Tag Archive for: Jim Goldie

Goldie hails stable star Euchen Glen following final run

Jim Goldie and Paul Mulrennan have paid tribute to popular veteran Euchen Glen after it was confirmed he has run his last race.

Upon finishing unplaced at Doncaster, the 11-year-old ended his career on 79 races, winning 13 times and banking over £625,000 in prize money.

His career highlights included winning the John Smith’s Cup in 2018 under Ali Rawlinson and claiming three Group Threes when ridden by Mulrennan.

“I’ve plenty to choose from when trying to pick my favourite race on him, but I think winning the Cumberland Lodge when it was run at York (in 2020),” said Mulrennan.

“I don’t know how to explain him really, even just in jockey terms he’s taught me so much.

“I won over a mile and three-quarters on him at Haydock when I had dropped him out stone last and then a month later he made all at York. Not many do that.”

Paul Mulrennan and Euchen Glen (yellow) winning the Brigadier Gerard Stakes
Paul Mulrennan and Euchen Glen (yellow) winning the Brigadier Gerard Stakes (Alan Crowhurst/PA)

Goldie was almost in awe at what his flag bearer has achieved, especially given he missed over 700 days at what should have been the peak of his powers.

Goldie said: “You could change tactics completely on him because he was so versatile.

“He had a great engine on him and even today, his last ever race, he was trying his heart out. He was so genuine.

“He had to come back from a serious injury and it’s been a privilege to train him and (full brother) Sir Chauvelin.”



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Portland hero Affair hunting Gold again at Ayr

American Affair is bidding to back up his Portland victory and provide a tonic for trainer Jim Goldie in the Virgin Bet Ayr Gold Cup Handicap on Saturday.

The four-year-old has been on the up all season and finished in the money in all seven starts over five to five and a half furlongs.

His mark has risen from 70 to a current rating of 94, with his last performance a career-best so far as he triumphed at Doncaster under Paul Mulrennan to take home the winning pot of over £50,000.

That run was only last weekend and after a quick turnaround he will carry a 5lb penalty for the success, making his total allocation 9st 2lb for the 25-runner event.

Should he be successful, he will become the first Scottish-trained winner since Roman Warrior in 1975 and will complete the set of Ayr cups for Mulrennan after his prior wins in the silver and bronze races.

Goldie has two chances in the race with Jordan Electrics also set to partake, but the trainer will have to look on from home as he recovers from a hip operation.

Mulrennan said: “I’m really looking forward to riding him, he was very good in the Portland and a change of tactics seemed to suit him.

“He’s a sprinter on the upgrade, he’s done nothing but improve all year.

“It’s a race I’ve always wanted to win, it’s our Royal Ascot, the Gold Cup up here, so it’d be great to win it.

“Jim’s recovering at home so it’d be great for him, I’m not sure he’s going to make it up.

“Scotland haven’t had a Gold Cup winner since 1975 so it’d be brilliant to do it for him, I’ve a Bronze Cup and a Silver Cup so I’ve just the one missing.

“Jim’s a real character, he’s a very good trainer and we had a couple of winners on Thursday, so the horses are in form.

“I had a hard choice to make because I could have ridden Northern Express or Jordan Electrics, so fingers crossed.”

Mick Appleby’s Billyjoh brings with him some good form in valuable handicaps having finished second in the Buckingham Palace at Royal Ascot and third in the Stewards’ Cup at Goodwood.

He will be ridden by Alistair Rawlinson from stall 18 for his 15th start of a busy and profitable season.

Billyjoh at Haydock
Billyjoh at Haydock (Richard Sellers/PA)

“The track and trip should suit him and the ground will be all right for him. Obviously it’s a tough race, the Ayr Gold Cup, but he’s going there in good order and hopefully should have a decent chance,” said Appleby.

“He seems to like the bigger fields, the draw shouldn’t be a problem and there’s a bit of pace around him which will suit.”

Kevin Ryan has four horses set to line up, with Aleezdancer carrying the silks of co-owner Jack Berry for his third tilt at the race.

The five-year-old would prefer a soft surface and appreciate any rain if it were to materialise, with his 2023 effort seeing him beaten only three lengths when 12th on good to soft going.

“He would have a fair chance, but he likes some give in the ground,” said Berry, who retired from training himself in 2000.

Beverley Races – Tuesday May 11th 2021
Aleezdancer winning at Beverley in 2021 (Mike Egerton/PA)

“When he ran in the Stewards’ Cup last year he finished fifth but he actually won his race on his side. It’s annoying when that happens, it happened to me when I was training and Pivotal beat Mind Games in the King’s Stand!

“If there’s give in the ground I think he’s got a squeak. At the end of last season he ran at York in a race won by Montassib who is now a Group One winner, so it just shows you need a Group horse to win these races.

“When we won the Ayr Gold Cup in 1988 with So Careful, he was bottom-weight off 72 – he’d only just scrape into the Bronze Cup these days!

“It would be very poignant if he won as So Careful’s owner Tommy Doherty died last week, so I’d dedicate it to his memory.”



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Ayr aim for Portland victor American Affair

Jim Goldie’s Portland winner American Affair is set for a quick turnaround in Saturday’s Virgin Bet Ayr Gold Cup.

Goldie secured a big race double at Doncaster’s St Leger meeting, winning the Mallard Handicap with Faylaq and the Portland with the rapidly improving American Affair.

Goldie is also likely to run another huge improver, Jordan Electrics, who has been the subject of a 30lb rise in the weights this season as an eight-year-old.

The big winners provided a nice fillip to the genial Scot, who is currently recuperating having had a hip replacement operation.

American Affair(far left in yellow) was delivered late by Paul Mulrennan
American Affair(far left in yellow) was delivered late by Paul Mulrennan (Mike Egerton/PA)

“I’m doing OK, I’m back on my feet but I’ve been told not to do too much,” said Goldie.

“The weekend certainly helped, the Mallard and the Portland are two of my favourite races, I’ve won them both before and I like Doncaster as I’ve been lucky there.”

Goldie confirmed that American Affair, who began the season rated 72, won at Doncaster off 92 and will carry a 5lb penalty, is likely to line up.

“I think he’ll go,” said Goldie. “He was favourite on Saturday because when he just got beat at Haydock the week before he was on the wrong part of the track and the Sprint Cup followed and those on that side were all beaten five lengths or more.

“He’s a very exciting sprinter and seems to be getting better. This is over six furlongs, he won on Saturday over five-and-a-half but I don’t know if he’ll be as effective over six as all his improvement has been over five.

“It’s an Ayr Gold Cup, it’s not an easy race to win but when you have a horse in form it can’t be taken for granted. You need to be drawn right but you don’t know what a good draw is yet.

“If he goes in the same form as last week he’s bound to have a good chance.”

Goldie will have two live chances to become the first Scottish-based trainer to win since Nigel Angus in 1975 with Roman Warrior, with Jordan Electrics also among the ante-post favourites.

“Jordan Electrics’ form is red hot but he was on the favoured far side at York so he might have been flattered there,” continued Goldie.

“He’s still in great form. I don’t think I’ve had one improve as much as him in one season. Hawkeyethenoo probably started off rated in the 50s and ended up 112 but not in one season.

“I’m not in a great deal of pain with my hip and I’m getting there, I’m back on my feet but I’m supposed to be behaving myself!”

Other leading fancies confirmed include Albasheer, Ramazan and last year’s winner Significantly.



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Goldie fears Euchen Glen will struggle to make Ebor cut

Jim Goldie is doubtful Euchen Glen will get another crack at the Sky Bet Ebor, despite finishing an honourable third when in action at the Qatar Goodwood Festival.

The 10-year-old has won 12 times in a long and distinguished 61-race career, but is without a victory since winning the Listed Gala Stakes in 2021 and as such has seen his rating drop from a career high of 116 to 96.

Looking to snap that two-year loosing run in the Coral Summer Handicap on the Sussex Downs, Euchen Glen gave a fine account to make the podium in heavy ground.

However, his handler believes he needed to win to stand a chance of making the final field of the Ebor for the fourth successive year with him currently lying 37th on the list for the £500,000 contest which has a maximum field of 22.

“He’s going fine, but we’re probably going to miss the Ebor,” said Goldie.

“I think he had to win at Goodwood to get in the Ebor. We will probably have to look at another race at York.

“He needs quite a few to come out and if they do we will be running in it, but we might miss it by one or two.

“If we got the ground you got at Goodwood, you never know, and he is one of the few horses who does handle it. That would make it interesting, but I think we will get a summer at some point!”

The current favourite for the Knavesmire handicap is Euchen Glen’s Goodwood conqueror Sweet William, who was also ahead of Goldie’s stable stalwart when they clashed over two miles at Newbury last month.

But the Scottish handler is keen to take another crack at John and Thady Gosden’s improving stayer, having bridged the deficit between the pair in their most recent encounter.

“I think it was two very progressive horses that beat him at Goodwood and it was a good field,” added Goldie.

“I know they think a lot of the winner, but it is interesting because we are getting closer to him. We ran against him at Newbury and we probably closed that gap by four or five lengths at Goodwood.

“With another 7 or 8lb we might actually pass him one day, with the theory that weight will stop a train eventually.

“Euchen Glen is obviously a superstar and he’s from a good family, Sir Chauvelin is his brother, so we’ve had a lot of winners out of that mare.”



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Stat of the Day, 1st June 2020

Tuesday March 24th's pick was...

5.00 Clonmel : Frontal Assault @ 11/4 BOG 5th at 9/4 (Tracked leaders, pushed along briefly 7f out, improved to dispute lead 3f out, ridden entering straight, headed 2f out, dropped to moderate 5th 1f out, no impression) Thankfully, I don't need to rely on Irish racing any longer : definitely a failed experiment.

Monday's pick runs in the...

4.30 Newcastle :

Before I post the daily selection, just a quick reminder of how I operate the service. Currently, I'll identify and share the selection between 8.00am and 8.30am and I then add a more detailed write-up later within an hour or so of going "live".

Those happy to take the early price on trust can do so, whilst some might prefer to wait for my reasoning. As I fit the early service in around my family life, I can't give an exact timing on the posts, so I suggest you follow us on Twitter and/or Facebook for instant notifications of a published pick.

Who?

Be Proud @ 4/1 BOG

...in a 12-runner, Class 5 A/W handicap for 4yo+ over 5f on Standard to Slow Tapeta worth £3,493 to the winner...

Why?...

Here we have a 4 yr old gelding whose modest career record to date of just 2 wins and 7 places from 24 starts might not make him an obvious candidate, but I'm happy to discard his failure to win any of his 13 attempts on turf to focus on an All-Weather record at 2 wins and 3 places from 11 starts that is further inmproved to 2 wins, 3 further places from 8 here at Newcastle.

A 62.5% overall place strike rate including a 25% win record on one track is certainly of more appeal and all 8 runs were in handicaps for trainer Jim Goldie and they also include of relevance today...

  • 2 wins and 2 further places from 6 over course and distance
  • 2 wins and another place from 5 when sent off as favourite, as seems likely today
  • 2 wins from 3 starts in 12-runner contests
  • and one win from two when ridden by today's jockey, Daniel Tudhope...

...who himself had a brilliant time of it here last year winning 19 of 78 (24.4% SR) races, generating level stakes profits of 23.9pts at Betfair SP, the equivalent of a 30.7% return on stakes invested, from which he was...

  • 13 from 56 (23.2%) for 20.2pts (+36%) in handicaps
  • 3 from 10 (30%) for 2.22pts (+22.2%) over this 5f course and distance
  • and 3 from 6 (50%) for 23.3pts (+388.6%) for trainer Jim Goldie.

That performance for today's trainer was no short term flash in the pan either as today the Goldie/Tudhope combo has 7 winners from 16 her at Newcastle since the start of 2017 with the resultant 43.75% strike rate generating 28.5pts profit at an ROI of 177.9% and this includes..

  • 6/15 (40%) for 16.1pts (+107.1%) in handicaps
  • and 3/6 (50%) for 4.2pts (+70%) over this 5f course and distance (all in handicaps)...

...all of which points to...a 1pt win bet on Be Proud @ 4/1 BOG as was quite widely available at 8.00am Monday, but as always please check your BOG status. To see what your preferred bookie is quoting...

...click here for the betting on the 4.30 Newcastle

Don't forget, we offer a full interactive racecard service every day!

REMINDER: THERE IS NO STAT OF THE DAY ON SUNDAYS

Here is today's racecard

P.S. all P/L returns quoted in the stats above are to Betfair SP, as I NEVER bet to ISP and neither should you. I always use BOG bookies for SotD, wherever possible, but I use BFSP for the stats as it is the nearest approximation I can give, so I actually expect to beat the returns I use to support my picks. If that's unclear, please ask!



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