Triumph for the unfashionable
Robin Oakley
Well, who would have thought it?' as John Major remarked to his first Cabinet on taking over from Margaret Thatcher. Now we know that a prime minister whose idea of a good time appeared to be poring over back volumes of Wisden and playing Trivial Pursuit with Norma had other more exotic part-time occupations. But having once had John Major take a sword off the Cabinet room wall and wave it thoughtfully above my head during an interview, I was perhaps less surprised than most to see another dimension revealed.
Racing, too, gives you intriguing closeups, as the Ascot Festival proved. One of the pleasures and privileges of writing about racing is that you get to rub up against success. You are there in the unsaddling enclosure when dreams are realised, when long-laid plans have come to fruition and when tears of joy are shed. Yes, I know it's only a sport, but when Terry Mills declared, thumping his chest after his Where or When had comprehensively beaten the odds-on favourite Hawk Wing in the Group I Queen Elizabeth H Stakes at Ascot last Saturday, 'I can die a happy man now,' it did not seem an exaggeration. I am prejudiced, of course. Anybody who has read this column this year knows that I have been a believer in Where or When and I had taken the 7-1. But it would not have mattered if I had not had a penny on him.
The Mills team have put a lot into racing in the quest for their first Group One winner. Victory was sweet because the horse they beat was the potentially great but never-quite-there-on-the-day Hawk Wing. As the busker on the path back to Ascot Station told me later, 'He may be a hawk but he hasn't got wings.' Once again, Hawk Wing's head went up when the battle commenced and a supreme natural athlete was found wanting in the resolution department. But Hawk Wing was accepting reali
ty. I am not sure there is a miler in Europe who could have beaten Where or When on the day. Jockey Kevin Darley told me, 'He has a terrific turn of foot. I tracked Hawk Wind because I knew we had only one horse to beat. When I went up to him and Mick Kinane asked him, he went flat for a stride or two. Mine was a proper horse and he galloped to the line.'
The Where or When victory was even sweeter because Tillerman, the horse whose tactical riding by Richard Hughes at Goodwood earlier in the season had shut in Where or When and prevented him even having a chance of winning, was this time comprehensively beaten. Terry Mills may not have slept for three nights but he knew what his horse could do: 'He's been working like a dream for the last few weeks. He hasn't just got gears, he's got another gear after that. He really is a monster.' Godolphin and others may come knocking now with their six-figure offers for Where or When, but they won't get anywhere. When Robert Mills takes over the Epsom yard from his father next summer Where or When, I am sure, will still be in his box.
The former owner of a successful road haulage business who has invested millions in his racing enterprise, Terry doesn't have to riffle through the cheque stubs and calculate whether it is 'pizza or posh' when he is taking Mrs Mills to dinner. But in racing terms it still counts as a wonderful success for a small stable. What was equally heartwarming in terms of triumph for the unfashionable was the exuberant airpunching of Spanish-born jockey Oscar Urbina when he rode into the winner's enclosure after his smoothly gained Fillies Mile victory on James Fanshawe's Soviet Song, owned by the exuberant hordes of the Elite Racing Club. It was a first Group One for the jockey, who gets few rides outside his own yard and who has grafted for everything which has come his way after coming to England eight years ago. There was some initial success for Luca Cumani, and for four years now he has been attached to James Fanshawe's yard. But two years ago, Fanshawe admits, he told the jockey he didn't want him back after the winter break and had nothing for him to ride. The Spanish rider came back anyway and has been out there on the gallops every morning at 6 a.m. ever since. Now, says Fanshawe, Oscar is riding with great confidence and has lovely hands. 'He can really get a horse to relax and that is what you need. If you can't relax in the early part of the race you aren't going to be able to deliver at the business end.' Nobody could have handled Soviet Song with greater confidence and style, bringing her smoothly from the back of the pack to challenge in the final furlong and win going away. But talking to us afterwards, Urbina was choking back the tears as he explained how much it meant to score such a success and how great the tensions can be. 'Races like today make all the difference. When
horses get beat with [lesser known] jockeys like me, then you are the excuse. I was determined to win. It has been hard at times and when your own trainer doesn't put you up then others are not going to do so. But I wasn't going to give up and throw in the towel. I have worked hard and if you do get the rides then people say, "If he's good enough for him then he's good enough for me."'
James Fanshawe's figures this season are fantastic. Only Saeed bin Suroor and Sir Mark Prescott have a better strike rate than Fanshawe's 25 per cent. But most of Fanshawe's winners have been ridden by Oscar Urbina and his season's totals tell a story too. Over the past seven years they have been: 3, 30, 5, 6, 25, 16 and 20. This season he has partnered 38 winners already.
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