October 2009

200 up!

As anyone who follows racing seriously is aware, 2009 has, to date, proved a remarkable year for Mark Johnston Racing. The yard has churned out winners regularly throughout the year, to such an extent that Mark has made racing history by setting a notable benchmark with two months to spare. When Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed’s Cape Cross colt Corsica got the better of Kevin Ryan’s Danceintothelight in a juvenile mile maiden at Ayr on 23rd October, he was chalking up the stable’s 205th winner of the year overall, but perhaps more importantly from a statistical and historical viewpoint, his win completed a double century of British wins since 1st January 2009.

The British flat record stood in the name of John Day, jr. His 146 winners in 1867 stood for over a century until Henry Cecil chalked up 180 domestic successes in 1987, partly due to the tremendous success of Reference Point, who won the Derby, the King George and the St Leger. Six years later, Richard Hannon raised the mark to 182 before posting the total of 189 last year. The East Everleigh trainer’s record was smashed when Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed’s Comedy Hall, a juvenile colt by the aptly-named sire Valid Expectations won a six furlong nursery at Warwick on October 5th. Who knows what the eventual total of winners will be?

Canadian Duo Make Their Mark

Last month, two of the yard’s leading lights, Eastern Aria and Jukebox Jury, were sent to Canada to run in Grade 1 events at Woodbine in Toronto. They were supervised by a small team including Travelling Manager Hayley Kelly, groom Alison Marshall and work rider Rhona Bagnall. Although neither horse managed to win, both ran with great credit, enhancing their reputations and boosting their prize-money significantly.
The E.P. Taylor Stakes is a Grade 1 event over ten furlongs for fillies and mares. The race is named after E.P.Taylor, one of the founders of the Jockey Club of Canada and the owner of Windfields Farm, where Northern Dancer was born and where Epsom heroes Nijinsky, Secreto and The Minstrel were all bred. That Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed’s Eastern Aria should take her place in the field for this year’s renewal of the race seems remarkable, given that she made her racecourse debut only on 7th February this year, running second in a mile maiden at Lingfield. Indeed as recently as May, she finished in rear in a Class 3 handicap at Newbury.
The Halling filly is, however, a seriously progressive horse, described by Mark to the Klarion the other day as “one of the most improved horses in training.” On her penultimate run before Canada, she landed the Prix Joubert, a Listed event at Saint-Cloud over a mile and a half on her first try at Listed level. A quality field went to post at Woodbine, including John Gosden’s Group 1 Matron Stakes winner Rainbow View and Ralph Beckett’s Oaks winner Look Here. Mick Channon also shipped Lahaleeb, the Redback filly who had won the Fred Darling Stakes and who had been running without signal success in good races throughout the summer. Royston Ffrench, making his debut in Canada, took the ride on Eastern Aria.
Eastern Aria raced close up until entering the straight, at which point Royston opted to challenge on the inside. She then seemed to be outpaced in the dash to the line, before staying on well to claim fourth at the line. She was beaten three and a half lengths by Lahaleeb, a first class effort in her first Group start! The lack of real early pace counted against her too, as she is ideally suited by a test of stamina.
Alan Spence’s Jukebox Jury, winner of the Preis von Europa, was sent to contest the Pattison Canadian International, a race in which Mick Doyle’s Fruits of Love had finished second in 1999 and John and Joan Keaney’s Yavana’s Pace third in 2002. The International was originally named the “Long Branch Championship” and was inaugurated at Toronto’s Long Branch dirt track in 1938. Through most of the eighties and nineties it was known as the Rothmans’ International, and it has now developed to an international race boasting a purse of $2 million. It is also part of the Breeders’ Cup Challenge series, offering the winner a route into the Breeders’ Cup Turf.
Jukebox Jury headed the British challenge for the race, with Andrew Balding sending over Buccellati and Michael Bell Allied Powers. Last year’s winner Marsh Side was attempting to follow up for Neil Drysdale, while Bobby Frankel’s Champs Elysees headed the market on 13/5.
Marsh Side set out to make all the running, followed by Royston Ffrench on Jukebox Jury. Once in the straight, Royston sent Jukebox Jury to the head of affairs. It looked for a while as though this move would be successful, but Champs Elysees came wide and late to grab the prize on the line by half a length. Jukebox Jury finished second, two lengths clear of Buccellati. While it was disappointing to lose, Jukebox Jury earned over £225,000 for finishing second, more than he would have won had he contested that day’s Champion Stakes at Newmarket. Mark described the colt’s performance as fantastic, and speculated that if Champs Elysees had come to challenge sooner, and perhaps closer, to Jury his horse may have outbattled the winner.
The good news is that Jukebox Jury will remain in training as a four-year-old. Targets for 2010 include races such as the Coronation Cup and the King George, while it is possible that connections may want to take him to Dubai for the Sheema Classic, especially as Jukebox beat the 2009 winner Eastern Anthem when landing his Group 1 in Cologne. Exciting times lie ahead for the colt who has done much to enhance his sire Montjeu’s reputation this year.

Promising Filly Just Misses Out at Deauville

One of the more interesting of the Racing Post’s innovations in recent times has been their “Googling A Runner” feature. We’re not sure whether they have homed in on Marie de Medici as yet, but, if not, they should turn their attention soon to Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed’s Medicean filly, as her namesake led a colourful life!
The original Marie de Medici was born in Florence in 1573. She married Henry IV of France and was the mother of Louis XIII; once married to Henry she seems, by all accounts, to have spent a great deal of time engaging in public spats with the King’s mistress, and various sources speak of her colourful vocabulary! She became regent of France upon her husband’s death in 1610, and was regarded as having steered France in a pro-Spanish and pro-Catholic direction, a move echoing the Catholic unrest against James VI and I in Britain around that time, as evidenced by the Gunpowder Plot just five years earlier.
The Dauphin asserted his right to the throne in 1617 and exiled his mother to the Chateau de Blois. In 1621 Louis appointed Cardinal Richelieu as his principal adviser. The astute Richelieu felt Marie should be reinstated to the Royal Court, principally so that he could keep an eye on her. In exchange for his part in ending her exile, Marie persuaded her son to appoint Richelieu Chief Minister of France. However, the pair were to clash constantly, Marie failing to accept Richelieu’s tolerance of the protestant Huguenots. After an attempt to overthrow Richelieu failed, Marie was arrested and sent in exile to Compiegne in 1631. She escaped, however, and lived to the ripe old age of 69, dying in 1642 at Cologne.
The filly bearing her name has yet to achieve a similar level of notoriety, but she has made some tentative steps towards carving out her own niche in the public consciousness. Marie de Medici was purchased by Mark at the Keeneland September Sales for $340,000 as a yearling. She is a half-sister to Roman Republic and to the French winner Hurricane Mist. Her dam, Mare Nostrum, won the Group 3 Prix Vanteaux at Longchamp for the Niarchos family and failed by just a head to land the Group 1 Prix Saint-Alary next time out. She is a half-sister to seven winners, the best of whom is the US Grade 1 winner Aube Indienne.
After finishing third on her first two starts in competitive Haydock and York maidens, Marie de Medici opened her winning account with an impressive win at Leicester on 6th October. A field of fifteen went to post for the Ladbrokes.com Maiden Fillies’ Stakes over seven furlongs, but only two fillies featured at the business end of the event. Marie de Medici led to halfway when she was taken on by David Lanigan’s Faithful One. However, the Dubawi filly was only there on sufferance, and when Joe Fanning asked Marie de Medici for her effort a furlong and a half from home, she swept past the leader to score by two lengths with a full eight lengths separating the leading pair from the third horse, Boogie Diva. As the third was rated 81, this looked an eye-catching performance; the clock backed it up, as not only was her time the quickest of the three seven furlong races on the card, she also broke the juvenile track record which had stood since 1997!
Next stop was Deauville, and a crack at a pattern race in the Group 3 Prix des Reservoirs Haras d’Etreham. This race is run over a mile on Deauville’s round course, and Joe Fanning set out to make every post a winning one on the Medicean filly. Quickening once in the straight, Marie de Medici made a bold bid to land the prize, but was caught in the shadow of the winning line by Barouda, a winner at Saint Cloud on her previous start. She went down by just half a length, and dead-heated for second with Ayun Tara. This represented a cracking good effort by a filly whose breeding suggests she will be seen to better effect over further.
The filly’s exploits attracted the attention of the handicapper, who immediately raised her 19lbs! Not surprisingly, Mark avoided handicap company when bringing her back to Newmarket to contest the Casino at bet365.com EBF Montrose Fillies’ Stakes, a Listed event over a mile on 31st October. Perhaps John Dunlop’s Clarietta looked the form pick having run fifth in Group 2 company at the St Leger meeting, but Richard Hannon’s Nurture had finished an excellent third behind Shakespearean in the Goffs’ Million, and the field was full of unexposed and well-bred fillies.
Drawn wide on the outside of the field, and slightly awkward on leaving the stalls, Marie de Medici ran well again but was outgunned by the well-bred Timepiece, who just touched off Nurture, with Clarietta catching Marie de Medici on the line. A disappointing result on paper, Marie de Medici clearly had the worst of the draw and Richard Hills was not unduly hard on the filly once her winning chance had gone. We are confident her time in the spotlight will come.

Kingsley Kickback

By John Scanlon Editor of the Kinglsey Klarion

Crime and Punishment

With a heavy heart I find myself returning to issues of crime and punishment, having just read Graham Green’s cover story in the Racing Post of 30th October under the banner headline “Williams ruling signals hardline approach by BHA.” It appears that Darren Williams’ application for a licence to ride after his suspension expired has been refused on the grounds that he has been judged not ‘a fit and proper’ person to ride on a British racecourse.
Before commenting further, I note that Williams is to receive written reasons for the decision within seven days. The PJA chief executive, Kevin Darley, has rightly said he is unable to comment until those reasons are given. However, Paul Struthers outlined to the Press the three grounds upon which the BHA decided to oppose the application; these included ‘a failure to accept his wrongdoing, or show any sign of remorse for it.’
Briefly, I have three concerns. I don’t think the grounds of opposition to Williams’ application should have been stated at this stage, as there is a suggestion, albeit implicit, that these have been accepted by the licensing committee. I also feel it is dangerous to suggest that remorse needs to be publicly exhibited in respect of wrongdoing where the applicant has already had a punishment imposed. If he has ‘done the crime’, has he not also ‘served his time’?
Lastly, while I appreciate that the licensing and disciplinary functions of the BHA are, in theory, separate, if the BHA are to insist upon comparing statements to the licensing committee with assertions made in disciplinary proceedings (as they appear to have done here, according to the statements attributed to Paul Struthers), does this not inevitably lead to a blurring of the boundaries between the disciplinary and licensing functions, a blurring which would open the authority up to suggestions that it is acting contrary to natural justice? Nemo iudex in causa sua is one of the tenets of natural justice – that no man shall act as judge in his own cause. Arguably the BHA would like to have their cake and eat it….oh, and an apology from Williams over a nice Battenberg would go down rather well too!
Of course, when the actual reasons are published, all may become clear!

“Lucky Break”

I am indebted to Jonathan Powell, the racing correspondent of the Mail on Sunday, for arranging for a copy of “Lucky Break: The Autobiography,” by Paul Nicholls with Jonathan Powell (Orion Publishing Group, London 2009) to be sent to me for review. This is a book I enjoyed enormously, not least because it follows the career of the National Hunt Champion Trainer in strict chronological order, rather than deal with episodes on a piecemeal basis. The picture that emerges of Paul Nicholls is that of a talented and driven man, “single-minded to the point of obsession.”
The sections of the book dealing with his rivalry with Martin Pipe leave the reader in no doubt as to his frank opinions of his rival, and his assessments of the jockeys who have ridden for him make fascinating reading. The glimpses into his private life are no less interesting; though Nicholls concludes his success as a trainer may have involved the sacrifice of a happy family life (“I was married to racing”), the books ends on a note of his immense pride as his daughter Megan indicated she wanted to leave school to join him as his assistant.
There is also a chapter (“My Way”) on Paul Nicholls’ training methods and beliefs. Those of you familiar with Mark’s methods will find some interesting parallels and divergences here. Jonathan Powell is to be congratulated for helping Paul tell his story in such a compelling manner.


So Wrong

It was good of the Racing Post to publish a special pullout to mark the twentieth anniversary of all-weather racing in Britain in its issue on 30th October. With the development of better surfaces and the spread of these new surfaces in North America, the profile of all-weather racing has never been higher. However, in his feature entitled “Lovers of the Sand,” Kevin Morley could not, even if he had tried really, really hard, have misread Mark’s attitude to the all-weather championship more completely.
Commenting that Mark’s flow of winners on the sand had slowed at the start of the millennium, Morley suggested that “the introduction of an all-weather trainers’ championship a few years ago rekindled his enthusiasm for the dirt game as he has finished top twice and second on the other occasion.”
Having discussed the all-weather championship a number of times with Mark, it would be fair to say his attitude towards it is nearer to contempt than enthusiasm. As ever, Mark is tuned into running his customers’ horses wherever and whenever it is in their best interests; that success is achieved on a scale sufficient to win championships is but a happy coincidence.

John Scanlon