Sure tips and long trips
June 20th 2008 08:20
It’s the half mile beyond the two miles that is the test. At first it was the promising Coastal Path that teased and suggested a victory. And then the perennial (and brave) Geordieland who skipped clear and - for a moment - promised an upset. But two miles past and the test of endurance only now (really) beginning, Yeats moved sweet and smooth of stride and broke away from his rivals in the final few hundred metres for a five lengths win.
(photo: Getty Images)
Aidan O’Brien had worried that with only one run this preparation Yeats was short of peak fitness for the gruelling event that is the Ascot Gold Cup. This race is the opposite end of the scale to the juvenile precocity that monopolises both US and Australian racing (if not the racing in Australia, at least our mindset in breeding). Yeats now shares the feat of three consecutive Ascot Gold Cup victories with the mighty Sagaro. And perhaps he will return again next year for a fourth victory as an 8 year old. Or will he retire to stud? (please note that he is no two or three year old with promise and potential. He will retire as a champion and we will be the richer for watching him campaign over many years). Who can go with him over this distance?
Aidan O’Brien is even considering that Yeats might attempt to win this year’s Melbourne Cup. Although against the rules of Australian racing, wouldn’t O'Brien love to bring a stablemate along for the role of pacemaker to ensure the toughest of staying tests.
The rider of Geordieland was Shane Kelly who only returned to riding this April after completing a 12 month suspension for the crime of passing on information for reward. Chris Munce is still serving a gaol sentence for involvement in trading tips for profit in Honk Kong. And Jim Cassidy is still embroiled in a tips for profit scandal that also involves Tony Mokbel.
When involved in racing you soon realise that in any given race there are several camps who each believe their horse well placed (and sure to) win. I know this true from my time when taking horses to the races; I know this true from my time as an owner of horses; I know this true now from information and observation.
Jockeys have opinions. They certainly know (well, most do) how well the horse they are riding is performing; how much improvement it has made in fitness and attitude. But they are opinions made in isolation of other competing camps. If I was to write a new piece of racing fiction it might include - truly fictitious - accounts of a character placing a bet for apprentices or fully fledged jockeys. This fiction would conclude with the much anticipated (expected, and financially supported) horses failing miserably. On each occasion. This character would grow deaf to little tips.
The first time Hareeba came to race in metropolitan Melbourne several horses were well-fancied to beat him. Name a champion horse and return to their first race of our discovery (of their talent). And each time jockeys, trainers, owners of other horses engaged, would have been spruiking the ability of their horse. My Uncle Len was a professional punter in the 60’s. He did quite well for a long time and made a comfortable living. When I was apprenticed at Mentone I would visit him on my day off at his Carrum home. He started to tell me stories of the jockeys giving signals to a select few observers watching outside the parade ring. A doff of the cap; a tap of a riding boot; a scratch of the nose. Signals. Jockeys tipping - and he knew the code.
Soon he was telling me that the television news was sending him coded messages through the hand signals of people out of focus in the background of news reports. “Government is going to collapse,” he would claim, sure of the authenticity.
Uncle Len listened to the tips from jockeys. In a short time he was institutionalised. And even inside this shield and shelter he continued to receive more tips. Sometimes they won.
Ascot Gold Cup 2008:
Yeats wins third Ascot Gold Cup
(photo: Getty Images)
Aidan O’Brien had worried that with only one run this preparation Yeats was short of peak fitness for the gruelling event that is the Ascot Gold Cup. This race is the opposite end of the scale to the juvenile precocity that monopolises both US and Australian racing (if not the racing in Australia, at least our mindset in breeding). Yeats now shares the feat of three consecutive Ascot Gold Cup victories with the mighty Sagaro. And perhaps he will return again next year for a fourth victory as an 8 year old. Or will he retire to stud? (please note that he is no two or three year old with promise and potential. He will retire as a champion and we will be the richer for watching him campaign over many years). Who can go with him over this distance?
Aidan O’Brien is even considering that Yeats might attempt to win this year’s Melbourne Cup. Although against the rules of Australian racing, wouldn’t O'Brien love to bring a stablemate along for the role of pacemaker to ensure the toughest of staying tests.
The rider of Geordieland was Shane Kelly who only returned to riding this April after completing a 12 month suspension for the crime of passing on information for reward. Chris Munce is still serving a gaol sentence for involvement in trading tips for profit in Honk Kong. And Jim Cassidy is still embroiled in a tips for profit scandal that also involves Tony Mokbel.
When involved in racing you soon realise that in any given race there are several camps who each believe their horse well placed (and sure to) win. I know this true from my time when taking horses to the races; I know this true from my time as an owner of horses; I know this true now from information and observation.
Jockeys have opinions. They certainly know (well, most do) how well the horse they are riding is performing; how much improvement it has made in fitness and attitude. But they are opinions made in isolation of other competing camps. If I was to write a new piece of racing fiction it might include - truly fictitious - accounts of a character placing a bet for apprentices or fully fledged jockeys. This fiction would conclude with the much anticipated (expected, and financially supported) horses failing miserably. On each occasion. This character would grow deaf to little tips.
The first time Hareeba came to race in metropolitan Melbourne several horses were well-fancied to beat him. Name a champion horse and return to their first race of our discovery (of their talent). And each time jockeys, trainers, owners of other horses engaged, would have been spruiking the ability of their horse. My Uncle Len was a professional punter in the 60’s. He did quite well for a long time and made a comfortable living. When I was apprenticed at Mentone I would visit him on my day off at his Carrum home. He started to tell me stories of the jockeys giving signals to a select few observers watching outside the parade ring. A doff of the cap; a tap of a riding boot; a scratch of the nose. Signals. Jockeys tipping - and he knew the code.
Soon he was telling me that the television news was sending him coded messages through the hand signals of people out of focus in the background of news reports. “Government is going to collapse,” he would claim, sure of the authenticity.
Uncle Len listened to the tips from jockeys. In a short time he was institutionalised. And even inside this shield and shelter he continued to receive more tips. Sometimes they won.
Ascot Gold Cup 2008:
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