Workforce heads seven-runner field in King George VI
Rachel Alexandra favored to win Lady’s Secret at Monmouth
By-Tom Krish
Chicago, Thursday, July 22, 2010
I am delighted to be able to contribute a story to the new RWITC website. I am thrilled that Mr Vivek Jain has asked me to write and it is indeed a privilege.
It is Thursday afternoon in Chicago and the heat in the Midwest has been oppressive in the past few days. The entire US is in the grip of a heat wave. My wife and I are going to Minneapolis early Friday and we are driving. I want to be at Canterbury Park, a thoroughbred track in Shakopee, Minnesota. On Saturday, Canterbury Park hosts a six-race ‘claiming crown’ series and I want to be there. Running Aces is a harness facility in Columbus, Minnesota and has a late Saturday harness card beginning at 7 P M. Peter Galassi, the thoroughbred announcer (commentator) at Hawthorne in Chicago, calls the races at Running Aces. American commentators are versatile and handle thoroughbred and harness race calls. Peter is a good friend and I am responding to a long-standing invitation from him to visit Running Aces. After attending the ‘claiming crown’ races at Canterbury Park, my wife and I will head to Running Aces, a 60-minute drive.
Let us devote a paragraph or two to the ‘claiming crown.’ In the US, a majority of the contests are called ‘claiming’ races. The concept is simple. Every horse in a claiming race is available for sale at a stipulated price. Fillies and Mares have extra value because of breeding potential. Two, three and four year-olds go for higher prices. Weights are allotted on the basis of age, number of races and amount of money won. It is what I call the ‘bread and butter’ of horse racing. Canterbury Park is honoring the racing ‘working class.’ In the UK, there are claiming races but in limited numbers.
Canterbury has 11 races on Saturday with post time at 1 30 P M. Races four through nine are races in the ‘claiming crown’ series. The total purse is $500,000. It is the 12th running of the event and Canterbury is having it for the 10th time. It is the height of summer in America but temperatures in the Minneapolis area are expected to be in the 80s on Saturday. There are 15 out of town jockeys who will be plying their trade at Canterbury Park on Saturday. Julien Leparoux heads the list.
There is a star making an appearance in the richly-endowed Lady’s Secret Stakes at Monmouth Park (in New Jersey) on Saturday. Rachel Alexandra is opposed by six distaffers. Talk of a race being tailor-made for a superstar. The purse was increased from $150,000 to $400,000. Instead of being run on August 1 (scheduled), the Lady’s Secret is being held on July 24 to suit Rachel Alexandra’s convenience. The distance of the race was increased from 1 1/16 to a mile and an eighth-from 1700 to 1800 metres. And keep in mind that all these concessions are coming from Monmouth Park for a horse will be 1-9 or 1-10 in the betting. The presence of Rachel Alexandra will lure fans who would not otherwise come and they would wager on the long card and simulcast cards. If you have 150 races to bet on, you can guess who goes home a winner. There is a possibility that show betting may be cancelled. The track is obliged to pay five cents on every dollar. So, a $100,000 show bet on Rachel Alexandra would yield $105,000. If no money is available in the show pool, the money has to come out of the track’s coffers. A show bet is one that you cash if your horse finishes first, second or third.
Calvin Borel rides Rachel Alexandra who, after suffering two defeats in 2010, returned to winning ways on Derby day at Churchill Downs. Pretty much, the connections of Rachel Alexandra get what they ask for. The only thing that Monmouth Park does not do is pay appearance money. Oh, there’s another thing. Monmouth will not write the winner’s check until after the race is run.
Del Mar in California began a 37-day meeting on Wednesday. Del Mar is in the San Diego area. It is close to the Pacific Ocean. The moniker used to refer to Del Mar signifies the fact that the turf meets the surf. I have not been to Del Mar though it is high on my agenda.
Out East, the summer campaign begins at Saratoga on Friday. Saratoga is in upstate New York. It is a 40-day meeting and 17 Grade I races will be run. The million-dollar Travers will be run in the last week of August.
The King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes, a Grade I (turf) race over 2400 metres, will be run at Ascot on Saturday. Workforce, the Epsom Derby hero, is the even money favorite in the seven-runner field. Ryan Moore rides the Sir Michael Stoute-trained Workforce. The 5-2 second favorite in the betting is another runner from the Stoute yard. Harbinger, owned by Highclere Thoroughbred Racing, comes off a romp in the Hardwicke Stakes at Royal Ascot. Olivier Peslier comes over from Paris to ride Harbinger who is three for three this year.
The going is expected to be good at Ascot on Saturday. Stoute has a third runner, Confront, who will be ridden by Richard Mullen. In 2009, Sir Stoute saddled the first three finishers in the King George VI.
Aidan O’Brien has withdrawn At First Sight, second in the Epsom Derby and a subsequent flop at Royal Ascot. O’Brien is represented by Cape Blanco who beat Workforce in the Dante at York in May. Cape Blanco was beaten with an excuse in Chantilly’s French Derby and rebounded in great style to win the Irish Derby at the Curragh in late June. John Murtagh is serving a suspension and Colm O’Donoghue will travel to Berkshire to be aboard the Montjeu colt.
Youmzain lost a heartbreaker in the Grand Prix de Saint Cloud last month. Richard Hughes will ride. Youmzain is going through a long Group I drought. Daryakana will carry the colors of the Aga Khan and will have Gerald Mosse who has been in cracking form in recent days. Dar Re Mi, winner of the Pretty Polly in 2009 and a winner on World Cup day at the Meydan in Dubai this year, completes the field. William Buick gets the call. Cape Blanco is a 7-1 chance and the others are in double digits.
Mr S K Sagar has sent a message to tell me that he likes the chances of Cape Blanco. I do not have an open book and my mind is made up. I will not oppose Workforce. The King’s Best colt had an excuse in the Dante. When he got his act together, he made the Derby at Epsom a no contest.
The King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes will be run at 4 25 PM London time on Saturday.
A note on the race for leading jockey in the UK. Paul Hanaghan had three winners on Wednesday. He had two at Catterick and one at Leicester. He stands at 105. Ryan Moore is at 89 and he drew a blank in his rides at Sandown and Lingfield.
Stewards’ inquiries will be shown live on King George VI day at Ascot and during the Glorious Goodwood meeting beginning next Tuesday. It is a great idea. The jockeys have welcomed it. This is all part of ‘racing for change’ and the authorities want the fans to have a better appreciation of what goes on when an inquiry is conducted.
Ryan Moore is the 11-10 favorite to be leading rider at Glorious Goodwood. The five-day campaign gets under way next Tuesday. Goodwood is in Chicester, a 90-minute train ride from London Victoria. I have said this before. Goodwood is breathtakingly beautiful. Richard Hughes is a 9-4 chance. John Murtagh and Frankie Dettori are 8-1 chances.
The Sussex Stakes on Wednesday brings out Canford Cliffs, the winner of the Irish 2000 Guineas and the St James’ Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot. The Richard Hannon pupil, to be ridden by Richard Hughes, is a 66/100 favorite. Dick Turpin, winner of Prix Jean Prat in France, has also been declared.
The feature on Saturday (July 31) at Goodwood is the Group I Nassau Stakes. Mid Day, defending Nassau champion, is the 5-2 favorite in early wagering. Henry Cecil has expressed optimism. The only wrinkle is moisture-free ground that may prompt Sir Cecil to have second thoughts.
