Full marks to Ryan Moore for walking the Sandown course and discovering where the best ground was. Anybody who had seen Channel 4’s Morning Line interview with the clerk of the course on Saturday morning knew that the best ground in his opinion would be the route that Ryan Moore took in the Coral Eclipse. It was not rocket science ! The best horse on the day won. The race proved that there was not much between Authorized and George Washington. Connections of George Washington are now considering going for the Juddmonte International at York, whereas the owners of Authorized are concerned that the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot could come too soon. It did not come too soon for Reference Point who put up a superb performance in winning the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes after just losing the Coral Eclipse to Mtoto in 1987.
Tomorrow the 11th of July sees the start of Newmarket’s July Meeting. It looks as though there will only be seven runners for the feature race the Falmouth Stakes where Arch Swing is fancied to win for John Oxx. As the Lancashire Oaks has been transfered from Haydock there will be eight races on the the card which will make for a long afternoon. For all the runners and riders and latest news go to the sporting life.
The feature race on Thursday is the Princess of Wales’s Stakes. This could go to Lucarno who has been very consistent so far this season.
The feature race on Friday is the July Cup. As already mentioned in a previous blog I am hoping Amadeus Wolf can do the business and improve on his fourth place of last year.
The Bunbury Cup is always very competitive. The short list for this is last years winner Mine, last years runner up Intrepid Jack and Dabbers Ridge.
On Saturday we have the John Smith’s Cup at York. At the time of writing 36 have stood their ground. The race will be run on soft or heavy ground over nine furlongs and not the usual ten and half furlongs. This is because the course has been waterlogged. Aidan O’Brien has a strong hand in this with three runners, one of them being the well fancied Sorolla.
The race has happy memories for me going back to 1964 when it was known as the Magnet Cup. I was in dire need of a winner to keep my bookmaker happy and Space King ridden by Edward Hide obliged at 25/1 for me. Space King was a game and genuine race horse who did me a few favours in the sixties. Happy memories.
