After a couple of difficult news stories in the past week, some relief came for Godolphin here when its familiar blue colours were carried to a surprisingly easy success in the feature race by Sky Hunter, who is now being aimed at the Melbourne Cup. But arguably a more impressive performance came from his trainer, Saeed bin Suroor, who appeared relaxed and at ease despite having provoked controversy mere hours before with his decision to demote James Doyle from his position as the stable’s principal jockey.
Often guarded in his dealings with the media, Bin Suroor could not have seemed more comfortable on this occasion, mugging for photographers and cheerfully batting away questions about Doyle on the grounds that “the story ends here”, words uttered while gesturing at a report in his newspaper. Instead, he called attention to his own record, claiming that Sky Hunter was the 2,000th winner of his career.
That total could not be immediately verified because details of winners in his native Dubai are not readily available but Bin Suroor’s 22-year career has been hugely impressive on any reading. His tally of winners in Britain alone now stands at 1,383 and there have been close to 200 top-class successes in countries all around the globe. But Bin Suroor has yet to add to that Group One total this year, in which his yard seems to have been as badly affected by a virus as any in Newmarket. Fascinatingly, he defended himself by claiming that Godolphin has not been sending him quite the same calibre of animal that he used to get.
“The quality of horses we have in my stable is completely different than 20 years ago. At that time, we received all the horses and the best quality yearlings but the last three years, the quality wasn’t really good enough. The three-year-olds this year weren’t really good.
“But the two-year-olds are nice, they’re doing good, some of them. In their work, this week and last, they show some class and I hope some of them will become stars from there.”
That theme came up again when Bin Suroor was asked to pick some career highlights, having reached such a significant landmark. “Dubai Millennium, Fantastic Light, Daylami when he won at the Breeders’ Cup, Lammtarra, so many. It’s hard to choose, but all were stars.” With some emphasis, he added: “We miss them, big time.”
Sky Hunter, partnered here by William Buick, is probably not the horse Bin Suroor needs to get back in the big time. This was just a Listed contest, practically gifted to him by a mulish effort from the favourite, Mount Logan. He was well beaten in last year’s Melbourne Cup and, even after this success, is available at 100-1 for the race on 1 November.
Bin Suroor would not be drawn on riding plans for the Flemington handicap, in which he could also run Beautiful Romance, Secret Number and others. While he did not want to address the Doyle news, he was clearly keen to play down its significance and pointed to Friday’s declarations at Newmarket, where he will have runners in two Listed races and has booked Doyle for one and Buick for the other.
Fundamentally, Bin Suroor now wants to be free to choose the jockey he thinks best for the horse and the occasion and his Godolphin employers are content to let him have that freedom. He expects Doyle will remain part of his team next year and beyond but the jockey is talented enough to attract other offers. Press room speculation suggested Godolphin may yet try to arrange a return to this country for James McDonald, the young New Zealander who won a Group Two in their colours during Glorious week here in July.
Sacred Act, who has been a well-backed favourite for Saturday’s Cambridgeshire Handicap, is likely to miss the race after John Gosden, his trainer, found the horse to be stiff in a hindquarter on Wednesday night.
“I’d say he’s 99% unlikely to be declared in the morning,” Gosden said. “It’s a great pity.” The trainer cannot yet be sure if the injury is a muscle tear or something more significant, leaving open the possibility of the horse running again this year.
Gosden did have better news concerning Jack Hobbs, last year’s Irish Derby winner, who is expected to return to action in Ascot’s Champion Stakes next month.
Coolmore confirmed the retirement of its star miler The Gurkha, who required surgery for a displaced colon last month.
