Juliette 's Weekly Frolic
" Owning racehorses? — it's money for jam' observed one disgruntled punter at Sandown Park. Tempest Boy had just become the second successive horse to be rewarded for coming home last and with a mere twentyeight runners chasing £63,000, only an unlucky seven ,left the course empty-handed. Keeping the ' Brigadier' at a safe distance was understandable enough but there appeared little logical explanation for the three solitary runners in a £3,000 sponsored handicap, that would have been the well-supported feature event nine Saturdays out of ten. Equally mystifying was the miniscule turn out for the Star Fillies Stakes which, as a Group 3 race, offered similar prestige and only £500 less prize money than the well-patronised 'Queen Mary' at Royal Ascot.
So why the boycott? It could hardly have been the standard midseason excuse of sunhardened surfaces which kept the horses at home, nor any lack of publicity — with or without Mill Reef, the enrichened ' Eclipse ' saw to that. Even the infamous ' virus ' wasn't entirely responsible, for fields weren't much better last year, and in any case a similarly constructed programme at Ascot in ten days' time will have little difficulty in attracting maximum support. All of which suggests the answer lies with the course itself. Sandown has long had a prestigious race in the ' Eclipse ', but the surroundings never spelt glamorous international racing, and sad though it is to have the olde-world charm bulldozed away, the Longchamp-style revamping will surely have the owners queuing up to race their charges and so neatly solve the problem.
The thoroughbreds at Lingfield on Saturday are in danger of being upstaged by a troupe of shire horses from Courages Brewery. They are just one of the side shows supplied by the firm for their special charity day. Pride of place, racing-wise, goes to the John Courage Stakes, a seven furlong handicap for three year olds and up, that has attracted two smart performers in the younger age bracket — Mahler and Jan Ekels. After finishing second in the Free Handicap, the latter won in France and appeared to run with a lot more zest than the formbook suggests, when sixth in Royal Ascot's Jersey Stakes.
The Castle Handicap, which starts the ball rolling at Chester the same afternoon has tempted Grey Mirage to try his luck with 9st. 51b. On the strength of his ' Lockinge ' second to Brigadier Gerard he should, of course, walk it, but I have a soft spot for Galiano who following a string of placings in three year old handicaps this year, won gamely last week. He began his two-year-old career four lengths behind High Top after being slowly away, went on to win two maiden events and then beat Stilvi half a length in the autumn — so is not as inferior as might at first appear.
Up at Newcastle the Top Rank Club sprint has attracted a field worthy of the £4,000 it offers. Following Epsom and Longchamp victories, Capistrano is an awesome topweight, but I'm inclined to go along with Polacca for win number six. Apart from being last week's withdrawn selection, he did beat Capistrano at Thirsk in May and is now 21b better off.
Assets: £109.50. Outlay £3 to win Jan Ekels. Galiano, Polacca.
Previous page
