The Week in Horse Racing – Frankie Is Among the Headliners
For connoisseurs, Newmarket’s Craven Meeting signals the start of horse racing’s flat season. Over the next two weekends, the Scottish Grand National and the Sandown’s Jump Finale Day will pull the shutters down on the jump racing season. But horse racing never sleeps, and there is rarely a dull moment.
From both codes of racing and courses around the world, here you can read some of the more interesting stories that have made horseracing news during the past week. From Sunday school to drones, newcomer owners to retiring riders and yet more winners for Frankie Dettori.
Frankie Dettori is firing in the winners Stateside following his aborted retirement plan. ©GettyImages
Saturday Mornings More Popular Than Sunday Evenings?
On Grand National Day at 10.02 am, Chelmsford staged British racing’s first-morning race as part of a meeting created by British Racing’s ‘Premier Initiative’. Neil Graham, Chelmsford’s Director of Racing, declared the meeting attracted “about 1,000 people”, of which 180 were visitors from the Japanese Racing Association.
Tote turnover on the meeting’s seven races was relatively poor. An average of less than £10,000 was wagered on race win pools. The Tote Placepot was guaranteed £25,000, but the pool failed to meet that sum. By comparison, later in the day, Aintree’s Placepot pool exceeded £500,000.
Four more morning meetings are planned for 2024, and they follow a trial of six Sunday evening fixtures that concluded on March 10th. A survey conducted by the Professional Jockeys Association showed that 37 percent of 112 surveyed participating jockeys said they categorically did not support a continuation of the Sunday evening trial.
Clarkson Is One of Two New Owners
It has been a good few weeks for racehorse ownership, with notable celebrities joining the ranks. The highest profile recruit is former Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson. The Clarkson’s Farm star is the new part-owner of an unraced grey gelded jumps prospect named after his brewery, The Hawkstonian.
On Monday, it was revealed that Georginio Rutter, a French youth international footballer who plays for Leeds following a club record purchase from Hoffenheim, has bought a second horse. His first, the eight-year-old Bopedro, is a highly rated but exposed miler.
Rutter’s new recruit, called Yellow Dream, is an unraced two-year-old filly trained, like Bopedro, by David O’Meara. By the Japanese-bred sire, Saxon Warrior, Yellow Dream’s dam, Show Rainbow, has already produced three winners, including a Group-3 scorer. Bet365 and other online bookmakers offer ‘horse tracker’ facilities. If you can access a tracker list, placing Yellow Dream into it means you should not miss her debut.
Horseracing’s recent record with footballers is tenuous, though. At the end of March, the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) placed Norwich City striker Ashley Barnes on the list of disqualified persons. The action resulted from his failure to cooperate with investigators looking into the running of Hillsin, a horse who finished third in a race in Worcester last year.
Frankie on Fire With a Super Six
Frankie Dettori will forever be associated with his seven Ascot winners in 1996. But the Italian recently came close to repeating the feat when partnering six consecutive winners on the same card at Santa Anita, California. His haul could have been better as he was beaten a neck into second on Imagination in the Grade-1 Santa Anita Derby later in the day.
Frankie Dettori’s six consecutive wins at Santa Anita came at accumulative odds of 77,534-1
9-4 6-1 12-1 9-2 10-1 10-3
— Francis Keogh (@HonestFrank) April 6, 2024
His sextet of winners, with prices ranging from 11/4 to 10/1, cost Ladbrokes a healthy sum. The firm reported one UK punter had placed a £1 accumulator on Dettori’s winning rides and received £110,880 for his endeavours.
At the start of 2024, bestbettingsites.com highlighted the outstanding 5/4 odds available for Frankie Dettori to partner with a Grade-1 winner during the year. Faithful punters did not have to sweat too long. The 53-year-old won the Grade-1 Santa Anita Handicap on March 3rd. Last weekend, he landed a second victory at the highest level when 26/1 shot Beaute Cachee landed the Jenny Wiley Stakes at Keeneland.
No Luck for Aintree Drone Users
For more than five years, racecourses have pressed for action against drones being flown over tracks. It is claimed they give their users an unfair advantage when betting on races’ in-running on betting exchanges – as the images they provide are seconds ahead of conventional TV feeds.
Tracks have also cited safety and regulatory implications, plus theft of broadcast rights, as reasons for their grievance. As a result, Aintree Racecourse uses a statutory instrument to restrict its airspace during its three-day Grand National meeting.
And it was this law that led Merseyside Police to take action on the second day of the festival: “On both days of the festival, Thursday and Friday, we were made aware of drones being flown in the restricted airspace, which resulted in the operators being located, their aircraft seized and advice given to a further operator,” stated a press release from the force.
End of the Road for Two Jockeys
Two popular and hugely successful jump jockeys hung up their saddles in April. Aidan Coleman announced he was forced to retire after losing a battle to recover from an injury sustained at Worcester in June 2023. The 35-year-old was best known for his association with Paisley Park.
The pair won the Long Walk Hurdle and Cleeve Hurdle three times and took the 2019 Stayers Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival. In more recent times, Coleman chalked up four Grade-1 wins aboard Nicky Henderson’s Jonbon. In total, he won 1,242 jump races in the UK.
Ten days after earning an 18-day ban for tenderly handling a horse called Northern Air at Wincanton on April 7th, Paddy Brennan swapped his riding licence for a P45 following success aboard Manofthepeople at Cheltenham.
Originally from Galway, Ireland, but a UK resident for 27 years, Brennan retires in one piece with 1,513 UK winners on his CV. Imperial Commander gave the rider his most significant success when landing the 2010 Gold Cup. However, he is best known for his association with Cue Card who contributed heavily to Brennan’s 18 Grade-1 wins.
