Joey and part owner of the ‘King’, Brian Finch, soak up the Epsom wilds
We had a smashing week at Epsom. We were spoilt at the Investec Derby, not just with hospitality but with some fantastic racing, writes Joey Ramsden.
It was good to see two extremely good horses win the Classics. The filly which won the Oaks will go on and do bigger and better things. The Derby was won by what some people will call racing’s purest. Despite the name, Australia, the horse which was bred to win the Derby has gone on and done just that.
Australia is by a Derby winner out of an Oaks winner and it is lovely to see that when long term breeding and racing plans are made, that pedigrees do actually work now and again. It is something very special.
It will be interesting to see where he goes next as these days there is a very real need for speed. While everyone used to want Derby winners in their breeding sheds, nowadays they like a bit more speed so I have no doubt he will be heading towards running back over 10 furlongs at some point.
Zero To Hero in July for King Of Pain?
From our personal point of view, it was lovely to have King of Pain win the Gold Challenge. We had a huge amount of excitement in the room at Epsom and it was special to have co-owners and friends, Brian and Kathy Finch, with us and screaming him home. There were people in the room with other interests in the race so it was a really competitive affair.
Everyone was extremely sporting over the victory. The King has been knocking on the door for a long time and has good collateral form with Royale Noir and actually beat him giving him weight. I am not sure why it came as such a huge surprise when he beat him this time. The King’s last run was a victory and he really does have some quite good form to go along with it.
I was disappointed to see him so low in the July log before this race and I have to say I couldn’t really quite understand why. He had a decent merit rating of 107 and had some decent form to go with it. I don’t think many people understand the July log and it is even more puzzling to me how a horse can go from being no 30-odd to being no 1 in one foul swoop.
I know organising these races is never the easiest thing but I am not sure they have gone about it the right way this time. It will be interesting to see which way the panel goes with Futura being one of the earlier fancies and not winning. Will they pick him as one of their lucky picks? Either way it makes no difference to me but they might as well make a farce of the whole situation as he probably is well-deserved of a place in this year’s July but has not met the criteria in any way, shape or form whatsoever. It will be interesting to see what they decide.
From my side, Futura was one of my big July fancies and this is probably still the case, despite him being ever so slightly disappointing. Watch Gold Circle space.
Sean Cormack drives Act Of War clear to win the Langerman going away
We are happy to have won yet another Langerman. It is a race we try and pinpoint and win every year and we have had some pretty smart horses win it and go on to do good things. I don’t think this year’s winner, Act of War, is any different. I also think the 2nd horse is quite a smart horse and it is lovely to hold such a strong hand. Obviously Kingvoldt was disappointing as he is something special.
After the race, we went through him with a fine tooth comb. We discovered he was hemo-concentrating to a level that our vets have not seen in a 2 yr old. They rate it exceptionally high by 4 and 5 yr old horse standards. It was a relief to find something to explain the poor run. I have no doubt he will bounce back and it is a problem we can work our way around. Having said that, the winner is a nice horse and he will go on to bigger and better things.
It is lovely to be back in Cape Town and, while chilly, the past few winter days have been lovely. I am off to Durban this week to get ready for the July.
I
www.joeyramsden.com
