Tag Archive for: Lincoln

Orandi chasing historic handicap double at Doncaster

Just under a fortnight after plundering the Irish Lincolnshire at the Curragh, Tony Martin’s Orandi bids to complete a famous double in the William Hill Lincoln at Doncaster on Saturday.

No horse has landed the two major Flat spring handicaps in the same season, although Sweet Lightning’s name is on the roll of honour for both, having struck at Doncaster in 2011 for Michael Dods and in the Irish equivalent two years later for Tommy Carmody.

The only Irish-trained winner of the Doncaster race so far has been Dermot Weld’s Saving Mercy in 1984 and Orandi will carry a 5lb penalty for his Curragh win, with Rossa Ryan booked for the ride.

“He seems in good form so we’ll let him go and take his chance,” said the County Meath handler.

“He did it really well at the Curragh and seems to have come out of the race well.

“I’m sure the ground will be fine and we’ve a good jockey on board, so that should help.”

Karl Burke has a couple of major contenders in ante-post favourite Thunder Run and Native Warrior.

Thunder Run (left) winning at York
Thunder Run (left) winning at York (Mike Egerton/PA)

Thunder Run won three times last season before finishing fourth when favourite for the Balmoral Handicap on Champions Day, while the lightly-raced Native Warrior was third in the Britannia Stakes at the Royal meeting.

Burke said: “Native Warrior is working very, very well – he’s definitely stepped up for being gelded at the end of last season. He’s getting 7lb off the other horse and I don’t think there will be a lot between them.

“Thunder Run saves a fair bit for the racetrack and I think if everything stays right with him he’s at least a Group Three-type of horse, that’s the way he works, and the other fella is not far behind him.”

He added: “This has been the target for both horses really. They seem in great form, they’ve done plenty of work and their weight is good, but you never know in these big handicaps first time out, it’s always tough.

Native Warrior is one of two runners for Wathnan Racing along with Hamad Al Jehani’s Midnight Gun, with the owners’ retained rider James Doyle siding with the latter.

Richard Brown, Wathnan’s racing adviser, said of Midnight Gun: “He’s done very well over the winter. We gelded him and he has really strengthened and thickened out, which doesn’t happen to most horses when you geld them.

“James rode him in a piece of work at Chelmsford last week and was very impressed, but it wasn’t a straightforward decision for him to choose Midnight Gun, as Native Warrior won his side in the Britannia and I think James actually thought he’d won that day before looking over and realising he hadn’t.”

Trainer Charlie Hills (right) with Galeron at the Curragh
Trainer Charlie Hills (right) with Galeron at the Curragh (Brian Lawless/PA)

The weights are headed by the Charlie Hills-trained Galeron, who won the Goffs Million in Ireland three years ago and was fourth in Chaldean’s 2000 Guineas the following spring.

The five-year-old has since enjoyed a spell in Australia, but returned to Hills’ Lambourn base earlier this year and the trainer said: “It’s great to have him back and we’ll see how he gets on, he should run pretty decent.

“I don’t think he’ll want extremes of ground, but anything like good to soft should suit him. A big field should suit him, too.”

Toimy Son winning at Goodwood
Toimy Son winning at Goodwood (Andrew Matthews/PA)

Toimy Son won the Golden Mile at Goodwood last season before finishing third in the Cambridgeshire and sixth in the Balmoral Handicap.

“I’ve seen nothing off him to say he isn’t in the same form this year, so we’re hopeful,” said his trainer David Menuisier, who struck two years ago with Migration.

“With the help of Warren (Fentiman) claiming 5lb, if all goes according to plan he should run a good race.”

Menuisier snaps up rising star for Toimy Son’s Lincoln challenge

David Menuisier has snapped up the weighing room’s rising star Warren Fentiman for Toimy Son in Saturday’s William Hill Lincoln.

Fentiman, 16, is the son of fellow jockey Duran Fentiman, who is currently sidelined with a broken leg, and has created a real impression through the winter on the all-weather.

Toimy Son won the Golden Mile at Goodwood before going on to be placed in the Cambridgeshire and run well in the Balmoral at Ascot.

“Last year was great, from Goodwood to the Cambridgeshire and Ascot even on Champions Day was a huge run,” said Menuisier, who won the Lincoln two years ago with Migration under 3lb claimer Benoit de la Sayette.

“With the help of Warren claiming 5lb, if all goes according to plan, he should run a good race.

“I don’t have too many all-weather runners in the winter, but I was told a while ago that he was shaping up as the best apprentice in the country and I actually booked him six weeks ago!

“He’s got a very impressive strike-rate for an apprentice and it looks as if he’s going to be the next big kid.

“He’s an impressive young lad, he speaks well, he’s articulate and he rides very good, so hopefully we have some luck on our side. I’m delighted to have him on board.”

Menuisier also has Tribal Chief and Promethean engaged, but the best both could hope for is a run in the consolation Spring Mile.

“The plan is to run Promethean in the Spring Mile. Tribal Chief will wait for the Spring Cup at Newbury as that is only two weeks after this year, so I’ve decided to keep him for that,” said the Pulborough handler.

Iberian heading back to the scene of his finest hour

Charlie Hills’ 2023 Champagne Stakes winner Iberian returns to Doncaster on Saturday for the William Hill Best Odds Guaranteed Cammidge Trophy Stakes.

Having failed to see out the mile in the following year’s 2000 Guineas, the Lope De Vega colt also disappointed in the Prix Jean Prat and did not run again that season.

He returned at Southwell in December following wind surgery to narrowly get back to winning ways and Saturday sees him step back up in class and return to the scene of his finest hour.

“I think it will have done his confidence some good, it was great to see him get his head in front on the all-weather and it has been the plan to run him in the Cammidge for a while,” said Hills.

“We don’t know what the ground is going to be like yet, but we’re happy with him and it looks like the ground should be OK by the weekend so the plan is to run.

“It’s the place where he put up his best performance, so that has to be a plus.”

Hills has two entries towards the head of the weights in the William Hill Lincoln in Cicero’s Gift and Galeron, although the former also has the option of the Listed Doncaster Mile.

“At the moment we’re just holding off making a final decision, as Cicero’s would prefer some cut, so it would be nice to get a drop of rain. I think we’ll run Cicero’s in the Listed race and Galeron in the Lincoln,” said Hills.

Cicero’s Gift has always promised to be a very good horse
Cicero’s Gift has always promised to be a very good horse (Zac Goodwin/PA)

“Cicero’s has been gelded now, we’ve had a very good run with him through the winter and I think he’s a pretty decent horse. I probably shouldn’t have run him on his last start, he just needs a bit of cut in the ground.

“It looks a good race for a Listed, but at this time of year it was going to be.”

Galeron was trained by Hills as a young horse to win the Goffs Million at the Curragh and finish fourth in the 2000 Guineas in 2023, but he spent last year in Australia.

“He’s been doing pretty good, he came back to us around January,” said Hills.

“It’s hard for a horse relocating from Australia and I wouldn’t have thought one has come back to the UK too many times.

“It’s great to have him back and we’ll see how he gets on, he should run pretty decent.”

Burke duo head Lincoln betting after Qirat comes out

Karl Burke’s pair of Thunder Run and Native Warrior head the market for Saturday’s William Hill Lincoln after ante-post favourite Qirat was scratched ahead of the confirmation stage.

The Ralph Beckett-trained Qirat won a valuable prize at Goodwood last summer before finishing second in the Challenge Cup at Ascot and a Listed race at Nottingham. The four-year-old was well fancied for the traditional Flat season curtain-raiser at Doncaster this weekend, but will not line up on Town Moor.

Barry Mahon, racing manager for Qirat’s owner-breeders Juddmonte, said: “He’s fine, he just wasn’t ready. He’s still a little bit wintry and just wasn’t forward enough, so Ralph felt we’d be better waiting a couple of weeks until he’s blossomed a bit more.

“We have no plans, we’ll wait until he tells us that he’s ready to go. There’s one of those good handicaps nearly every weekend, so we’ll slot him in when he’s right.”

Native Warrior is a leading contender for the Lincoln
Native Warrior is a leading contender for the Lincoln (David Davies/PA)

Ed Walker’s course and distance winner Harper’s Ferry is another notable absentee, as is Ed Bethell’s Cambridgeshire runner-up James McHenry.

The sponsors make Thunder Run their 5-1 Lincoln favourite, with stablemate Native Warrior considered his biggest threat at 6-1.

Thunder Run won three of his six starts last term and was last seen finishing fourth as favourite for the Balmoral Handicap on Qipco Champions Day at Ascot in October, while the lightly-raced Native Warrior could make his first appearance since being gelded.

Other leading hopes include Julie Camacho’s Lattam and Hamad Al Jehani’s Midnight Gun, who are both priced up at 10-1 with William Hill.

The weights are headed by Witch Hunter (33-1) from Richard Hannon’s yard, with 69 horses still in contention at this stage.

Galeron back with Hills and gearing up for Lincoln challenge

Charlie Hills is preparing his one-time Classic contender Galeron for a tilt at the William Hill Lincoln at Doncaster on Saturday week.

Winner of the Goffs Million at the Curragh in 2022, the son of Camacho went on to finish fourth behind Chaldean as a 150-1 shot for the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket the following spring and was also fifth to Paddington in the Irish equivalent three weeks later.

Following a spell in Australia, the five-year-old returned to Hills’ Lambourn yard earlier this year and his trainer is looking forward to his planned comeback on Town Moor.

Hills said: “Galeron has obviously been out in Australia and came back to me in January time. He’s actually done really well in the last month or so and I think the plan probably is to run him in the Lincoln next weekend.

“He’s a good horse who won the Goffs Million and ran well in two Guineas. He’s been a great, fun horse, I’m delighted to have him back and hopefully there should be a nice handicap in him somewhere.”

Hills has also entered Cicero’s Gift for the Flat season’s traditional curtain-raiser. The five-year-old slightly lost his way after making a successful return from a year on the sidelines in the Coral Challenge at Sandown in July last year, but is reported to be in good form ahead of the new campaign.

“I’d just be a bit worried about the ground with Cicero’s Gift, so we’re weather watching him really. He doesn’t like the ground too soft, good spring ground would be fine. He’ll have an entry in the Listed race (Doncaster Mile) as well,” Hills added.

“He showed at Sandown last year that he can win a nice handicap off top-weight and he’s a pretty decent horse on his day. We’ve had no hiccups at all through the winter and hopefully we have a good season ahead with him.

“We’ve gelded him over the winter, not that he was colty at all but we just thought it would help.”

Lincoln strike sets Egan up perfectly for big year with Amo Racing

David Egan’s new role as retained rider for Amo Racing got off to the best possible start when Mr Professor came home clear in the William Hill Lincoln at Doncaster, with the jockey hoping it signals the beginning of a fruitful partnership.

Many were surprised when Egan left the relatively secure role of riding the majority of Roger Varian’s string to take up the number one position with Kia Joorabchian’s increasingly prominent operation.

Several leading riders have already gained and lost what is now a high-profile job, but the prospect of riding the likes of King Of Steel, Ornellaia, Bucanero Fuerte and a whole host of expensive juveniles was a tempting one.

Having spent the winter riding abroad, Egan was at the Curragh on Monday to win the first juvenile race of 2023 on Arizona Blaze, and by adding the first major handicap of the season on Dominic Ffrench Davis’ five-year-old it could not have been a better start.

David Egan and trainer Dominic Ffrench Davis (right) with other winning connections
David Egan and trainer Dominic Ffrench Davis (right) with other winning connections (Nigel French/PA)

“It’s a fantastic start to the year. I’m not going to lie, it was a surprise to me how easy he took me into the race at the two-pole,” he said of his 33-1 winner.

“It was an outstanding performance really, I know he was getting plenty of weight from a lot of the runners, but it’s a fantastic performance.

“Doncaster has been a lucky place for me, I obviously won my first Classic here (St Leger on Eldar Eldarov), but the Lincoln is the race every winter that you build towards. I’ve obviously been away, but the Lincoln is that special race that kick-starts the year, so it’s great to win.”

The sole Irish raider for the race was Fozzy Stack’s Chazzesmee, sent off the 5-2 favourite following his easy success in the Irish version last weekend.

“What was going through my head was the Irish Lincolnshire last week, I rode Raadobarg in that and I gave Joey Sheridan a lead all the way to the furlong pole on Chazzesmee and he quickened up by me,” said Egan, who won the Saudi Cup and Juddmonte International with Mishriff when he was retained by Prince Faisal.

“I got into the stalls today and who was next to me! I looked at Joey and he just said ‘same again?’. I knew he was behind me the whole way, but when my lad quickened up, he quickened up really well – and as he has stamina, he was able to sustain that all the way to the line.”

As for taking the Amo job, Egan could well have joined at just the right time.

He went on: “It’s a very exciting year, you dream of getting a job like this and he (Joorabchian) has got such an array of horses, from older horses like King Of Steel to Classic contenders like Bucanero Fuerte.

“And Amo Racing in recent times have been renowned for two-year-olds coming through, they had a lovely one win at the Curragh last week. They are a great team to have a connection with.

“They’ve got ambition to win and be the best, we understand that will take time but they are still relatively new, the purple colours have only been seen in the last five or six years – when I started in racing, Amo Racing wasn’t even a thing.

“To see their progress and for me to land a job of this nature so soon in my career is great and I hope we have a lot of success in the future.”

Mr Professor has all the right answers in Lincoln

Mr Professor was too clever for the rest with a power-packed display in the William Hill Lincoln at Doncaster.

Sent off at 33-1, the Dominic Ffrench Davis-trained five-year-old was drawn in stall two but ended up more towards the middle after David Egan – celebrating a big winner so soon after becoming number one rider for owners Amo Racing – asked his mount to quicken a furlong and a half from home.

Lattam was a length and a half back in second, with Navagio two lengths further away in third, but there was never any danger to the winner once he had flown.

Fozzy Stack’s Chazzesmee was the well-backed 5-2 favourite, chasing an unprecedented double after winning the Irish equivalent last weekend, but while he moved with some menace, he could never quite get into it, eventually just being edged out for fourth by Alpha Crucis.

But there was huge disappointment for David Menuisier, with last year’s winner Migration planting himself in the stalls as the gates opened.

Ffrench Davis said: “I think a lot of it has to do with the ground, it’s very tacky and holding and he travelled through it well.

“Two out, he was going supremely well and David didn’t really want to go on as soon as he did, but it’s very hard to make ground up in that sort of ground and he quickened up nicely and kept going.

“We knew he was very fit and would like the ground, so we were hopeful. His draw in stall two didn’t look great, but it worked out well.

“I think he seems a very happy horse now, he had been out to Bahrain before we got him but he prefers to get his toe in. He bolted up at Goodwood one day for us, his form has been solid.

Doncaster Races – Saturday March 23rd
Mr Professor ridden by David Egan winning the William Hill Lincoln at Doncaster (Nigel French/PA).

“It’s great to win this, it’s the first big handicap of the year and these are the races you have to aim to win.

“For horses like him, I hope this rain continues, but we’ve plenty of horses who want better ground.

“I suppose we’d have to look at the Spring Cup next but he does have to get his toe in, so the word soft would need to be in the description. He’s obviously well handicapped, so you’d have to have a look at a race like that.

“It’s a fantastic start for David, he won the first two-year-old race at the Curragh last week and we were hoping to win the Brocklesby but that didn’t work out – thankfully, this makes up for it.”

Pulborough trainer Menuisier later announced the retirement of Migration, posting on X: “Migration is now retired, we have to think about the great times we’ve had with him especially Glorious Goodwood, Doncaster and York.

“Thank you Migration for the amazing years we’ve had in your company. Enjoy a well-deserved quiet time.”

Chazzesmee chasing unprecedented Lincoln double

Chazzesmee is out to complete an historic double in the William Hill Lincoln at Doncaster on Saturday.

Just five days after plundering the €100,000 Irish Lincolnshire at the Curragh, the six-year-old is sent back into battle by trainer Fozzy Stack for the British Flat season’s traditional curtain-raiser.

Sweet Lightning is the only horse to have won both races, scoring at Doncaster in 2011 when trained by Michael Dods before striking gold the Irish equivalent in 2013 for Tommy Carmody.

Not only is Chazzesmee looking to become the first to win the two prestigious handicaps in the same season, but he also bids to become the first Irish-trained winner of the Lincoln on Town Moor since Dermot Weld’s Saving Mercy 40 years ago.

“It’s kind of a shot to nothing, he’ll either be there or thereabouts or they’ll be sending out a search party for him,” said Stack.

“It’s hard to know with the short turnaround, but it’s a good pot, so it’s worth a chance.

“He’s always been a horse that has had plenty of talent, he’s just been a bit unfortunate through his life.

“He handles soft ground, obviously, so we’ll see what happens.”

One of the chief hopes for the home team is Karl Burke’s Liberty Lane, a narrow winner over the course and distance in September before failing to fire in the Cambridgeshire at Newmarket a fortnight later.

Karl Burke saddles Liberty Lane in the Lincoln
Karl Burke saddles Liberty Lane in the Lincoln (Mike Egerton/PA)

Burke is looking forward to stepping the four-year-old up in trip later in the year, but is happy to start off over the straight mile on testing conditions.

“A mile is the minimum trip for him, he should be staying a mile and a quarter, but you need that (stamina) for that type of race,” said the Spigot Lodge handler.

“If he can keep tabs on the leaders, he loves that soft ground and fingers crossed he can run a big race, but we’re going there hopeful rather than confident.

“I think I’d rather be drawn high (stall 20) than low and I think they’ll probably arrowhead up the middle. Most of the fancied horses are drawn low, so it will be interesting.”

Charlie Johnston fields two contenders, with Qipco Champions Day winner The Gatekeeper joined by stablemate Dutch Decoy.

The Gatekeeper winning at Ascot
The Gatekeeper winning at Ascot (John Walton/PA)

The Gatekeeper has not been seen in competitive action since his lucrative Balmoral Handicap victory at Ascot in October, while Dutch Decoy makes his first appearance since finishing a close-up sixth in the Cambridgeshire.

Johnston said: “The Gatekeeper is in very, very good shape, I couldn’t be happier with him in that regard. He’s proven with some cut in the ground and goes well fresh, so he’s got lots in his favour.

“Life’s going to be a bit tougher for him as he’s rated 100 now. The handicapper rightly didn’t miss him for his Balmoral win, but that’s the only negative I think. Other than that he’s got all conditions in his favour. He’s a solid contender and this has been the target for a long time.

“If there’s any ambition for this season, one is that Dutch Decoy gets his day in the sunshine because he’s often been the bridesmaid and he’s been a real stalwart with us in the top handicaps, but generally running well in defeat.

“He was just behind The Gatekeeper in the Golden Mile at Goodwood last summer on soft ground, so he has got some soft ground form, but generally I don’t think he would want the extremes and I think he’s a little bit better on slightly better ground.

“That would be a slight concern with him, but he’s fit and well and there’s not a lot else for him for a while, so we thought we’d take our chance.”

Simon and Ed Crisford’s Awaal, the Julie Camacho-trained Lattam and Jack Channon’s 2022 Lincoln hero Johan also feature in a fiercely-competitive field.

Channon said: “He’s just a very good horse and 100 per cent a great servant. He’s not got any black type but he’s a black-type horse. Those big-field mile races just seem to really suit his running style.

“He’s won two big ones already and hopefully he can add another to that.”

Migration seeking to recapture sparkle in Lincoln

David Menuisier is keeping his fingers crossed that Migration can recapture his old sparkle when bidding for back-to-back wins in the Lincoln at Doncaster on Saturday.

The veteran gelding finished strongly up the stands’ rail to storm past well-fancied duo Awaal and Baradar 12 months ago, scoring at 18-1.

He struggled to reproduce that form thereafter, trailing in well beaten on three subsequent outings, but they were all hot contests.

Migration stepped up to Group Three company in the Brigadier Gerard at Sandown, had to carry over 10st in the Balmoral Handicap at Ascot and signed off his season in a Listed contest at Saint-Cloud.

The handicapper has thrown him a lifeline by dropping his mark to 4lb above last year’s Lincoln triumph and Menuisier is hoping the fire still burns as brightly at the age of eight.

“Obviously, it’s a hard task but he is well, we know he likes the course and he likes to run fresh and he always runs well at this time of the year, so fingers crossed that the stars can align again,” said the trainer.

“He kind of lost his form late on last season, so it’s hard to predict what’s happening with those older horses.

“He stayed in the yard all winter, I didn’t give him a holiday this time around because he had a long break last summer, so we tried to keep him up to his work a bit more.

“We’ll see if it makes a difference. The ground will probably be very similar and maybe we just need a bit of luck.”

Doncaster Races – Saturday April 1st
Migration and connections after last year’s Lincoln (Nigel French/PA).

Awaal is the ante-post favourite to go one better this term after 56 entries stood their ground for the one-mile contest.

Simon and Ed Crisford’s five-year-old is back on the same mark after also going on to be placed in the Royal Hunt Cup at Ascot and Newmarket’s Bunbury Cup before faltering in the second half of the season.

September course and distance winner Liberty Lane is also prominent in the betting for Karl Burke after being gelded over the winter.

John and Thady Gosden will seek to strike for the second time in four years via Mostabshir, while Jack Channon will bid to match the exploits of his father Mick with 2022 hero Johan.

“Awaal had to settle for second place behind Migration 12 months ago but Simon and Ed Crisford’s runner is being well backed to go one place better this time in the opening major handicap of the Flat season,” said Coral’s John Hill.

Paddy Power spokesman Paul Binfield added: “Last year’s runner-up Awaal, who has been our best-backed horse ante post, remains in the reckoning at the five-day stage and sits proudly at the front of the market as favourite for the Flat turf season’s traditional pipe-opener.”

The Gatekeeper knocking on the door for Lincoln honours

Charlie Johnston is preparing Qipco Champions Day winner The Gatekeeper and his stablemate Dutch Decoy for the Pertemps Network Lincoln at Doncaster.

The Gatekeeper carried the Middleham Park Racing colours to four victories last season, also scoring at Newcastle, Newmarket and Goodwood, as well as finishing a close second in the lucrative Golden Mile at the latter venue in high summer.

He rounded off his campaign with a surprise success in the Balmoral Handicap at Ascot in October and will soon bid to add the season’s first major handicap to his CV, with Dutch Decoy another likely for his yard in the March 23 highlight.

“The Gatekeeper and Dutch Decoy both did their first proper piece of work together on Thursday and they’re our two with the Lincoln as their target,” said Middleham-based Johnston.

“The Gatekeeper will definitely run, Dutch Decoy was a little bit later coming back in and he’ll need everything to go smoothly for the next three weeks to make it, but at the moment the plan is to get them both there.

“The Gatekeeper had an unbelievable year really when you consider he’d been off for 625 days before he came back. He actually won at Newcastle on this weekend last year as his comeback and rounded off the year with a career-best on Champions Day.

“He’s gone up to 100 now, so life is going to be more difficult for him this year, but he was a real top-class handicapper last year and I’ve go no concerns about him going to Doncaster first time out.

“We learnt as last year went on he actually quite likes a bit of dig in the ground, which it would seem fairly certain we’ll get for the Lincoln at this stage, so I’m looking forward to running him.”

Migration provides De La Sayette with second Lincoln success

Benoit De La Sayette produced top-weight Migration with a perfectly-timed challenge to claim his second victory in the Pertemps Network Lincoln at Doncaster.

Previously successful in the traditional feature on the first day of the British Flat season aboard Haqeeqy in 2021, De La Sayette was crowned champion apprentice last term and it is not hard to see why.

Migration, trained by David Menuisier, won valuable handicaps at Goodwood and York in the summer of 2021 but only made it to the track three times last season.

Making his first appearance since finishing fourth in a Listed event at Newmarket in October, the seven-year-old was an 18-1 chance for his Town Moor return and benefited from the coolest of cool rides from his young rider.

Entering the final furlong it looked like proven mud lover Baradar might emerge triumphant after travelling smoothly into contention, with the well supported Awaal also right in the mix.

But having raced at the rear of the field for much of the straight-mile contest, Migration powered home against the stands’ rail and had a length- and-a-quarter in hand over Awaal at the line.

De La Sayette said: “He’s a horse that likes to come from off the pace. He came from off the pace in the Balmoral on Champions Day but I could never find the gaps. He finished off that race really strong, so we thought we’d try the same tactics today.

“The Lincoln is the Lincoln and it is very hard to find the gaps, so I’m very happy I found them at the right time. He really ran on in the last furlong and hit the line strong.

“To carry top-weight in that ground, it was a great performance. I ride a lot for Mr Menuisier, we have a good connection, and he told me to just do the same as at Ascot, as he just loves to come from off the pace. Luckily he was right.

“Last year went so well for me and to win this again, two years after winning on Haqeeqy right at the start of my career, is a fairytale.”

Menuisier said: “Not many top weights who are seven win the Lincoln but he’s so lightly raced, he doesn’t have much mileage.

“He’s been giving us the right signals all the way through so we were actually quite confident. He flies on this ground, anything from good to soft to heavy is absolutely fine.

David Menuisier saddled Migration to win the Lincoln
David Menuisier saddled Migration to win the Lincoln (Simon Cooper/PA)

“We’ll have to go into Pattern races now. He’s won that off 107 with a 3lb claim, he’ll be around 110 now, so I think that’s the end of handicaps and we’ll look at black type races – hopefully he can handle it.

“We’ll be patient anyway, because he’s very good fresh. He’s already made his money for this year and next – it’s a great way to start the season.”

Joint-trainer Simon Crisford said of the runner-up Awaal: “He’s run really well, I’m very happy with him. We’ve got a lovely horse for the rest of the season ahead of us and he likes that ground.

“It’s the name of the game and you’ve got to take it (defeat) on the chin.

“We might step him up in distance.”

Of the third-placed Baradar, trainer George Boughey said: “I’m very happy, he’s run a big race and I think seven furlongs is his ideal trip.

“He bolted up here over seven on this ground. Kevin (Stott) said he just didn’t quite see it out as well as possibly stouter-bred horses.”

Fellowes hoping sky is the limit for Atrium in the Lincoln

Charlie Fellowes is looking to get the Flat season off to a flying start as Atrium takes aim at the Lincoln on the opening day of the campaign.

The four-year-old looked to be on the up last season, hitting his stride in a series of one-mile handicaps and signing off at the end of the term with back-to-back wins at Newbury and then Doncaster.

The latter success, a half-length triumph at the St Leger meeting, was against a field of 15 rivals over the Lincoln distance.

The big handicap is therefore naturally the Highclere-owned gelding’s immediate target, a race for which he is presently a 12-1 shot off a rating of 100.

“He’s really well, this has been the plan for a very long time,” Fellowes said.

“We wanted to run him in the Balmoral at the end of last year but he just missed out so we took the decision to call it a day, protect his handicap mark and aim for the Lincoln first thing this year.

“He won over course and distance so it seemed a very obvious move.

“He’s in good order at home, he worked on the grass on Saturday and looked great. He’s got another big piece of work to go and that should put him spot on for Saturday week.

“He’s not a difficult horse to get fit, he’s not a big, gross horse, he’s a light-framed horse and he’s not one that’s going to need a run or a racecourse gallop or anything like that.

“He keeps himself very fit at home anyway. I’m very happy with where is and we’re really looking forward to it.”

Atrium looked versatile with regards to ground last season, winning on good and soft, but Fellowes noted his best performances came on a surface with slightly more ease in it and that was another factor that pointed to an early-season Lincoln bid.

“What we worked out halfway through the year is that he is clearly a lot better when he can get his toe in,” he said.

“He’s a beautiful mover and you’d have no problems running him on quick ground, he’d never get jarred up but he just seems much happier with a bit of ease in the ground.

“You wouldn’t get that from looking at him because he’s a very good mover and he is happy on all grounds, but there is a definite correlation between his performances and being able to get his toe in.

“That was another really attractive reason for putting him away and going straight for the Lincoln.”

Fellowes is also formulating plans for Vintage Stakes winner Marbaan.

Marbaan winning the Vintage Stakes
Marbaan winning the Vintage Stakes (Adam Davy/PA)

That victory came over seven furlongs, but two beaten runs at the latter end of the term have caused the trainer to ponder a return to a sprint distance of six furlongs.

In the early stages of his career Marbaan ran twice over the trip, finishing third on debut and then winning by five lengths in a Nottingham novice last June.

Though a Guineas entry has been made and could still be pursued, Fellowes is expecting the Oasis Dream colt to instead drop back in trip and is thinking of races like the Pavilion Stakes at Ascot as a first port of call.

He said: “Marbaan is good, he looks really well and he’s done well over the winter. He’s not a small horse and what he did last year was very good because he’s quite a big boy, not massive but definitely not small.

“We’re in no rush because there’s nothing much for him, he’s in the Guineas but we put him in that just in case and I don’t think he’s really a Guineas horse.

“I’m hoping that we actually end up coming back to sprinting, I just felt, especially in Ireland (sixth in the National Stakes), he finished his races very tamely.

“Although he won a Group Two over seven (furlongs) at Goodwood, he was stone cold that day over the sharpest seven in the country and he was smuggled into the race.

“We had the Greenham pencilled in for him as possible starting point, but I think we could end up starting with something like the Pavilion at Ascot and see where we go from there.

“It depends how he’s working through April, if he isn’t showing me the speed I’m expecting then we could end up in the Greenham and then think about an English Guineas or a French Guineas, but I think we might end up coming back to six furlongs.”

Monday Musings: Hope for the future, and Cope from the past

Five a.m. on the second day of BST and I was still uncertain what to write about. It was tempting to go along with the thought that John Gosden, 70, on his own was never as potent a trainer as he has become with the addition of son Thady, 25, as joint-licence-holder, writes Tony Stafford.

Five Saturday wins on the second day of their newly-shared role at Clarehaven Stables followed a first-day victory with Coronet’s sister Regent at Lingfield on Friday. But not just any old wins. Two in the first two races at Kempton for Rab Havlin; Haqeeqy at Doncaster in the Unibet Lincoln on the opening day of the 2021 turf Flat season; oh, and £4 million quid’s worth with two easy wins on World Cup day at Meydan.

Races like the Cambridgeshire over the past few years have become almost cannon-fodder for Gosden and the way he is able to go into major handicaps with horses still in the embryonic stage sets him apart.

Lord North, one of the father-and-son team’s two Meydan winners, had been rated 98 when winning the 2019 Cambridgeshire but he has long since graduated to Group races and before Saturday was 25lb higher. Even that figure looks likely to get another hike tomorrow after a cantering win coming from last to first under Frankie Dettori on Saturday in the Dubai Turf over nine furlongs.

The Italian had to share Dubai’s riding riches with David Egan, who won on Mishriff in the Dubai Sheema Classic. The horse, winner of the lavishly-endowed Saudi Cup last month, brought his career earnings beyond £10million when holding on from two Japanese five-year-old mares.

Egan is clearly a young rider with a big future, though 7lb claimer Benoit de la Sayette could have the ultimate career, not that it’s ever easy to predict on such scant evidence. But for a rider having his first ever ride on turf to come through and win the Lincoln so easily and cheekily on Haqeeqy, with a late swoop after Brunch appeared to have pinched it, was unusual to say the least.

“Benny And The Jets”, as I have to call him – it’s the only way to remember the name – has already won nine races from 30-odd rides adding to one from one last year. I can’t remember another claiming apprentice of such promise being attached to the Gosden yard. [Gosden has not had an apprentice for 30 years, so no failing memory. Ed.]

Haqeeqy’s win was poignant for John Gosden as he is owned by Sheikha Hissa, daughter of Hamdan Al Maktoum, the colossus of the turf, as owner and especially breeder, who died last week aged 75. His death must have left a pall over Dubai World Cup night when sadly his colours, now racing as the Shadwell Estate Co, did not enjoy much luck.

Godolphin did win two, including the World Cup in which the Michael Stidham-trained Mystic Guide justified favouritism with another easy win for American stables in this valuable dirt race. Earlier, the same colours had a last-to-first win with the gelding Rebel’s Romance, who gave Charlie Appleby a first UAE Derby success. He is set to challenge for the Kentucky Derby, a race Sheikh Mohammed has long coveted.

Xxxx

Anyway, here I am, having not wanted to major writing about Saturday because I’ve been waiting for a couple of weeks for a suitable time to talk about a most remarkable – for me anyway – little publication that George Hill sent me as an antidote to lockdown.

It’s the 1950 version of Cope’s Racegoer’s Encyclopædia – with the “a” and “e” on the cover properly diphthonged – and it’s a remarkable insight into how racing was conducted in those days. The book was published from the immediate post-war years to the early 1960’s.

Alfred Cope, one of the major bookmakers at the time, pens two of many interesting articles. The first is why he goes racing, the second how his off-course mainly postal and telephone business was conducted. That was more than half a century before the Internet came to enrich or diminish our lives, depending on your viewpoint.

Cope talks about regular racegoers coming to the end of each season with energies spent, yet by the time that Lincoln’s Carholme racecourse – long lost to the sport, but written about on these pages back yon - rolled around for the start of the Flat season, “people were looking up train times and booking hotels with renewed energy”.

Of course that was a quarter-century before the advent of all-weather racing, so Flat horses that didn’t get on the track by November, had an almost five-month wait.  It wasn’t easy for the tracks either, for example Chester and Goodwood, now both racing throughout the Flat-racing year were each restricted to a single four-day fixture, Chester in May and Goodwood in July.

During 1949 racecourses had to survive under the iniquity of Entertainment Tax. Epsom’s Managing Director at the time, Mr C J L Langlands, wrote in a letter to a newspaper that of every £1,000 taken at the gate, £458 (at 45.8%) was paid in Entertainment Tax, £403 in rates and after lesser amounts for Profits and Income Tax, £69 was retained by the Epsom Grand Stand Association Ltd.

Admission costs have always been high in the UK compared with say France or the US but even £50 or even more for some of the bigger meetings today represents a bargain compared with the post-war years.

In 1950, the average weekly wage was around £2. Cope writes about the normal cost to go in Tattersalls enclosures was 30 bob - £1.50! When I was a kid in the 50’s we always went in the Silver Ring.

Two articles that most attracted my attention were one discussing the likely apprentices to watch out for as the 1950 season approached, along with another assessing the potential Classic horses of that year. Palestine, beaten in the 1949 Middle Park Stakes, had been the overwhelming favourite until then. The following spring, as a 4-1 shot, he did indeed win for the Aga Khan, grandfather of the present Aga, narrowly from Prince Simon, who then was beaten in another close finish to the Derby.

Also there was an intriguing re-printing of the memoirs of the great trainer from the previous Century, John Porter. He minutely chronicles the life of the great Ormonde, easily the best horse of his – and most other – times and unbeaten winner of 15 races including the Triple Crown in 1886.

Porter retells not just his races, but the gallops on the way including his work opponents and the weights carried as he approached his first race in the late summer of 1885. He relates that, as a young horse, Ormonde developed splints under both fore-knees which prevented him flexing them properly. “The growths were however dispersed by applications of Ossidine, a preparation I have always found to be the best remedy for bony excrescences.” So now you know.

Everything about his three years on the track and the gallops was related in atomic detail, including the awful day leading up to the St Leger when he first gave signs on the Kingsclere gallops of the wind infirmity which was eventually to curtail his racing career and blight his disappointing time at stud.

By the end of his three-race four-year-old season Porter was dealing with a “roarer”, who was so badly afflicted that “On foggy mornings you could hear him half a mile away before you could ever see him”. He did sire a Derby winner in Orme from a small initial crop but was bought soon after to stand in Argentina. For several years, with fertility declining almost to nothing, he moved back and forth to England and had a number of ownership changes.

At last in May 1904, Ormonde’s last owner, the American William Macdonough, thought it humane to have him put to sleep and this happened with the help of chloroform. He was buried at Menlo Park but as any schoolboy or schoolgirl that has visited the National History Museum in London would tell you, his carcass was exhumed and his skeleton re-constructed to stand proudly in Kensington.

The article about apprentices was most interesting. Written by Ainslie Hanson of the Sporting Life, and entitled “Looking for another Gordon <Richards, winner of 26 Flat-race titles> among Apprentices”, it says “Raymond Reader and Billy Snaith show exceptional ability.”

Snaith, who died two years ago, aged 91, did indeed do well, riding many winners for the Queen. He will always be remembered by Willie Snaith Road in his adopted home town (he was Gateshead-born) which is one of the main arteries in Newmarket.

The next talented young man mentioned was Emmanuel Mercer, elder brother to Joe, and already coming to the end of his apprenticeship which in those days was a strictly-tied seven-year process. Manny Mercer, father of Caroline (wife of Pat) Eddery, was to die in a fall before a race at Ascot a few years later having been kicked in the head at the start when one of the leading jockeys of his time.

Nine apprentices are mentioned as having the potential of possibly becoming a champion jockey, but Reader is the one the writer has no hesitation in naming his apprentice of the year.

Then later he describes among the nine, one schoolboy who “still weighs less than five stone, but who rode a couple of outstanding races towards the end of that season”. In one, riding an outsider he beat Doug Smith, the regular runner-up to Richards in the title race, in a thrilling finish.

It was only in the August of the previous year that this son of Keith, a successful Flat and jumps jockey turned trainer, and grandson of Ernie, a dual Grand National-winning jockey, had his first winner, The Chase at Haydock Park.  He is of course Lester Piggott and at the time of that first win he was just 12 years old.

The two wins referred to in this article also came before his 14th birthday and by the time he was 18, he had already ridden Never Say Die to win the first of his nine Derbys. I can still hardly believe that he asked me to travel with him on both his first two days riding after his release from prison.

Beaten a short head at Leicester in the first race on Monday October 15, 1990, he also rode future Cheltenham Festival winner Balasani for my friend Mark Smith. They were unplaced and Balasani was to move to Martin Pipe soon after from John Jenkins.

I was tasked to bring the car round for a quick getaway after his last ride but, naturally struggling to move back the seat after 7st wet-through Bryn Crossley had driven up, and then failing to hear the Mercedes’ very quiet engine, I missed the appointment by enough time for Lester to be besieged by the media!

Then on the Tuesday, flying down to Badminton and from there by taxi to Chepstow, the great comeback was put in motion when Nicholas, trained by wife Susan for Danzig’s owner Henryk De Kwiatkowski, won a small race. This first win came aged 54, and was an event we celebrated that night in a first-person piece in the Daily Telegraph.

The following month Lester rode Vincent O’Brien’s Royal Academy to an amazing late-finishing triumph in the Breeders’ Cup Mile, a week short of his 55th birthday and exhibiting all the strength shown over more than 40 years. Lester happily is still around, and that little brown-covered and rather shabby book has many more secrets for me to unfold as we hopefully get back to normal after this awful twelve months.

If you fancy getting hold of a copy, I noticed one for that year, and most others, available on eBay, George’s full-time job these days.