris Dancer in the Coral Vintage Stakes at Goodwood.

A surprise winner of the July Stakes at Newmarket, he was still a fairly generous 8-1 for this Group Two affair, mainly due to the fact he was carrying 3lb more than such promising types as Humidity and Dorset.

Charlie Bishop still had five in front of him with two furlongs to run, but when the gap came he shot through it and while immediately challenged by John and Thady Gosden’s Morris Dancer, he stuck his neck out and had his head in the right place on the line. The Ed Walker-trained Do Or Do Not placed yet again in third.

Zavateri was tough
Zavateri was tough (PA)

“After Newmarket I didn’t know where to go because when you have a 3lb penalty it’s damn hard,” said Johnson Houghton.

“It was either come here or wait until Doncaster, but so glad we did. He had to win his race twice after cutting through them like a knife through butter.

“I put him in the Mill Reef this morning, but that’s out of the question now as we will head for the Dewhurst with the Jean-Luc Lagardere as a back up.

“He’s never had to tough it out at home, but he did today. What a dude he is, just a lovely, lovely horse.

“Dad (Fulke Johnson Houghton) trained (2002 Dewhurst winner) Tout Seul when I was around, and he was brilliant, but this one would be better, I think. There’s nowhere to go now before the Dewhurst so we’ll have to wait for that.”

Zavateri looks the part
Zavateri looks the part (PA)

Bishop added: “It’s a massive performance with a penalty. We’re getting closer, step by step (to thinking about the 2000 Guineas), I don’t know how much more racing he’ll have this year but the Dewhurst will be where we work back from, after that then I think we can talk about the Guineas. He’s seen the seven out extremely well today, headed and rallied and was strong at the line.”

Anthelia comes out on top in Super Sprint thriller

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Rod Millman continued his love affair with the Weatherbys Super Sprint, as Anthelia regained the winning thread to deny Royal Ascot winner Havana Hurricane in a thrilling finish to the Newbury feature.

The Devon handler credits the valuable two-year-old contest as salvaging his career when winning it for the first time with Lord Kintyre in 1997 and after striking again with Bettys Hope in 2019 was making it a hat-trick with the Middleham Park-owned filly – who was picked up for a bargain price of £6,000 as a yearling.

Anthelia was sent off the 6-1 co second-favourite and looked booked for second when Eve Johnson Houghton’s Windsor Castle Stakes victor and 6-4 market leader Havana Hurricane burst onto the scene inside the final furlong.

Regular partner Lewis Edmunds was also conjuring maximum effort from the daughter of Supremacy, though, and after showing the blistering speed that had been a hallmark of her campaign to date, Anthelia stuck her head down to be rewarded with a short-head success.

“I didn’t know if she had got there and she had to make a bit of ground inside the final furlong as Eve’s horse got first run on us,” explained Millman.

“I don’t try to buy cheap horses, I try to buy nice horses cheaply. She’s a lovely filly to be involved with and we’re so lucky to have a nice filly like this.

“It’s a wonderful race for any trainer, but especially the small trainers and it kept me in business many years ago when I was struggling and then won it with Lord Kintyre. After that people sent me horses and we’ve been fine ever since.

“We always try to have a nice horse for it and I’ve spent a lot of money on entry fees as the trouble is you have to enter them before you know how good they are. So you’re sort of running for your own prize-money, but if you’re lucky enough to have the right horse it’s a great race.

“My wife always says, what’s mine is half hers and what’s hers is hers, so she’ll enjoy this.”

Connections had deliberately skipped Royal Ascot after landing Sandown’s Listed National Stakes earlier in the season, but suffered disappointment when trying six furlongs for the first time in Newmarket’s Empress Stakes last month.

However, having bounced back with a lucrative £134,092 haul, Anthelia could now go in search of further sales race bounty before dipping her toe in at a higher level.

Anthelia in full flow
Anthelia in full flow (Jonathan Brady/PA)

“We’ll probably go for Harry’s Half Million (York, August 21) and then there’s some nice Group races later in the season,” said Millman.

“The Empress went wrong last time, but she’s a good filly and proved it today. It wasn’t that she didn’t stay in the Empress, she was just in the bad position but it wasn’t the jockey’s fault, it was my fault as I gave the instructions and I gave myself a good telling off afterwards.

“I think she’s quite nice, but it is always another ball game taking on the big girls. She’s effective over five and six furlongs and once you start trying to go further you’ve got to be a better class again to be effective at that distance, but I have not ruled it out.”

Johnson Houghton, meanwhile, could potentially seek immediate compensation at the Qatar Goodwood Festival with the runner-up having been thwarted in her continuing quest for a first Super Sprint victory.

Trainer Eve Johnson Houghton had to settle for second
Trainer Eve Johnson Houghton had to settle for second (Nigel French/PA)

Johnson Houghton said: “I’m thrilled but gutted is the best way of putting it, it’s my unlucky race.

“I’m pleased for Rod but gutted for us and I think if we hadn’t had the rain he might have won, but I can’t possibly say that as there is no way of knowing and the winner is a very good filly.

“She’s a Listed winner, we’re a Listed winner and they should have finished like that really as they are two good horses and two cheap horses we have done well with, so clever us – aren’t Rod and I clever.

“We might as well have a look at Goodwood now, but I don’t think he wants soft ground as it just dents his turn of foot. I don’t know if we’ll go go five or six furlongs just yet, I need to have a think about it.”

Hurricane bidding to give Johnson Houghton change of fortune in Super Sprint

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Havana Hurricane will bid to put an end to Eve Johnson Houghton’s “incredibly unlucky” record in the Weatherbys Super Sprint at Newbury on Saturday.

The Havana Gold colt provided his trainer with a second victory in the Windsor Castle Stakes at Royal Ascot last month, following in the hoofprints of her 2021 winner Chipotle.

The latter was beaten into ninth place as a 15-8 favourite for the Super Sprint, however, and Havana Hurricane could well be even shorter odds for this year’s renewal of the £250,000 contest.

“He is in great form, all he does is eat and sleep at home. We gave him a bit of work on Wednesday morning, he went very nicely and hopefully he is ripped and ready to go,” said Johnson Houghton

“I always thought he had an engine, but I wasn’t sure it was quite as good as the engine he has produced.”

The Didcot handler had the option of saving Havana Hurricane for Pattern events later in the summer, but she admits the lure of the huge prize-money on offer this weekend was too much to resist.

Trainer Eve Johnson Houghton has high hopes for Havana Hurricane
Trainer Eve Johnson Houghton has high hopes for Havana Hurricane (John Walton/PA)

She added: “It’s a lot of money. It’s a race I’ve already wanted to win but I’ve been incredibly unlucky in it. Chipotle got wiped out when I thought he should have won it.

“The unluckiness rather put me off, but I’ve always wanted to win it and I think we have a horse here that if he doesn’t get bad luck, he should be there or thereabouts.

“There are horses in there who are having to give him weight despite being rated inferior, so it’s good conditions for him.”

Rod Millman has saddled two previous Super Sprint winners in Lord Kintyre (1997) and Bettys Hope (2019) and has unearthed another major contender in Anthelia, who has already proved a shrewd purchase for owners Middleham Park Racing, having won her first three starts after being purchased for just £6,000 as a yearling last summer.

Anthelia (left) winning at Sandown
Anthelia (left) winning at Sandown (Adam Davy/PA)

She met with defeat for the first time when fifth in the Listed Empress Stakes at Newmarket three weeks ago, but looks to have every chance back in sales race company.

Millman said: “I thought she ran a sound race at Newmarket, giving them all 3lb.

“Five or six (furlongs) is fine, I think she’s pretty versatile really. She definitely stays six.

“She’s probably the classiest horse we’ve ever run in it and it’s been a very lucky race for us. We’ve won it a couple of times and been second a few times, so let’s hope luck’s on our side again.”

Ali Shuffle (right) on her way to victory at Chester
Ali Shuffle (right) on her way to victory at Chester (Nick Potts/PA)

The Karl Burke-trained Ali Shuffle also won her first three races and was only narrowly denied the four-timer in a Group Three at Chantilly last month.

She was disappointing on her latest visit to France, finishing fifth as a hot favourite for a Listed event at Deauville, but Burke feels she was not at her best that day, saying: “We think she was in season in France, so we’re putting that down as an excuse.

“She’s worked well this week and goes there with some sort of chance, but it’s a bit of a lottery race.

“She’s in good order and it’s worth a go for that sort of money.”

Other hopefuls include Richard Hughes’ Windsor winner Our Cody and Cotai Belle, who has won her last two starts for Richard Fahey.

Johnson Houghton retaining plenty of options for Zavateri

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All options are open for Eve Johnson Houghton’s Zavateri after his victory in the July Stakes at Newmarket.

The two-year-old colt, who is by Without Parole, won his debut at Salisbury in June before stepping markedly up in grade on the July course last week.

He was the overlooked horse in the field at 18-1 under Charles Bishop, but thoroughly undermined those odds when prevailing by a length to score at Group Two level on only his second start.

“I was absolutely thrilled with him, I knew he was a good horse but I just thought he might not know enough – I thought he might be a bit green, but it didn’t appear that way at all,” said Johnson Houghton.

“He’s come out of his race really well, I’m very happy with him.”

The chestnut has a range of possible next steps and is clearly held in high regard for both his ability and his genuine attitude.

“We’re just having discussions at the moment, nothing is concrete and all options are open,” Johnson Houghton added.

“We’ve not ruled out anything at all, we might go to the Curragh for the Phoenix, we might go to Goodwood for the Vintage, we might go to York, we might just wait a little bit longer.

“He’s got a great attitude and he always has done at home, he’s a pleasure to train.

“Every time he puts his head in the bridle, he just wants to please.”

Zavateri strikes the right note in July Stakes success

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Eve Johnson Houghton was brimming with delight after Zavateri maintained his unbeaten record in the Kingdom of Bahrain July Stakes at Newmarket.

Sent off the 18-1 outsider of six, Charlie Bishop was content to sit off the red-hot early gallop set by Comical Point before Ryan Moore joined in on Brussels.

Maximized (6-4 favourite) threatened to get involved only to drop back tamely, and as Zavateri began to pull away it was Coventry Stakes runner-up Do Or Do Not who stayed on strongly to claim second, a length away as he awaits his first win.

Johnson Houghton said: “I knew he was a good horse, I wasn’t sure if he was good enough to win after only one run because he’s obviously very inexperienced.

“In the paddock he was like, ‘oh, it’s party time!’. But in the race he’s so professional. I thought, ‘Oh god he’s going to win this’, and I never had a moment’s doubt really.”

Zavateri faced a significant rise in class after winning on his Salisbury debut, but his trainer was more than hopeful he would hold his own in the Group Two affair.

“The form of his first race hasn’t worked out at all, but he could only beat what he beat and he’s done it again,” she added.

“I wondered whether I was being a bit ballsy, but quite frankly you either come here and take on Group horses or you go to a novice where you might have to give weight to a Group horse and I thought we might as well come here and see what we’ve got.

“I love this horse – he’s got a great attitude and just wants to please. He’s a dream to train and I think he’s pretty nice to ride as well.”

Zavateri is a 33-1 shot for next year’s 2000 Guineas with Paddy Power. When asked whether he could stay the mile of next season’s first Classic, Johnson Houghton said: “He’s bred to, but as I always tell all my owners, you’ve never heard of Usain Bolt’s brother! What they’re bred to do and what they do aren’t always the same thing, but I think he definitely wants seven furlongs.

“We’ll probably run him once or twice more this year, maybe he’ll go to Goodwood at the Vintage and then we can look at the Dewhurst.”

Zavateri was a second major two-year-old winner of the year for Johnson Houghton after Havana Hurricane’s success in the Windsor Castle Stakes at Royal Ascot.

Comparing the two, she added: “Havana Hurricane is a sprinter and this horse wants further, so they don’t work together – and I haven’t got enough horses to be breaking them against each other!”

Two-year-old Flat Debutants, Part 2

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In part 1 of this series, here, I suggested that if we were looking to blindly back two-year-olds on their flat debut this season, our starting point should initially be those juveniles trained by Richard Fahey, Jessica Harrington and Ger Lyons, writes Chris Worrall. As well as that standout trio, I was also interested in those trained by Paul Cole, Eve Johnson Houghton and David Simcock, notwithstanding the reservations I highlighted about those three.

I went on to highlight in that opening piece that we may be able to eliminate some bad bets by focusing more on each trainer's runners based on a series of factors: track location, actual track, race class/distance/going, jockeys used, time of year and sex of horse.

Richard Fahey

So, if we start with our three headline acts, we can see that Richard Fahey's results with 2yo flat debutants from 2016-19 were as follows:

Closer inspection of those 381 runners showed no real bias towards either gender or for any particular reported ground conditions, but of the other five tested variables, I found (in sample size order) that those numbers included:

  • 55/363 (15.15%) for 135.66pts (+37.37%) over trips of 5 to 7 furlongs
  • 53/359 (14.76%) for 125.13pts (+34.85%) during April to September
  • 51/339 (15.04%) for 122.82pts (+36.24%) in Yorkshire, NW & Central England
  • 47/314 (14.97%) for 132.07pts (+42.06%) at Classes 4 & 5
  • 38/236 (16.10%) for 92.88pts (+39.36%) ridden by Tony Hamilton or Paul Hanagan

(all profit quoted is to Betfair Starting Price, BSP)

And when combine all those filters, we are left with...

Suggestion: back all Richard Fahey 2yo Flat debutants ridden by Tony Hamilton or Paul Hanagan at up to 7 furlongs in Class 4 or 5 races in Yorkshire, the North West or Central England during April to September.

Jessica Harrington

And now onto Jessica Harrington, whose 2016-19 stats were...

From which (in order of winners)...

  • 18/114 (15.79%) for 81.5pts (+71.49%) over trips of 5 to 7 furlongs
  • 15/122 (12.3%) for 23.28pts (+19.08%) in Leinster
  • 15/104 (14.42%) for 56.85pts (+54.67%) on ground declared as Good to Yielding or firmer
  • 15/80 (18.75%) for 80.7pts (+100.88%) during May to July
  • 13/95 (13.68%) for 26.94pts (+28.35%) with female runners

And combining trip, track location, going and time of year gives us...

             

of which the gender spilt is as follows....

The females win more often, but the males generate more profit, so I'm not really convinced we should narrow it down either way.

Suggestion: back Jessica Harrington's 2 year olds on debut in Leinster (Bellewstown, Curragh, Fairyhouse, Gowran Park, Leopardstown, Naas, Navan) during May to July at trips up to 7 furlongs and on ground described as Good to Yielding or firmer.

Ger Lyons

The final member of our top trio is Ger Lyons, who qualified on his record over the last three seasons of...

Once again, we'll subject those runners to the filtering system, where it can be noted:

  • 30/130 (23.08%) for 90.71pts (+69.78%) over trips of 6f to 1m
  • 30/125 (24%) for 95.71pts (+76.57%) during April to September
  • 29/137 (21.17%) for 76.78pts (+56.05%) on ground deemed Soft or better
  • 29/136 (21.32%) for 79.30pts (+58.31%) in Leinster and Munster
  • 28/116 (24.14%) for 79.07pts (+68.16%) when ridden by Colin Keane

and when we combine those five sets of data, we end up with a fantastic set of numbers reading...

Once again both sexes fare well as follows...

...so we'll not differentiate between the two.

Suggestion: back all Ger Lyons' 2 yo debutants ridden by Colin Keane over trips of 6f to a mile in Leinster (see above for tracks) and Munster (Cork, Killarney, Limerick, Listowel, Thurles, Tipperary) on Soft ground or better from April to September.

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Those were the three main protagonists from part 1 of this series; combining their two-year-old flat debutants under the specified conditions brings us to 66 winners from 293 runners (22.53% SR) and 266.74pts of profit at an excellent ROI of some 91.04%.

Clearly it will be difficult to fully repeat those numbers but if they only do half as well in the next three or four years we'll still be looking at 130+ points.

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So what of our 'second string' trio of Paul Cole, Eve Johnson Houghton and David Simcock? Are there conditions under which we might follow their juvenile debutants?

The easiest way to find out is to dive into the data, starting with...

Paul Cole

Cole's base figures with 2yo first-time starters are:

That's a small sample size so caution is advised, but they do include of note...

  • 6/35 (17.14%) for 68.1pts (+194.57%) in Classes 4 and 5
  • 6/30 (20%) for 73.1pts (+243.67%) over trips of 5 or 6 furlongs
  • 6/29 (20.69%) for 74.1pts (+255.52%) during April to July
  • 6/14 (42.86%) for 89.1pts (+636.43%) at Brighton, Leicester & Newbury
  • 5/28 (17.86%) for 31.35pts (+111.96%) in SE England
  • 3/10 (30%) for 60.92pts (+609.2%) with Raul Da Silva in the saddle

You probably don't need me to point out how Paul got all of his six original winners, but combining those first four filters gives...

Suggestion: keep an eye out for Paul Cole 2yo firsters in Class 4 or 5 races over 5 or 6 furlongs at Brighton, Leicester or Newbury from April to July, especially if Raul da Silva's on board, even if it's a big price.

Eve Johnson Houghton

Next up is Eve Johnson Houghton, whose own record during the last four seasons was...

...which, like Paul Cole previously, was a smaller than ideal sample size, but did include...

  • 8/52 (15.38%) for 141.35pts (+271.82%) excluding April and July
  • 7/62 (11.29%) for 98.02pts (+158.10%) in Classes 4 and 5
  • 7/46 (15.22%) for 106.94pts (+232.48%) over 6 or 7 furlongs
  • 6/47 (12.77%) for 120.04pts (+255.41%) in SE England
  • 6/41 (14.63%) for 88.22pts (+215.16%) ridden by Charles Bishop
  • 6/37 (16.22%) for 142.18pts (+384.26%) from female runners
  • and 5/21 (23.81%) for 42.74pts (+203.52%) on Good to Soft or Soft ground

Combining class, month, distance and going gives us...

...and despite this dozen qualifiers include 4 from 7 (57.1%) for 48.5pts (+392.7%) for Charles Bishop, 3 from 6 (50%) for 43.6pts (+726.2%) for females and 3 from 6 (50%) for 31.4pts (+524%) in the South East, there is an uneasy feel to the exclusion of April and July - I can't come up with a logical reason why the horses would fail to fire in that month. Instead, I've taken a more straightforward view...

Suggestion: Look out for Eve Johnson Houghton's Class 4 and 5 runners over 6 or 7 furlongs on Good to Soft or Soft ground. Add a bonus point if you see Charles Bishop down to ride.

David Simcock

And finally for this look at trainers who perform well with juvenile first time starters, we'll put David Simcock under the microscope, despite his sobering record last season (0 from 20). Even with that abject campaign, his four year score is...

and again we've only a small number of runners to consider, but they do include...

  • 6/31 (19.4%) for 18.65pts (+60.17%) when ridden by Jamie Spencer
  • 4/20 (20%) for 49.15pts (+245.76%) over a mile
  • 4/15 (26.7%) for 27.4pts (+182.66%) at Yarmouth
  • 3/14 (21.4%) for 23.6pts (+168.6%) for Jamie Spencer over a mile
  • 3/9 (33.3%) for 28.6pts (+317.8%) for Jamie Spencer at Yarmouth
  • 3/7 (42.9%) for 30.6pts (+437.1%) over a mile at Yarmouth
  • and 3/6 (50%) for 32.69pts Jamie Spencer over a mile at Yarmouth

Obviously the Jamie Spencer angle is interesting, especially over a mile at Yarmouth, but I feel that particular stat lends more to the excellent record the jockey and trainer have together at that venue (a story for another day, perhaps?), but as for this piece...

Suggestion: Note, but don't necessarily back, David Simcock two-year-old flat debutants.

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All of which second team deliberation leaves us with just the Paul Cole and Eve Johnson Houghton runners, whose suggested angles combine for 11 winners from 22 runners (50% SR) and 144.84 pts (+658.6% ROI) as a juicy-looking - but less reliable based on sample size - supplement to our top trio's 66 winners from 293 runners (22.53% SR, +266.74 BSP, ROI of 91.04%).

Hopefully, we'll soon be able to "live trial" these angles. Fingers crossed and all that, but for now, thanks for reading and I'll be back with more soon.

 - CW