Halford keeps his faith in Golden Cross
WHEN Golden Cross won the Grade One Bewleys Hotels December Festival Hurdle at Leopardstown in 2003 over two miles, he beat a class field which included such stars as Spirit Leader, Flame Creek, Solerina, Back in Front and Rhinestone Cowboy. In fact, subsequent dual Champion Hurdle winner Hardy Eustace was also in that race and finished last of the seven in the field.
Tomorrow Golden Cross returns to the scene of his biggest triumph and, taking on the likes of Hardy Eustace, Macs Joy and Brave Inca, is not necessarily fancied to do the business. However, his softly-spoken trainer Michael Halford is in no doubt his seven year old deserves his place in the field.
The Curragh handler’s reasoning is quite simple, in that while the bay gelding may not be the flavour of the month with punters, his record both on the flat and over flights is more than a little impressive, including a November Handicap victory at Leopardstown last year.
Halford, who is probably better known these days for his exploits on the flat, where last year he trained the likes of Miss Sally to two group race wins and recorded his highest ever number of wins in a season, admits he now has a bigger flat string than jumpers, but it would appear he has certainly not lost the knack of turning his charges into winners - whatever sphere they might race in.
Golden Cross, he says, was bought as a yearling from John Osbourne for owners that had a horse called Suremark. “He was by Goldmark and this fellow was as well and we liked him straight away. He turned out to be a handy three-year-old hurdler and then he was third in the Triumph Hurdle as a four-year-old behind Spectroscope,” Halford recalls.
The trainer then ran the horse in the Champion Hurdle in 2004, following on from his Grade One breakthrough at Leopardstown the previous winter, and the horse did not disgrace himself, finishing seventh of the 14 runners behind Hardy Eustace. But it was to be the start of a frustrating time with the horse.
“Between Cheltenham and Punchestown he got a slight tendon injury which set him back. We treated him and gave him time, and he only came back last autumn at the Curragh,” Halford recalls.
A year-and-a-half off is a long time in anyone’s language, but the manner of the horse’s return, with two wins on the flat, illustrated clearly that Golden Cross had not lost any of his sparkle. His subsequent dramatic short head defeat at the hands of Solerina in the Hattons Grace at Fairyhouse last month underlined the point.
“At that point he’d won over two miles on the flat and only just been beaten over two-and-a-half in the Hattons Grace. The plan then was to run him over Christmas at three miles to see did he get it, but unfortunately he didn’t scope 100% just before he was to run so I didn’t run him.
“The thing we have to find out now is which way to go with him,” Halford says, reflecting that while the AIG might just be “on the sharp side”, he’s certain he has something to learn by running him this weekend.
“You’d have though he might be better being upped in trip, but we don’t know that two miles is too short for him either. He’s won a Grade One around Leopardstown and because he was 66/1, people may have thought it was a bit of a fluke. But he won’t be 66/1 on Sunday.
“We do still have a little bit of a learning curve with the horse, but most things point to the fact he ran so well against Solerina over two-and-a-half and won the November handicap over two miles. That would suggest he gets a bit further, but whether he needs it or not we’ll learn on Sunday.”
Halford reckons that with Hardy Eustace, Brave Inca and last year’s winner Mac’s Joy all in the field, the AIG will be a hot race, but not having run at Christmas, he was in a quandary.
“If we ran him at Christmas, I don’t know whether we’d be running or not. I wanted to get two runs into him before Cheltenham, so this fits in nicely with his programme. But I have him entered in both the Champion Hurdle and the World Hurdle, so the options are open as to what we do. The fact he’s had so little racing, it’s hard to know until we run him.”
Aside from the fact he has an obviously talented horse, Halford is also buoyed by the fact that Johnny Murtagh rides tomorrow. Multiple derby winner, twice champion jockey, Murtagh took out a jumps licence this year and has been enjoying himself immensely away from the flat.
“Johnny had suggested to me that he might do this and when we had Golden Cross, it seemed like a good idea for him to give it a go. He’s thoroughly enjoyed himself and the fact he’s done this shows you the type of man he is, the determination he has.
“His experience is a great advantage and he’s a great race reader. He has the world of experience, tactically he’s great and the horses really jump for him. Golden Cross put in his best ever jumping performance for him in Fairyhouse, so I think it is a big help to have him.”
Mick Halford is as canny as any man in the racing game and if he feels the horse is entitled to take his place than few would argue. When he says he expects his horse “to give a good account of himself”, people might be advised to take notice.
