Bostons Angel schools well in blinkers ahead of Lexus
That has been the case for the last few weeks with the heavy ground and cold weather, while we are also building up to the Christmas festival at Leopardstown. Again, we have only three runners this weekend.
We have been working and schooling the likes of Oscars Well and Bostons Angel, as well as some of the younger horses with the coming weeks in mind. Oscars Well seems to be in very good form and I’m very happy with him, while we schooled Bostons Angel in the blinkers and he jumped very well. We galloped him yesterday and he worked very well there too. We will gallop and school them again next week ahead of their dates in the Istabraq Festival Hurdle and the Lexus Chase.
Just looking back on the past week, it seems that we just need to let Mystic Desir gallop along. We’ve been talking about a learning curve with him for a while now and while I’ve said this before, I think we know what he needs now. He needs to be ridden more prominently so we were actually happy with him in Navan on Saturday.
True Character had a tough race and was lucky not to be taken out at one stage so while we were initially disappointed, in hindsight, he did well to be fourth in his maiden hurdle. He jumped much better so we can be happy with him.
Saluting was disappointing on Sunday at Punchestown but as a Presenting, maybe he just can’t get through that ground. Beachdale Lad seemed to replicate his previous run in the bumper, and I’m not sure right now if the ground was a factor in him not showing any improvement. It has emerged that Galzig, who ran below par in Cork, has a wind problem so she will get that addressed and hopefully that will bring about the desired result.
Of the two that ran in Gowran on Thursday, Johnnys Legacy likes it soft but I don’t think he’d want it that heavy. He ran well up to a point and then got very tired. Not having run in two months and running on that type of ground were the reasons for that I think.
Born To Benefit also ran very well before tiring but I was delighted with her as it was a much improved effort from Navan. She travelled well and jumped well but just got a bit stuck in the ground and tired at the end. She’ll go for a mares’ maiden and I think she’ll probably go very close.
Mosstown and Spanish Auriga both come back from injury lay-offs at Fairyhouse today. There are only five in the second hurdle, but they include Blazing Tempo and Western Charmer. Mosstown hasn’t run since January so we’ll be hoping he gets around okay. The same applies in the beginners’ chase to Spanish Auriga, who hasn’t raced for 18 months. Both horses should improve quite a bit for these runs.
Jetson takes his chance in the Grade 1 Navan Novice Hurdle tomorrow because it has cut up so badly with only four runners. So there’s some good prize money on offer. Mount Benbulben looks very strong but Jetson would have been third the last time they met in Navan but for a mistake at the last. Make A Track, who took that position, won on Thursday and Rebel Fitz doesn’t run, so we’ll see what happens. It’s definitely worth him taking his place.
We all had a great time at the Irish Horse Racing Awards at Leopardstown Pavilion on Monday. I think all the winners were deserving ones. Willie (Mullins) has done amazing things again while I was very pleased for Joseph O’Brien, who has been remarkable for an 18-year-old. Derek O’Connor is breaking all the records in the point-to-point world and not too many horses win five Grade 1s in a season, so it was hard to look past Hurricane Fly for Horse of the Year.
Dermot Weld was a fitting winner of the contribution to the industry award and I think he was genuinely surprised. Nina was shocked as well, when she got the outstanding contribution but again, I think she deserved it. They were both a bit emotional about it but having won a blue horse last year, I know what an honour it is and when you’ve gotten one, you want some more.
The Minister for Agriculture, Simon Coveney, gave a very positive speech and if he delivers on his promises, it will be great.
The message he delivered was that Ireland was punching well about its weight throughout the world in racing, more so than any other sport. And that’s before you take the economic benefits in terms of revenue and employment.
What we have always wanted was racing to be self-financing. When the Horse and Greyhound Racing fund was set up initially, that was the plan and it would have been after around six years but for the fact that they got rid of the betting tax.
So that stream of revenue was lost and it meant that we had to go cap in hand to the government every year. If the tax situation is sorted out for online betting as the minister suggests it will be next year, that will put is back in the right direction. Hopefully he’ll go through with it because there will be a lot of opposition.
I would welcome the independent review he is planning for the sport as well. The current structure is in place for a decade now so it’s no harm. We mustn’t look at it negatively. We should see it as a positive thing that will help us freshen up. It’s something I’d do in my own operation so it’s no harm that racing does the same. There will be good things and there will be things we find that need to be improved on.
The betterment of racing is what we’re striving to achieve so we’ll see what the review comes up with.
