Today’s best bet, by Chris Cook
So here we are, two weeks after Davy Russell hit his horse before a race at Tramore, and the story rumbles on, taking up pages two and three of today’s Racing Post. It will rumble on until at least Tuesday, when the matter is reheard. And yet it could all have been mopped up in a single day if the raceday stewards had been paying sufficient attention.
I have a modest proposal for those who run racing in Britain and Ireland, which would save the whole agonised debate about what is the right punishment for such an offence. Write a specific offence into the rules for this sort of situation (it could be called ‘inappropriate striking’ or some variant thereon) and give it a minimum penalty of a five-day suspension.
That would take so much heat out of the kind of debate we’ve all been seeing on social media this past fortnight. It would show the wider world that racing is serious about its responsibilities to the animals. It would mean we are spared the mental gymnastics of stretching existing rules to cover the offence, Russell having been done for bringing the sport into disrepute while, in Britain, ‘improper riding’ was used to cover a similar offence by Sean Levey some years ago.
Of course it would be better if jockeys could refrain entirely from mistreating their horses. But humans are not perfect and competitive young athletes sometimes lash out in frustration. I think we can be fairly certain that this set of circumstances will arise again at some point. The sport should be properly prepared to deal with it next time in a smooth, routine and expeditious manner that does not generate weeks of damaging coverage.
Moving on. Sandown’s card opens with a couple of sprints in which I expect, following plenty of precedent, that the far rail will be the place to be. That’s dandy for Our Lord (2.10), the winner of his last three starts, who is drawn in two.
Having made all in an apprentice race at Bath last week, he gets to run from the same mark here and should again be hard to catch. He’s my nap for the day at 11-8.
The next two races are two divisions of a very interesting maiden that may prove influential. Sam Gold (2.45) is the one that interests me and I think he’s fairly priced at 4-1 from the opening 11-2.
His pedigree has an appealingly precocious look, being by Iffraaj and a half-brother to Dabyah, the Fred Darling winner, who won her first two races as a juvenile. Sam Gold comes from the Roger Varian yard whose two-year-olds nearly always peak in September and October. He holds a Dewhurst entry.
At Thirsk, Twentysvnthlancers (2.55) might have a better chance of ending his losing run than odds of 10-1 suggest. He’s been dropped another 3lb for his latest defeat, taking him to 60, the lowest mark of his career and 5lb below the one from which he won at Carlisle this time last year.
He’s dropped to Class 6 for only the second time since last September and has blinkers on for the first time, which could be effective, because first-time cheekpieces produced his best recent run when he was third at Pontefract in June. He’s trained by Paul Midgley, whose runners have come alive since this horse was last seen in mid-July.
Tips for all Friday races
Sandown
1.40 The Golden Cue 2.10 Our Lord (nap) 2.45 Sam Gold 3.20 La La Land 3.55 Robin Weathers 4.25 Emily Goldfinch 5.00 Previous Angel
Thirsk
1.50 Moxy Mares 2.20 Exhort 2.55 Twentysvnthlancers (nb) 3.30 Noble Behest 4.05 Muntadab 4.40 Mango Chutney 5.10 Golden Guest
Bangor
2.00 Ambre Des Marais 2.35 Saint Contest 3.10 What Happens Now 3.45 Raleagh Mountain 4.15 Ckalco Des Loges 4.50 Gold Class
