Firstly, if I inadvertantly added an extra n to Scandanavia's name yesterday, I will accept any punishment that Judge Jennnings may meter out without comment. I also want it to be known that I bravely write this slog-a-blog without the safety-net of Grammarly or any similar aid. I am also old and without a fully-functioning brain. Not that I wish Judge Jennings to take that into account when passing judgement on me. (As if he even knows I exist) I hope Rossa knows I exist, as I will have my fingers crossed for him tomorrow as he appeals against the draconian sentence passed on him by the Sandown stewards last Friday.
Didn't Amiloc behave extraordinarily well yesterday. Did you notice the professional way he hit apex of both the left hand bend and the right, saving himself so much ground he ended up challenging for the lead. And didn't he put his head down and gallop all the way to the line, giving all the help he could to Scandanavia. I doubt if he has ever had such fun. Unlike Hector Crouch who fell off at the start with all the grace of Homer Simpson falling down a flight of stairs. Pleased, though, that he is uninjured.
Back in, I think, 1952, Aquino started second favourite for the Goodwood Cup. It was a hot day, rather like yesterday, and it was a longer race back then and Aquino was not in the mood for a long gallop under a burning sun. It was barrier starts back then, remember, and during the palavar of forming a line, Aquino came up with a cunning plan. He noticed the start was close to the paddock and as the tapes went up, his first thought was to get off the course. His jockey, though, foiled the plan and forced him to set off after the other runners. So Aquino swerved away from the rails and tried to stop. His jockey was having none of it and bullied and beseeched him to be a little more professional. Aquino obliged. By this time he had only gone as far as the top of the straight. At the bend he espied a field of grass and removing himself of the impediment of his jockey, he found a break in the railings and settled down to munch at his leisure while his equine colleagues battled it out for Goodwood glory. For those uninvolved with the horse, it was na amusing incident that was easily recalled, though now it is only recalled in books on the history of racing.
Much will be made today of Qirat and Lake Forest running in today's Sussex Stakes after running yesterday in the Lennox Stakes. The latter won and the former finished fourth. At the Cheltenham Festival, no doubt for reasons streaked with wokism, trainers are not allowed to run a horse twice in the four-days. I think this is wrong, though perhaps justfied if a horse has suffered a particularly bad fall, as there is evidence to suggest that a horse can perform better on the second day than the first. Flyingbolt famously won the 2-Mile Champion Chase and the following day was placed in the Champion Hurdle. It is not unusual for a horse to win twice at the Galway Festival and many horses have run-up a long sequence of wins, especially in the early part of the season, running two or three-times in a week during its rise up the ranks. In the distant past, when horses walked vast distances between home and the racecourse, it made sense to run more than once at a meeting, and back then no one objected if a horse ran twice in one day. I hope one or both of Qirat and Lake Forest do themself justice today, though it is hard to imagine either of them winning.
A great day yesterday for a jockey I have admired for the past couple of seasons, Kaiya Fraser. It was big day for him, yet he took the day in his stride, confident without any hint of arrogance in an interview before the race and gracious towards all those who have helped him establish himself in the aftermath of the race. I cannot see his ride in the Molecomb adding to his first Group success but that should not halt his progress into the upper echelon of jockeys in this country.