Why I won’t be risking a euro on Frankel next time
Tom Queally has come a long way since his days in Ireland, but in the cold light of day you’d imagine he will not look back on this race with any great relish.
Frankel has now been subjected to two savage lung-bursting efforts this season, at Ascot and in the English 2000 Guineas at Newmarket, and just quite what sort of psychological effect that is going to have on him in the future remains to be seen.
I referred here before to the words of Channel 4’s Jim McGrath, after Frankel had spreadeagled his field at Newmarket.
While everyone around him was waxing lyrical at what they had just witnessed, McGrath, bravely, was having none of it and wondered aloud as to the damage which might have been done to the horse.
Well, I think we can double the worry now, because the tactics utilised at Ascot were quite bizarre.
Rerouted, in the same ownership as Frankel, tore off in front and when Queally took up a position in the clear behind him then it appeared as if the plan was simple enough.
We watched, however, in amazement as the rider played his hand miles earlier than anyone could have reasonably anticipated.
Frankel powered past his pacemaker long before the home turn, flew around the final bend and tried to literally sprint up that punishing straight.
In the end Frankel was legless, screaming for the line, as Zoffany closed to within three parts of a length.
Afterwards, we were treated to plenty of bluster, about him idling in front, that sort of thing, but it was total bullshit.
Looking at Henry Cecil’s expression, when the contest was over, told us more than a thousand words could have ever done. He seemed shocked, bewildered, perplexed, almost in a trance at what he had just seen.
Cecil has been around a long time, has forgotten more about the game than most of us will ever know and will be well aware you cannot keep riding a horse, no matter how good he is, in that manner and not burst him completely at some stage.
The Corals odds-compiler, who immediately made Frankel a 1-2 shot to beat Canford Cliffs, must have been watching a different race to the rest of us.
Ladbrokes soon brought common sense to bear and put Canford Cliffs in as their odds-on favourite and offered Frankel at evens.
There is one certainty to emerge from all of it and that is Frankel will never again be ridden this way.
Wherever he turns up next you can bet your bottom dollar that restraint will be the order of the day.
As a son of Galileo, he is worth a fortune at stud and it wouldn’t be the biggest surprise in the world if he wasn’t prevailed upon to do a whole lot more.
Whatever lies in store for Frankel down the line, here’s one who would not risk a euro on him next time, not until he has shown that the two murder races he has had this season have not left their toll.
LAST Sunday at Cork a stewards’ inquiry was called after Banimpire had won a Group 3 by a comfortable three lengths.
Those of us who watched the contest through binoculars and those who watched on television were left puzzled as to the reason for the inquiry.
In the press room afterwards numerous eyes gazed at a re-run of the closing stages of the contest, including the head-on.
Still, we failed to work it out.
That night, I watched ATR’s coverage from Cork, with Matt Chapman playing host. As the head-on was running, in the wake of the inquiry, he muttered words to the effect that “whoever called that should get a grip.’
And you know he wasn’t far wrong, indeed he was dead right. This was a complete waste of time and any sort of a reversal of placings must have been at least a million to one!
TONY Martin has done some job with Redera, since he got him to train.
Redera won his first race over hurdles for Martin at Limerick last month, by five lengths, off a mark of 98.
Then he went in at Wexford a week last night and followed by scoring, doing handstands, at Roscommon on Monday.
The handicapper had has enough of it and so now Redera is rated 133, which is a massive rise of 35lbs in a short few weeks. What will Martin’s next move be?
