De Bromhead Sizing up victory
A tantalising week is in prospect with one of the highlights coming as early as day one. On Tuesday Sizing Europe will look to bring down the curtain on another stellar campaign by winning the Boylesports.com Champion Chase.
Henry de Bromhead is excited about the prospect of his stable star renewing his rivalry with Big Zeb. ‘‘Two great horses,’’ is his succinct assessment. ‘‘He beat us there last year so we’ll see how we go.’’
Big Zeb’s victory 12 months ago provided a degree of consolation coming, as it did, after Sizing Europe had taken his Queen Mother Champion Chase title at Cheltenham in impressive style.
Like Big Zeb, Sizing Europe is now a former Champion Chase winner after he lost his title to Finian’s Rainbow in controversial circumstances at Cheltenham. De Bromhead is confident his charge can finish his campaign with a flourish.
‘‘He seems in good form. We’re happy with him, he seems well in himself so hopefully everything’s okay,’’ De Bromhead says. ‘‘To be honest no matter what happens I think he’s had a great season. We’ve won a Grade 1, we’ve won two Grade 2s, and we’ve been second in Grade 1s including the Champion Chase. It’s been a phenomenal season.
‘‘Obviously we’d love to win at Punchestown but we never expect anything either. You don’t know what’s going to happen. Everyone was telling me he was a certainty going into Cheltenham but that didn’t materialise.’’
Of course there were mitigating circumstances behind that narrow defeat at Prestbury Park. Sizing Europe was undoubtedly the hard luck story of the Festival, losing his title to Finian’s Rainbow after the final fence was bypassed as Richard Johnson was lying injured on the landing side after taking a crashing fall on Wishfull Thinking on the first circuit.
It wasn’t, to put it mildly, the officials’ finest hour and in the circumstances, De Bromhead’s graciousness in the immediate aftermath of the race was hugely impressive. Having had time to digest the events of the day he is philosophical about what went on.
‘‘It’s happens you know,’’ he says. ‘‘It’s obviously disappointing but unfortunately these things happen now and again and who knows what the result would have been if the last had been in. I’ve watched it a couple of times [since]. I just wanted to get my own view of it all and process it, but I’m not watching it every night in tears or anything like that. It’s unfortunate but worse things happen. I’m not really dwelling on it.’’
Many believe Sizing Europe would have retained his crown had the last been jumped but it’s not a debate De Bromhead is interested in getting into. ‘‘I wouldn’t dream of answering that. I’ve no idea. We might have fallen at the last. Who knows what would have happened?’’
He does, however, agree with the assertion that his horse was the more hampered of the leading two. ‘‘You’d have to say that. Andrew [Lynch] said he hadn’t gone for him at all. Next thing there’s everything that went on and that was it. You’d imagine he probably did [get affected more] because he had to go further around the fence than the other fella. Did that make the difference of winning or losing? Who could say?’’
Barry Geraghty has since revealed that he hadn’t realised the fence was being bypassed until Lynch veered his horse to his right and that had Sizing Europe jumped it, he would have followed suit on Finian’s Rainbow. It’s intriguing to ponder what might have happened had one of the front two jumped the fence. De Bromhead has no doubt about what would have transpired in that situation.
‘‘Whoever jumped would have been disqualified,’’ he says. ‘‘It’s as simple as that. There would be nothing else about it and jockey probably banned even though the officials made a complete balls of it. No-one seemed to be punished at all but if one of the jockeys had jumped it the horse would have been disqualified, he’d have been banned, there’d have been uproar, the stewards would have been giving out and whatever else but when it’s the officials’ fault there didn’t seem to be any explanation. I wouldn’t expect one either. I’d hate to be taken wrong in that. That’s the way it goes.’’
To add to Lynch’s woes he was hit with a six-day ban after he was adjudged to have hit Sizing Europe in the wrong place. In the circumstances, De Bromhead feels the stewards could have shown some leniency.
‘‘I thought it was very unfair on Andrew,’’ he says. ‘‘He saved all their bacon by making Barry miss it. He was definitely going to jump the fence. If one or both of them had jumped it they’d have been disqualified. So you’d have got a very bizarre result because they’d left such a grey area there.
‘‘I know it was for a completely different reason that he was banned but I think they should have shown some kind of leniency towards him. I thought it was a disgrace. It was his quick-thinking that saved all their necks.’’
That’s history now though. De Bromhead is looking to the future, a future that may see Sizing Europe stepping up in trip again. ‘‘We tried it before so I don’t see why we wouldn’t try it again.’’
More immediately there’s Tuesday where Sizing Europe will look to grab his fourth victory of the season. No Punchestown triumph would be more celebrated.
