It is always a sadness for me when I read of the death of a formerly popular horse, especially when they die early into their retirement. Eve Johnson Houghton has reported the death of Accidental Agent, the Group 1 winner who famously refused to come out of the stalls on one occasion. He was only 12-years old. Apparently he was found lame in his paddock, with the injury proving so severe that it was recommended by the vet that on humane grounds the horse should be euthanised. Johnson Houghton said that her mother, who bred Accidental Agent, is greatly upset by this out-of-the-blue turn of events.
On the similar theme of racehorses in retirement. I have on many occasions given thought as to why the Irish National Stud had living legends living out their retirement and yet the British National Stud did not have a similar living legends attraction. How long I have been wrong on this matter, I cannot say. Certainly no one has ever rebuked me for my ignorance. At least I can publicly rebuke myself for talking out the top of my head and failing to conduct any research into the subject. Certainly the living legends at the British National Stud fail in comparison to the likes of Faugheen and all the other Irish equine megastars who have and still do live out their lives as the most popular attractions at the Irish National Stud. But it remains a delight to know that Kinross, Chianti Classico, Lord Windermere and The Tin Man give great pleasure to visitors at the British National Stud.
Justice is not justice when it is clearly out-of-balance with the law as it would be applied in the outside world to the likes of you and me. At Galway yesterday, after winning a handicap chase, Ross Sugrue, a claiming jockey, weighed-in 1.2Ibs light, a discrepency that neither he nor the trainer could explain. Quite rightly, the horse was disqualified. Yet disqualification was not enough of a punishment for the Galway stewards and they imposed a 12-day ban on Sugrue. He was not found guilty of cheating. In effect he was found guilty of going to the toilet before going out to ride, as that seems the only likely explanation for the disappearance of the 1.2Ibs. As we know, if a jockey voids his or her bladder prior to a race, it is a requirement that they have a good slug of water to replace the urine from their system. 4-days for this small error of judgement would, in my eyes, have been proportionate. 12-days seems to me to be unfair in the extreme.
Both Ryan Moore and Oisin Murphy advised Nicky Henderson that Constitition Hill should not be campaigned beyond 12-furlongs, with both suggesting that to go down in distance would be a better option than going up in distance. Perhaps Rossa Ryan also agrees with his esteemed colleagues. Although I accept that the horse ran a sound race in Italy yesterday, am I the only one who thought Constitution Hill was flat out for 11-furlongs and then ran-on at one pace. It is all very well claiming it was a good effort to be only nudged out of fourth-place by a Group 1 winner but not taking into account that was past form and that Dubai Honour is only one year younger than our former champion hurdler, smacks of seeing light at the end of a very long tunnel.
The race yesterday was a Group 2, yet the winner, Stingray, though obviously improving, will be a six-year-old come next season and he won by daylight yesterday. I have to agree with Luke Harvey's pessimism. There is absolutely no doubt that Constitution Hill, even going into his tenth-year, is capable of winning a nice race on the flat. To my scatternbrain way of thinking, though, is that good race will be over 14-furlongs+, not extreme distances like the Ascot Gold Cup or Queen Alexandra, races which were first suggested by know-alls like me, and more likely in a handicap than a Group 2. I also am no fan of Nicky's quote of trying another race before the end of the flat season. It is one thing to scour the French race book but unless they also browse the British and Irish all-weather calendar, it will mean the horse will approach the start of the next flat season in need of a run after four or five months inactivity. The clock is ticking on Constitution Hill's racing career. They need to kick into the long grass the old mantras of 'he doesn't lack speed' and 'it takes a good horse to work with him on the gallops'. In a little over 2-months, he will be ten and horses do not get faster when they reach double digits. One other reason for keeping the horse busy over the winter is, if we have a period of bad weather, with a large number of abandonments, there might be an opportunity to run him at one of those National Hunt all-weather meetings often held at Kempton. Surely he would beat junps horses over 2-miles?