Category: News

Ben Pauling and Kielan Woods stole the honours at Stratford’s last evening fixture of the summer when teaming up for a double that included the feature handicap chase on a damp day which gave the lie to a description of summer evening racing.

It was Queen to Rook 4 as Chess Player comprehensively outpointed his field to land a comfortable 21l victory over nearest pursuers Blaze A Trail and Arcade Attraction, both previous winners at Stratford this or last term. Taking up the lead before the last, Woods was able to put distance between him and Blaze A Trail without undue effort. In this class, he’ll be worth following even with a penalty.

In the concluding bumper, there was plenty to like about the way Betty’s Tiara stuck to her task, showing great gameness on debut to win by half a length. Second-placed Baskerville is also one to follow; she jumped the course crossing a furlong out without any great break to her rhythm, but it’s doubtful she would have beaten the winner. One of the last of a Kayf Tara generation, Betty’s Tiara relished the staying effort. It’ll be worth following both horses in their next races.

Fresh from a treble at Worcester to round off August and a winner at far-flung Cartmel, Gavin Sheehan was at his best to roust Bucko’s Boy to reel in long-time leader Thirtyfourstitches from Dr Richard Newland’s yard in the feature Tom & Nicola Allen Wedding Day Handicap Hurdle. Seeking a run up the inner, the gap closed at the last and Sheehan produced Bucko’s Boy on the outer to get past the leader and win his second on the bounce after a victory at Bangor at the start of the month. Jamie Snowden’s horses are coming to hand with a brace of wins in the past week, this his ninth of the term to date.

The least showy races can provide the greatest excitement, and this point was well illustrated by the finish to the fifth race, the City Sign & Graphics Handicap Chase, in which a selection of horses without wins to their name in 18 months or more lined up. Yet it provided a gripper of a race, with maiden Famosa finally breaking his duck at the seventeenth attempt.

It is the lot of smaller trainers to find and train horses that find it harder to win. Matt Sheppard manages this task with alacrity, but even he had some explaining to do to show the apparent improvement in form of Famosa. This was no well-orchestrated coup however; Richard Patrick put up 4lb overweight and the horse drifted in the market beforehand. It was a result to secure a win by a narrow neck margin.

Donald McCain will be a key player if Brian Hughes is to reel in Sean Bowen in the pursuit of the Jockeys’ title, and the two paired up together to maintain their excellent Stratford record in the novices’ handicap chase with Latino Fling.

Turning in, July winner here Gold Link looked set to gobble up the McCain horse for Emma Lavelle and Tom Bellamy, but Latino Fling on her chase debut showed excellent resolve under a string ride from Hughes to maintain a 3/4l margin at the line.

Another with pretensions to the Jockeys’ title is Harry Cobden, whose portfolio of supporting trainers is extending all the time. In these summer months when the Nicholls team fields barely a runner, he has clocked up 37 winners for 40 separate trainers. Trainers like Brian Ellison will always be happy to have a rider of Cobden’s calibre on board, and both he and second-placed Sam Twiston-Davies were seen at their best in the opening maiden, when Cobden just prevailed on Irish pointer Dream Jet, dropped down in class for a winning hurdle debut in the UK follwoing a mid-division placing at Market Rasen in July.

It was Ellison’s day too, this being the second winner with 10 minutes after Oscar Doodle justified favouritism at Chelmsford a few minutes earlier.

One of the greats of the US steeplechasing scene, Jonathan Sheppard, has died, aged 82 at his home in Pennsylvania.

For racing fans of a certain generation, Sheppard was a pioneer of international travel when bringing Flatterer over to run in the 1986 French Champion Hurdle, a precursor to a valiant second to See You Then in the third of that horse’s Champion hat-tricks in 1987. At that juncture, the Breeders Cup didn’t even exist, and international travel, excepting between Britain and Ireland, and the continent, was largely non-existent.

Flatterer’s placed effort was the trigger to an effort to bring the US and UK markets closer together, brought about by the creation of the Sport of Kings Challenge, a set of six races – three on each side of the Pond – with handsome bonuses of up to $1m for winning a full set. Predictably, Sheppard was in the vanguard of the first US entries in the series, at Cheltenham, and Leopardstown. 

Commonly known just as “Jonathan”, the elder statesman of US racing, was born in Ashwell, Hertfordshire, between Letchworth and Royston, in 1940 to a horsey family which encouraged his participation in local Point-to-Points. His father Daniel was an official with the Jockey Club, then the power in the sport covering regulation, finance, fixtures, the lot. Rides under Rules were scarce and limited.

There was no inevitability about a son following his father into the sport. Three other siblings avoided the racing bug, but Jonathan opted to try his hand in the land of opportunity, not having the finance to bankroll a start up training operation in the UK. In the early sixties, he worked with other legend Burly Cocks for two seasons before returning briefly to the UK. 

A lucky break was the making of his career with steeplechasers. In 1965, he met George Strawbridge Jnr, an accomplished and wealthy amateur rider, and heir to the Campbell Soup fortune.  The two set about growing a stable not just of National Hunt horses, but Flat too. Strawbridge was leading owner some 23 times from 1974 onward, a domination only really matched by one J P McManus over here. 

The Sheppard stable became both the go-to and the dominant force in the sport stateside. His 1,242 career wins over obstacles, winning over $25m, set records unlikely to be overtaken in our lifetimes, and he was Champion Trainer 26 times, the last just three years ago.

But whilst to most, Sheppard was considered an icon of the National Hunt world, his 2,184 victories on the Flat dwarfed his Jumping achievements, his horses winning some $60m+.

Like many good trainers of horses, Sheppard attracted the best human talent too. Those that worked with him have gone on to great success; just like the Duke and Reg Hollinshead, he was a nurturer of talent both equine and human. Graham Motion, who led up Flatterer in that epic Champion Hurdle adventure in ’87, is now a highly successful Flat trainer in the States winning the Kentucky Derby in 2011 and Dubai World Cup 2 years later, whilst Janet Elliott became champion Jumps trainer in ’91. More recently, Leslie Young and Keri Brion, who brought horses across to Ireland with a view to the Festival, have shown Sheppard’s knowledge continued to flow even after his retirement.

The Jumps world is a sadder place without his diplomatic approach, hard work and understated expertise: another case of Britain exporting its best talent overseas.

The 2023/24 National Hunt season is in full swing now, as regular visitors to Stratford Racecourse will know. The major stables will be planning to send their best horses out for their seasonal reappearances in either October or November.

Here is a look at three horses that should be set for big campaigns, particularly during the major meetings on the National Hunt calendar.

Corach Rambler

⭐️ Corach Rambler – a magnificent winner of the 2023 @RandoxOfficial #GrandNational

He gives Derek Fox & @lucindavrussell a second win in the world's most famous chase at @AintreeRaces pic.twitter.com/8pyBYNtJ0s

— Racing TV (@RacingTV) April 15, 2023

Scottish-based chaser Corach Rambler ended last season with victory in the world’s most famous steeplechase, the Grand National. Lucinda Russell’s horse is the 16/1 favourite in the horse racing odds for the race in 2024. Should he prevail again in Liverpool, he will join a small club of horses that have retained their crown in the race, the most recent of which is Tiger Roll.

As the horse racing results show, it was a fantastic season for the nine-year-old in the 2022/23 campaign as he also won at the Cheltenham Festival in the Ultima Handicap Chase. He stayed on powerfully up the hill at Prestbury Park in the 3m1f contest, which has become a well recognized prep race for Aintree in recent years.

The nine-year-old now has an official rating of 159, which indicates he could be a strong contender for the King George VI Chase and arguably even the Cheltenham Gold Cup before heading to Aintree in April. Only one horse, however, has won both races in the same season – Golden Miller, in 1934.

Constitution Hill

With seven wins from seven starts under rules, Constitution Hill has yet to suffer defeat. He won the biggest race of his career so far when he landed the Champion Hurdle at the 2023 Cheltenham Festival.

The bad news for Constitution Hill’s rivals is that he may not have stopped improving yet. Nicky Henderson’s hurdler has a lot of options over the next few years. He could stay over hurdles and dominate the 2m division, while connections of the star must also be considering whether to switch to fences, which will offer a fresh and equally exciting challenge.

The six-time Grade I winner showed how versatile he was over 2m and 2m4f at the back end of last season. He is going to be an exciting horse to watch wherever he turns up in the latest campaign.

El Fabiolo

This Irish chaser was one of the last season’s leading novices in the UK and Ireland. He won the Arkle Chase back in March, his fourth victory over fences. The six-year-old is set to step out of novice company this year and he will take on the leading 2m chasers in his division.

El Fabiolo is brilliant in the Arkle! pic.twitter.com/E5Z2qBEnrf

— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) March 14, 2023

Hang In There franked the form from last month’s Summer Plate at Market Rasen when landing yesterday’s feature, the 2m3f Brian and Sheila Vaughan Memorial Handicap Chase by 3/4l under Joe Anderson. The winner of the Rasen summer highlight, Born Famous, and second, Courtland, have both won since.

And Hang In There is no stranger to Stratford success either, where good ground conditions suit his action well. He’s clearly a well-balanced horse to be able to travel around Stratford’s sharp circuit as easily as around galloping tracks like Cheltenham and Exeter. This was his third win in Warwickshire for owners Tim Syder and Andrew Gemmell, and trainer Emma Lavelle is so clearly proud of her charge.

She told the Racing Post, “He’s been such a little star for us. He was tough and really galloped hard all the way through. I was delighted for Joe, who rides him every day at home, and gave him a super ride there.”

But the day on balance belonged to Christian Williams and Nick Schofield, who teamed up for a back-to-back double in the longer distance handicap chase and handicap hurdle. Five year old Up For Appeal has been hiding his light under a bushel till now, but won handsomely and going away in the second division of the National Racehorse Week September 9-17th Handicap hurdle after briefly losing the lead after the last.

Twelve runners faced the starter in the Walls & Ceilings International Handicap Chase over 3m3f, and the Schofield-ridden Call of the Loon was always well in touch, taking it up before the last and maintaining his advantage by 2l at the line over O’Faolains Lad for Richenda Ford and Ritchie McLernon, and so repeating his exploits in the corresponding race of 2022.

Williams is another example of the South Wales hub that keeps on producing top flight handlers and trainers, that includes Peter Bowen, Rebecca Curtis, John Flint and Sam Thomas.

The day started in something of an anticlimax with a four runner field for the Walls & Ceilings International Novices Handicap Chase over 2m1f. 6/4 Favourite First Angel knows no other status since joining Martin Keighley in the Spring; he’s been sent off favourite in each of his four handicap starts, and to be fair, has justified favouritism in two of these. He may be another who favours the sharp turns of Stratford, having won a similar contest here back in May, but in making all, he never saw another horse, and bar the runner-up from Jackdaws Castle, the other two pulled up or unseated by the last. It’s been a slower than average start to the season for the Condicote handler, but the autumn is generally a fertile time for this yard.

Former Pointer Cheltenam de Vaige must have thought it was a rest day when reverting to hurdles in the IDP & Askews Novices Hurdle. The six time winner between the flags, most recently at Badbury Rings in February, had no difficulty in despatching four other rivals in this uncompetitive contest for amateur Tom Broughton, attached to Fergal O’Brien. O’Brien’s pointing roots have allowed him to keep contact with owners Matt & Sally Burford, all three regulars around Gloucestershire point-to-point fixtures like Andoversford.

Jockey Harry Reed received many plaudits for his ride on Stepney Causeway at Newton Abbot earlier in the week when he nursed the gelding back into the race and won by a neck after losing 25l at the start. He maintained much closer order on the Neil Mulholland – trained Tally’s Son in the first division of the 2m handicap hurdle, asserting approaching the final hurdle, and seeing off Bahtiyar, one of the lesser lights from Dan Skelton’s yard to win by 1/2l.

The dearth of racing opportunities in Ireland in relation to the horse population continues to imbue even the most modest fixtures with an international flavour, and so it was that home-bred Mill House Creek came to run and win the concluding Mares Bumper by a more than comfortable 7l under Adam Wedge.

Brian Hughes has dominated the Jockeys’ Championship in the last two seasons in National Hunt racing, but he is unlikely to have it his own way in the 2023/24 campaign, if the opening few months are anything to go by.

The season began on May 1st with summer racing from venues like Stratford. However, from October onwards, Jump racing becomes more prominent on the calendar, so there is still a long way until the championship ends on the April 27th next year.

Bowen off to a flying start

With 67 winners from his opening 236 rides this season, Sean Bowen has made an excellent start to his campaign, and he leads the way in the standings. He has been in hot form since the season began, often completing doubles and trebles across the summer cards where his father’s yard has been a key player in that success. Four rides at Stratford today for four separate trainers are representative of his work rate and broad appeal.

The Welsh-born rider reached the 50-winner mark in July when he partnered Lermoos Legend to victory at Worcester. His half-century came 44 days earlier than it did in the 2022/23 campaign.

Last season was a memorable one for Bowen, as he had his first ride in the Cheltenham Gold Cup at the Cheltenham Festival on board Noble Yeats. He finished fourth in the blue riband event in the sport.

A month later, Bowen partnered with Noble Yeats again in the Grand National at Aintree. He came home fourth of 39 runners in what was another big run from the former winner of the world’s most famous steeplechase.

Bowen is likely to have another shot at winning the marathon race in Liverpool in 2024. Noble Yeats is the favourite in horse racing odds to prevail in the 4m2½f contest in April.

Hughes vying for a fourth title

With three titles in the last four years, Hughes has dominated the Jockeys’ Championship in jumps racing. A regular at Stratford during the summer months courtesy of Donald McCain’s summer runners and a few choice ones from Charlie Longsdon, he has got off to a good start to the defence of his title, but this is the first season for a while where he has trailed as the autumn approaches.

Hughes added his name to the history books in the 2021/22 campaign, becoming just the fourth National Hunt jockey to ride 200 winners in a season. He joined Peter Scudamore, Tony McCoy and Richard Johnson with that feat, three of the legends of the sport, all prolific winners. However, unlike the aforementioned, Hughes’ trainers are largely Northern-based, and rides at marquee fixtures like the Festival have been few and far between.

The Northern Irish-born rider was set to ride Corach Rambler in the Grand National last April as it was thought the horse’s regular rider Derek Fox was going to be out of the meeting through injury. Fox was able to pass a late fitness test and he went on to ride the Scottish-based horse to victory in the race at Aintree. Hughes will be hoping to get another chance at becoming a Grand National-winning jockey next April in the marathon contest.

Cobden is best of the rest

Harry Cobden is in third place in the early stages of the 2023/24 National Hunt Jockeys’ Championship. He has had 34 winners from his opening 149 rides, but summer rides have been fewer and further between than his leading rivals; Cobden’s strength is among winter and Spring trainers with Saturday horses.

Cobden has been in the running for the jockeys’ title in each of the last three seasons. He will be hoping he can stay with Bowen and Hughes into the second half of the latest campaign, and the support of the champion trainer could be a decisive factor. It made all the difference to fellow rider Harry Skelton in his championship when his brother’s powerful yard at Alcester rowed in behind him.

This season could be set to be one of the most fascinating battles for a while, and it could go right down to the wire on the April 27th when the trophy is handed out at Sandown. Fixtures at Stratford next March may well play a leading role in the destination of the prize.

Steeplechasing runs a tightrope between managing safety and a daredevil adrenalin rush of jumping big fences at speed; two opposite ends of a spectrum forever in conflict one with another.

In the UK, standardisation of fences, with the almost wholesale adoption of uniform fences, seems to be the norm. Other racing jurisdictions, perhaps under less threat from the likes of Animal Rising, still illustrate considerable variation in the composition and scale of the obstacles.

In France for example, the variety of obstacles in a cross country chase cover orthodox steeplechase fences, bullfinches, railed ditches, rails, and banks. Some even have water obstacles. For the best example of this, visit Craon in the Mayenne region of Western France. Craon’s Grand Cross in early September is the highlight of a three day festival of flat, trotting and Jump racing that attracts around 15,000 spectators.

France is of course a country where jump racing is thriving, underwritten by a breeder class seeking to grow a market for top class chasers. And as we know very well, exporting them to compete under British ownership has been a trait of the past 20 years here in the British market.

Reverting to the style of obstacle, the town of Bad Harzburg in Germany enjoys a reputation for the deepest water crossing in international racing. the 20m wide river laps the riders’ calves as the horses slow to a trot and wade across. yet in contrast to France, Bad Harzburg relies on a domestic population of just 15 chasers to populate its races. Without competitors from abroad, the race has a limited shelf life.

Timber plays a leading role in the US steeplechasing scene, where alongside portable hurdles, chasers compete over the sort of fencing you might find adorning Sussex; timber rails up to 4ft 8 in height. The mother of all timber races is the Maryland Hunt Cup, held at the end of April, serving as a copycat Point-to-Point of yesteryear, over 4 miles and 22 fences. Unique among the world’s top flight races, it is solely open to amateur riders.

The race has a typically quaint Victorian heritage. Created as a contest between the Elkridge and Green Spring Hunts in 1894, the race set out to mark out the best hunter from the two packs, but was subsequently opened to other hunts in North America, and eventually any restriction was removed. And whereas only around 100 attended the first running, now many thousand enjoy the Spring scenery of the Worthington Valley, the race’s modern permanent home. This is a race with a niche following that breeds an intense loyalty. With a $100,000 purse, it’s no small prize either.

This is a race meeting like no other, insofar as the obstacles are uniquely Maryland, but also there are no supporting races! If you’re in the loo for 8 minutes, you could miss the whole purpose of the afternoon.

Like much about steeplechasing, it’s also gloriously politically incorrect. Even by US standards, the race was slow to admit women riders, only allowing them in the 70s’. The list of winning owners and riders reads like an old western from first winner John McHenry through Jervis Spencer Jnr, the billionaire Paul Mellon, five time winners D Michael Smethwick and Charles Fenwick Jnr, whose Ben Nevis used the Hunt Cup as a platform to win the Grand National at Aintree in 1980.

This is a race which lends itself to course & distance winners. Several have won it three times, notable among them Jay Trump (1963, ’64, ’66), another who used the success as a platform to Aintree glory in 1965. Since 2016, allowing for a pandemic-induced break in 2020, there have been just 4 winners, including three time winner Senior Senator, ridden by Eric Poretz, and Irish-bred Vintage Vinnie, winner in 2021 and the following year.

the 2023 winner, Withoutmoreado is a nine year old with virtually no previous steeplechase form, and certainly not under Rules. The 12l winner of an open maiden at Charm Park back in 2019, he didn’t win again until breaking his timber maiden in the US at the Genesee Valley meet in autumn ’21, since when the penny dropped, and he’s rarely been out of the frame. In the specialist world of long distance timber racing, he’s a firm favourite to hold on to the race in 2024.

Quirky races like these may be an anomaly, but you only have to see the crowd that flocks out to watch cheltenham’s cross country races close up to a fence to know they touch a part of the soul other races cannot reach. Their unique nature defines the sport more than any orthodox race – however valuable – can. They need to be nurtured and protected to salve the sport’s heritage.

Put these three venues on your racing bucket list. You won’t regret it.

Whilst the jumpers take a two week mid-summer break, we’re looking into how to get the maximum enjoyment from your flutter on the horses. Amidst the current industry talk of affordability checks, it’s easy to forget that for 99% of the racing audience, a bet on the horses is an irregular addition to an occasional day out.

Horse racing and betting induce a thrill unlike any other. You never know which horse will get to the finish line first, even if the market tells you there can only be one winner. While there are crowd favourites and best performers that have a higher chance of finishing first, you never know if an outsider will surprise everyone at the last minute. Horses make fools of us all, including their trainers and riders.

So is betting on horse races all about picking one horse and hoping he or she will secure that winning ticket? Or are there true strategies and tactics behind racing betting? While there is no specific science to horse race betting as it is still all based on chance and other factors affecting horse race performance, there are a few strategies that individuals use to enhance their chances of beating the bookies.

Below we describe the three top strategies for betting on racing:

1. Doing the Yankee strategy increases the chances of winning by selecting four favourite horses from different races, but there is usually a lower pay-out than other betting strategies.
2. The key technique is betting on a specific horse, whether it is the best-performing one or when you want to do multiple wagers for races in a row.
3. Dutching is like the Yankee strategy where multiple horses are selected to enhance winning chances. However, the horses are selected in one race rather than four different ones.

Check out the latest horse racing odds before you place your bets. Analysing the odds will help you to make a more informed bet. While winning is not guaranteed whether you use one of these strategies or not, they can get you on the right track.

Yankee strategy

The Yankee is fabled to be named after an American GI stationed in England who placed a successful accumulator bet – the eponymous Yankee. This comprises a four selection wager comprising six doubles, four trebles and an accumulator.

The Yankee strategy involves selecting four top-performing horses across separate races. This increases the chances of winning if at least one or two of these horses win. Whilst it can be the case that it’s difficult enough to find one winner, the loading of winnings on to the next horse sustains interest. The golden ticket of all four winners with an accumulator is enough to keep regular punters interested throughout.

Key technique

Using one horse as the basis for many bets is known as the key technique. From there, you can do multiple bets with the key horse as the first-place contender and then select other horses that may finish in the placings. Choosing a key horse will keep starting prices low so you can include different horse order sequences to increase your chances of winning.

Usually, when a punter uses one horse as the key, it is best to make a trifecta or an exacta bet. An exacta bet means selecting the first and second-place horse in the correct sequence. A trifecta bet means choosing which three horses will finish first in the correct sequential order.

Dutching

Dutching means selecting multiple horses who could be the winner of one horse race. Most punters like to choose the three best horses that could win in a race. Others may choose four or more if they desire, but of course the more horses you stake, the more bets you have to make so your margin is diminished.

Choosing too many horses in a Dutch bet will not bode well if they all lose. Hence, weigh your options accordingly. This is the sort of bet that’s appropriate to a big handicap with plenty of runners and a wide disparity of odds displayed, like the Grand National.

What’s your strategy?

The average horse race in the UK allows no minimum field size up to a maximum of 40. In the USA, these parameters tend to be within 8 – 20 runners. The Kentucky Derby for example allows 20 horses to race every year on the first Saturday in May whilst the Grand National always achieves a maximum field of 40. The amount of horses depends on the individual race track regulations, the length of race and track configuration.

Self-evidently, some of the permutation bets are not possible in small fields. Choose a strategy that you are comfortable using and see how it works for you. And remember, bet safely.

Tom Dascombe is a name more familiarly associated with Ascot or York. In fact, his runners over obstacles these past five years can be counted on the fingers of one hand. But in Gifted Angel, he found the longer distance and breathers permitted by jumping enough to score a maiden victory under either code at the fifteenth attempt in the Betting.Bet Free Tips Juvenile Hurdle at Stratford yesterday under Gavin Sheehan.

This does not herald a new favourite for next March’s JCB Triumph Hurdle however. Some sketchy jumping, even in a slowly-run race, gave no indication of precocious talent, but he was evidently well-fancied from the 13/8 favouritism.

One of 45 runners to grace the Stratford turf at our first August fixture held on unseasonally Good to Soft ground, the Dascombe winner was one of three short odds favourites making a happy day for punters amid the showers.

Brian Hughes has an excellent record at Stratford, and added to his tally in pursuit of Riders’ Championship leader Sean Bowen with Sophie Leech’s Arcade Attraction in the 2m 3f handicap chase. It’s been an excellent week for the Leech stable with a winner the previous day at Perth, when ridden by daughter Roisin, who has taken a role as stable amateur to Lucinda Russell.

Leading most of the way, Arcade Attraction made little of top weight, and is likely to defy a penalty and run again in this class.

One of the charming aspects of the cadre of small trainers gracing our sport is their patience with horses in their care. The cynical among you might consider this is because an empty box earns no fees for the yard. I like to think it’s because they always look to find talent in any thoroughbred, however hard to find.

One such thoroughbred masking his latent talent could be Justshortofabubble, trained by Grace Harris, who bizarrely found himself elected favourite for the 2m 6f handicap chase, despite a lack of familiarity with the winner’s spot stretching to 21 previous races. However, as is often the case, Stratford brought out the best in the six year old, who kept on well under a low weight to beat Dindin from the Pipe yard by 1 1/2l under Ben Jones. Let’s hope the next winner doesn’t require another score of blank runs beforehand.

Mares races have proved an excellent device for the sport’s governing body to extend the horse population, and there are certainly signs that these are fostering a fresh generation of quality broodmares in British breeding, already financially disadvantaged against Irish and French competition.

Pillar of Steel, now with Henry Oliver after the sad death of John Spearing, notched up her sixth victory in the mares handicap hurdle over the minimum trip, her first win since a similar contest here at Stratford in October ’21, Jamie Moore in the plate this time.

This was a rare day without a winner for either Fergal O’Brien or Milton Harris, normally bellwethers of these summer meets. Another who has made it his business to field a summer jumping team is Ben Pauling, who opened the card with his 17th winner of the term with hat-trick-seeking Mole Court, the first leg of a Ben Jones double. Wins at Worcester (twice) meant he was sent off at 85/40, one of those bizarre prices that happen irregularly, whilst favouritism fell to Richard Newland’s Tiger Orchid, also a recent Worcester winner. The Naunton challenger prevailed however, keeping on to put 4l between him and Charlie Hammond’s mount at the line.

Sy Hosie is getting to know the road between Sherborne and Stratford pretty well, having sent Hunting Percival to three of our last four fixtures. That judgment looks pretty sound after the 8 year old son of Derby winner Sir Percy notched up a second course victory in the staying handicap hurdle that concluded the card, and relegating Milton Harris’s Mr Yeats to a 1 1/4l second. In so doing, he broke James Best’s seasonal bow at the belated 75th attempt.

Remember an old TV advertisement from the 1990s for the conglomerate Hanson? The catchline was “a company from over here doing rather well over there”. There, of course, referred to the USA, the world’s richest nation, where every company hopes to break through. Hanson, of course, was the first sponsor of the Epsom Derby through its Ever Ready brand of batteries.

If we include Ireland in the “over here”, Belfast Banter is the latest equine personification of the Hanson byline. The winner of a maiden auction hurdle at Galway in October 2020 burst on to the UK scene when winning the County Hurdle at Cheltenham in March 2021 at a long-priced 33/1 for Peter Fahey. He returned a considerably shorter price of 11/4 when following up 3 weeks later in the Betway Top Novices Hurdle, his first Grade I success, at Aintree. 

Returning to graded company the following November, he was no match for Sceau Royal in Wincanton’s Elite Hurdle, a race Alan King’s charge had made his own, before becoming the first Grade I winner to be sold in an online auction by the UK’s leading proponent of online bloodstock vending, Thoroughbid. Having been touted as a potential Champion Hurdle horse though, the Fahey charge was sold westward to the USA, going under the virtual hammer at £130,000. 

The US Jumps scene is considerably smaller than its Irish or British equivalent, yet the right type of horse can excel there. And in recent years, the attractive prize funds have been luring a succession of British and Irish-trained horses on raids to plunder the greenback. Brain Power, Hewick, and others have trodden a path to Far Hills and other east coast marquee fixtures with considerable success, fuelled by US – based riders who are British or Irish by birth, either using the summer months constructively or emigres achieving more success out west than might have been the case in the UK or Ireland. 

Belfast Banter is the latest of these success stories. After a series of placed efforts in largely graded company, the 8 year old gelding topped up his Grade I tally at Saratoga last weekend with a win in the $150,000 A P Smethwick Memorial Steeplechase, a confusing title for a Grade I handicap hurdle. Held up, and scratching the paint on the inner all the way round, Brian Foley took it up with 2f to go to win by 6 1/2l. 

Trainer Cyril Murphy remarked, “I believed, coming here, we would win. But I didn’t think he would do it like that. It gives you something to think about moving forward, but today was to be his day from my perspective. What happens going forward, we haven’t even determined. 

There is no shortage of options, with lucrative prizes on offer back at Saratoga and Belmont over the next two months before the autumn season takes Jumping regionally across Virginia and Maryland. 

In these days of stretched finances and poor returns from the UK scene, it’s a constant surprise that more trainers are not thinking outside the box. Business models like those of Willie Mullins, Tom George, Sophie Leech and Shark Hanlon, not afraid to travel good quality horses to win the world’s best Jump races, are diversifying and allaying the risk from remaining solely in the UK racing market. This is no pipedream for trainers enjoying success at Stratford’s summer fixtures. Horses rated 130+ are a feature of our chase and hurdle programme, enjoy top-of-the-ground conditions, and would do well in the US scene.

Everyone loves a winner, all the more so if it’s a big race abroad. Time to spread your wings, lads.

Rain on Saturday ensured Stratford going softer than the norm for mid July, and plenty soft enough for the high heels displayed by the enthusiastic ladies enjoying the races on the annual Ladies Day for those venturing off a hard surface. Nevertheless the 44 runners produced some sparkling racing, including a 38/1 treble for man-in-form, Gary Hanmer that brightened what had promised to be an overcast day, but which proved a sunny if breezy afternoon.

And were it not for being obliged to ride for father Peter, champion jockey contender Sean Bowen would have picked up a treble for Cheshire-based Hanmer. Let’s start, then with the day’s feature handicap chase over nearly 2m 1f, in which multiple winner Sir Tivo completed his second victory of this term, and 10th overall, picking off Ewan Whillans’ Cracking Destiny, a winner here early in the month, by 4l. Sir Tivo has been a bellwether of the Hanmer yard’s success, winning 10 times in 29 races since joining the stable in mid-summer 2020. Sir Tivo is unlucky this race was not the final leg of a hat-trick; wins here yesterday and at Southwell in May sandwich a short head second at Uttoxeter earlier this month.

Half an hour earlier, Hanmer had led in Bright Sunbird to the winner’s enclosure in the Allan Atkinson Memorial Handicap Hurdle over an extended 3m, this time ridden by Tabitha Worsley. Money in the ring had been for the Sean Bowen – ridden Saxon Queen, trained in Wales by Peter Bowen, but she showed some mare-ish tendencies under pressure, and the Hanmer inmate was more than able to prevail by 1 1/4l.

Winner number 3 is arguably the most exciting prospect of the three. Minella Rescue made a winning British debut in the concluding bumper, having been purchased for £55,000 after running third in a Drumahane point-to-point and a Tipperary bumper. Hanmer has his eye on the valuable Listed Bumper at next April’s Aintree fixture, a considerable step up, but a consideration after the 10l demolition of this field.

All in all, a pretty good day’s work.

Along the way, there were, of course, some crumbs for other licensed trainers, among them Donald McCain, whose partnership with Brian Hughes is always to be respected. There was no great surprise in their subsequent victory with Titanium Moon in the Ladies Day Novices Hurdle over the minimum trip. This was Titanium Moon’s fourth consecutive victory which included a similar contest here a month previously, and a brace of wins at Cartmel. There is nothing to suggest that winning sequence cannot continue, given the authority of her 8l margin here. Her 8/15 price may look generous next time out.

Neither of the other two winning handlers has much of a reputation for the summer branch of the sport, but their select runners are always to be respected. Emma Lavelle produced Gold Link to win the Marion Wright Memorial Novices Handicap Chase over 2m3f. This was an improvement on his last run at Worcester a week back when he ditched Tom Bellamy after a bad mistake early on. Don’t expect many runners from the Lavelle yard this or next month however; she’s never run more than a handful in July or August over the past 5 years with the exception of 2020, when everyone was anxious to get horses running again after the first pandemic lockdown was lifted.

Also on the scoresheet was Kim Bailey, another whose powder is also generally kept dry until September. However, five year old mare Lady Gwen is fit from runs in the Spring, and transferred from another stable, found enough improvement to win a moderate mares hurdle that opened the card, under some forceful riding from David Bass.