Tag Archive for: Mike Smith

Ascending Lark swoops for Punchestown prize

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British raider Ascending Lark finished with a flourish to extend her unbeaten record over obstacles to six in the Killashee Hotel Handicap Hurdle at Punchestown.

Placed in two of her three bumper starts in Ireland before switching stables, the seven-year-old made a winning debut for Harry Derham at Haydock in March of last year and has not looked back, adding further victories at Huntingdon, Newcastle, Exeter and Ludlow.

She faced a far sterner test at Listed level in County Kildare and was priced up accordingly at 8-1, but powered home under a well-judged ride from Paul O’Brien to get up and beat Jonjo O’Neill’s Wilful by three-quarters of a length.

Derham said: “There is not many that win six, never mind six in a row! We didn’t plan on being that far back but she’s a good horse. He said he was going to ride her to come home and come home she has.

“Will (Watt) gave John (Lalor) half of her as a wedding present, so it was quite the gift!

“A couple of times last year I was on the verge of retiring her. I couldn’t get her right and she didn’t run to her mark, but her owners were very patient and thank God they were as she’s some mare.”

Ascending Lark was a second British-trained winner on the card, with 50-1 shot Buy Some Time having earlier got the raiding party off the mark with a surprise victory in the Albert Bartlett Triple Crown Series Final Handicap Hurdle for the Scottish father-and-son team of Mike and Ben Smith.

Mike Smith said: “Is there anything better than a day like today at the Punchestown Festival and your son winning like that? It doesn’t come any better than that.

“In the last seven or eight days I’ve had a National Hunt winner in Perth, a point-to-point winner, a Flat winner at Ayr and then flew over here.

“They all tell you that you can’t beat the Irish and Willie (Mullins) comes over and beats us all, but it doesn’t always happen that way. You have to be brave, to take the risk and throw the darts!”

Having earlier landed the two Grade One novice events with Irancy (18-1) and Champ Kiely (22-1), Willie Mullins made it a big priced treble on the afternoon in the €100,000 Goffs Defender Bumper as the previously unraced 16-1 shot Wonderful Everyday made a winning debut in the hands of Ruth Dudfield.

“This filly had been doing everything right at home but I didn’t know how good she was and Maith An Buachaill also ran well (finished fourth),” said Mullins.

“It’s great when someone in the yard rides a winner at one of the big meetings and Ruth has ridden one or two winners for us before, so it’s great for her.”

Transprint (22-1) saw off his better fancied stablemate Turnupdevolume to give trainer Richie O’Keeffe a one-two in the Kildare Hunt Club Cross Country Chase for the Ladies Perpetual Cup, while Bud Fox (16-5) won the closing Willie Coonan Memorial INH Flat Race for Gavin Cromwell and jockey Derek O’Connor.

Mike Smith confident City Of Troy ‘should handle the dirt’

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Just like his sire Justify always did, Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith expects City Of Troy to “mean business” when he takes his place in the starting gate for the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Del Mar.

A four-time winner of the Classic, the 59-year-old Smith has had the privilege of being associated with some of the greatest horses in American racing during his long and highly-decorated career.

One of the very best Smith has ridden is Justify – the all-conquering Triple Crown hero of 2018 and since revered as a stallion thanks to the exploits of, among others, City Of Troy.

Like most, Smith has been a key observer of City Of Troy’s rise to the top of the middle-distance tree and is now excited to see Justify’s most famous son tackle dirt in the final stanza of his career.

Mike Smith has followed City Of Troy's career closely
Mike Smith has followed City Of Troy’s career closely (Mike Egerton/PA)

“I’ve followed his career really closely because he is by Justify, who I was blessed to have ridden to a Triple Crown,” said Smith.

“I’ve been keeping a close eye and he’s going to be coming in fresh and coming in strong – and I know he will be fit.

“He should handle the dirt and I think the only thing that might be a nuisance to him is the kickback. But he’s going to be handy, it’s not like he is going to be way back and I think he will be somewhere close.

“Hopefully, he can keep the kickback out of his face and if he can do that, I see no problem with him getting a mile and a quarter on the dirt, it should be right up his alley.”

Of course, City Of Troy has made his name on the turf, while Justify was the exceptional dirt horse of his generation.

But Smith feels the apple does not fall far from the tree and when the gates open, City Of Troy exudes the same professionalism as his illustrious sire.

Smith continued: “Early on, he was just like his father in that he was so straightforward. There was no messing around and he was a horse that although he was only two and just starting out, he ran like a four-year-old.

“Ryan (Moore) has always been able to turn him off and on, put him up close if needs be, stay a little further back if he has to – and he has always run his ‘A’ race, maybe with the exception of that one time where he ran a mediocre race (in the 2000 Guineas).

“After that, they gave him a bit of time and boom, back to the winner’s circle he went. He’s about as honest as they come, like his father was, and that is one similarity, there is no messing around, they both mean business out there on track.”

Mike Smith celebrates after a victory at the Breeders' Cup
Mike Smith celebrates after a victory at the Breeders’ Cup (PA)

Smith first got his hands on the Classic aboard Sonny Hine’s Skip Away in 1997 and then after a 12-year wait, he won it three times in the next seven years, starting with the towering mare Zenyatta in 2009.

It remains one of the races Smith cherishes more than any other on the American calendar.

“Without a doubt, the Breeders’ Cup Classic is one of those races you want to win. It’s a very important race for us out here in the States and it’s our biggest purse,” explained Smith.

“The Kentucky Derby would be the most prestigious, but the Classic is the toughest race and requires the most talent, as they come from all over the world to try to win it.”

Justify apart, ask anyone to name a horse associated with Mike Smith and the answer is likely to be Zenyatta.

The darling of American racetracks was a sight to behold, and her racing style – cutting through runners from the back of the field – only served to endear her further.

Few racing moments can compare to her win in the 2009 Classic. As commentator Trevor Denman put it: “This is UN-BE-LIEVABLE!”

“She speaks for herself and I just wish everyone had got the opportunity to see her in person – she was worth seeing,” said Smith.

“She was brilliant and fun to watch up close with all her paddock antics and dancing. She just towered over her competition and even when she ran against the boys, she was bigger than they were.

“My vocabulary is not good enough to do her justice, but she was a once-in-a-lifetime horse.”

There is also a certain Arrogate, winner of the Travers, the Classic, the Pegasus World Cup and Dubai World Cup in a sensational four-race spell from August 2016 to March 2017.

“When he was fit and healthy and ran his ‘A’ race, I don’t think there was a horse in the world who could have beaten him that year,” said Smith.

“He was just a beast and the numbers he ran and the speed figures he produced were just incredible. He’s probably the fastest horse at a mile and a quarter I’ve ever been on.

“He wasn’t right at four and he ended up passing away very young as a sire.

“He wasn’t even a smidgen of the same horse I had got on in the Dubai World Cup, he just wasn’t the same. He still ran well in his races, but he just wasn’t the same.”

But for all the Justifys, Zenyattas, Arrogates and many, many others, there is a victory at the Curragh that Smith is rightly bursting with pride over – that of Fourstars Allstar in the 1991 Irish 2,000 Guineas.

“Still to this day, he is the only American horse to do it – that’s just incredible,” continued Smith.

“I love to go back and look at the racecard and see who was in there, the great riders – every jockey in the race was a Hall of Famer and a half!

“I was just a kid and it was such a thrill. I can go back and look at that race and to this day I still get goosebumps. I just can’t believe I won it.”

Ben Smith enjoys memorable first success at Ayr

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There were joyous scenes at Ayr on Tuesday when 17-year-old Ben Smith rode his first ever winner on Follow Charlie, trained by his father, Mike.

Having just his fourth ride under rules, the teenager punched the air on crossing the line, delighted to get off the mark.

Sent off a 17-2 chance in the Ayr Completes Juilia’s Racecourse Journey Handicap Hurdle, he came home 10 lengths clear of Lewa House.

Ben Smith said: “It was just my fourth ride, my second at Ayr and I’m absolutely over the moon, I’m delighted.

“I nearly won on him on my first ever ride. I’d say he was runner-up to a well-treated winner (Gamigin) who has won again since, that filled us with a bit more confidence coming here today and the step up in trip was always going to suit him.”

On returning to unsaddle, the youngster performed a flying dismount and said: “I’m not quite Frankie (Dettori) yet but I’ll keep trying!

“I just naturally progressed through pony racing, point-to-points and showjumping there was never anything else I was going to do.”

Mike Smith said: “I was very emotional, I was nearly crying but if you can’t get emotional about that, what are you in the sport for.

“To do it here, almost home turf, ridden by my son, a horse we bought for handy money (£2,500) – it’s fantastic.”

There was not such good news for Derek Fox who was taken to hospital with a suspected shoulder injury after his mount, Clovis Bay, fell on the flat.

The rest of the card was dominated by Northern Ireland-based Stuart Crawford, who enjoyed a treble.

Ballycoose (13-8 favourite) won the Ayrshire Wedding Show Novices’ Handicap Chase while Joshua Des Flos (4-7 favourite) was an easy winner of the Quiz Night At Golf Inn Prestwick Maiden Hurdle, with both ridden by Daryl Jacob.

JJ Slevin came over to ride Ailie Rose (6-4 favourite) in the Golf Inn Prestwick Handicap Hurdle.

Stuart Crawford (left) and J J Slevin were on the mark at Ayr
Stuart Crawford (left) and J J Slevin were on the mark at Ayr (Brian Lawless/PA)

Crawford is a regular visitor to the track and told Racing TV: “Apart from Down Royal and Downpatrick, this is almost our local track.

“It’s quicker for us to get here than going to the south of Ireland and it’s very easy because for two hours of that journey you are asleep on the boat or reading the paper.

“Joshua Des Flos has been here the last twice and he’s been beaten by nice horses, the novice hurdles here are as competitive as you get anywhere, they take a bit of winning – the big difference today was the softer ground.”

American great Mike Smith supports Dettori decision

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Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith has revealed he was not surprised to see Frankie Dettori extend his riding career and is relishing the prospect of locking horns with the Italian again when he relocates to California.

Dettori was due to hang up his saddle following a year-long retirement roadshow which started in America last winter and has taken in far-flung places such as Hungary and Sweden during the height of the European summer.

His last day riding in the UK remains scheduled to be Qipco British Champions Day before taking to the road for the Breeders’ Cup, Melbourne Cup and Hong Kong’s valuable international meeting in December.

However, the 52-year-old has U-turned on his decision to retire completely and will head to America to be based out of Santa Anita, as he was during a successful spell earlier in the year which saw him finish second in their jockey standings.

Frankie Dettori will relocate to America later in the year
Frankie Dettori will relocate to America later in the year (Zac Goodwin/PA)

Having seen first hand how well Dettori was riding and enjoying his time in the US, the man who partnered Justify to Triple Crown glory in 2018 is delighted to see his long-time weighing-room rival return Stateside.

“I chose to ride a little longer and if he has done as well then that’s wonderful,” said Smith.

“He was welcomed here with open arms when he came last time and he was an amazing addition to American racing.

“He came in and adapted well and was winning races left and right and was having a really fun time doing it.

Mike Smith celebrates after a victory at the Breeders' Cup
Mike Smith celebrates after a victory at the Breeders’ Cup (PA)

“So I can’t say I am shocked and you could say the writing was on the wall a long time ago maybe.

“I say that just because he was having such a good time here and I thought if you stay healthy and in good shape, which he is, then you can keep riding for a good few more years.”

Dettori has highlighted winning the Kentucky Derby as one of his main ambitions for making the switch to America permanently.

And although admitting it may be a tough ask, Smith – who has partnered two winners of the Run for the Roses – believes there is no reason why Dettori can not stumble across a Churchill Downs candidate while still riding at the peak of his powers.

He added: “Winning the Derby is hard and whether that is winning the Derby here or a Derby in Europe.

“It’s extremely hard, but it can be done and for a rider with his talent, it’s not like you need to get to know him. He’s already proven he rides the dirt every bit as good as he rides the grass and all it takes is one good opportunity on a really good horse – and we all know what a good horse can do for a jockey.”

The 58-year-old Smith is also embracing the chance to ride against his slightly younger rival once again and cannot wait to welcome him back into the US weighing room.

He explains how he understands Dettori’s decision to continue riding, admitting he has no desire to hang up his own saddle while still enjoying the thrill of competition.

“There’s nothing like great competition with great, wonderful people. It makes you rise to the occasion and makes you a better rider yourself. I look forward to him coming,” continued Smith.

“He always brings excitement to the jocks room wherever he goes, he’s fun to have around. It’s going to be great and I’m happy for him. As long as he’s happy and it’s what he wants to do, then I’m all for it.

“At my age, and I’m older than he is, I’m enjoying it every bit now as I did back then.

“I don’t ride as many as I used to, but you can still ride quality and there’s just nothing quite like riding a wonderful horse – and the only way you will get that feeling is to be on one and doing it.

“When you do hang it all up, you will never feel that again, so I’m going to hang on as long as possible myself.”