7th February Post-Racing Notes from Newbury & Warwick

The 1.50 at Lingfield was won by Bygones Sovereign who led all the way around by some distance while the others stayed tightly grouped together, waiting for him to drop back. It never happened, though, and Bygones Sovereign, who has been improved progressively since December, won by a huge margin. Milan Bar didn’t run a bad race to come 4^th; the other jockeys would have been expecting the winner to drop back by the end and didn’t realise that they would have to challenge him until it was an impossible task.

Vibrato Valtat impressed, but what exactly did he beat?

Vibrato Valtat has shortened for the Arkle after impressing at Newbury, winning very easily and sealing his place as the top British hope for the Arkle this year. He looked classy and impressive and value hunters will have reason to hope based on the race that he could give Un De Sceaux something to think about at the festival. 

Top Gamble jumped well until ploughing through the fourth last but Vibrato Valtat took it very easily from him on the bridle when the time came; however, it must be noted that the rest of this field are to our knowledge far from the level of the field that Un De Sceax beat in the Irish Arkle at Leopardstown (Gilgamboa and Clarcam).

The Denman Chase was won by novice Coneygree who also won the Kauto Star Novices Chase over Chistmas at Kempton, given little trouble that day in a terrible race but jumping superbly and winning well. He proved himself even more today, leading around and jumping very well to win in style bar a slight mistake over the third obstacle – he leapt very well at all the others. When Coneygree picked up the pace, Houblon Des Obeaux was able keep some involvement until the third last when Coneygree jumped fantastically and drew clear very easily.

Coneygree can jump a fence well and beat his elders

The Gold Cup is likely to be the target now instead of a novices contest, and he looks to have the raw talent to do well among his elders in National Hunt racing’s most prestigious race, but the record of novices in the race is dire and there is the school of thought that the Gold Cup will still be there to be won in 2016, and it would be no harm to leave Coneygree racing in novice company at the festival.

The OLBG Mares Hurdle at Warwick was won by the impressive Glens Melody who beat some interesting opposition en route to the Mares race at the festival. She came 2^nd in that race last year and 3^rd the year before, and it’s fair to say that wonder-mare ex-stablemate Quevega probably denied Glens Melody some festival glory with her dominance of the race over the last 6 years. 

It’s unlikely that Glens Melody will have more success this year, however, with Annie Power set to run in the Mares race, yet there are rumours that she may not be 100% by March and if she’s not we can certainly expect stablemate Glens Melody to take her chance and put in a big run. It was truly effortless for her today and she simply strolled to victory, receiving virtually no reminders from Paul Carberry. This brings her record at Warwick to 3 from 3, so we should definitely watch her if she returns here next season.

Mr Mole came out on top with Sire De Grugy and Uxizandre
unseating their riders

The main talking point at Newbury today was supposed to be Sire De Grugy’s return to the racecourse but that all changed dramatically in the space of 10 minutes. Mr Mole missed the start and conceded about 12 lengths but made the ground up fairly easily In the early stages. Without Mr Mole, Uxizandre made the running, while Sire De Grugy began slightly keenly. Mr Mole made his way into 2^nd and it was he, Sire De Grugy and Uxizandre who looked to be in the race with 4 to jump, Upsilon Bleu and Karinga Dancer having had no real impression on the race overall. 

Sire De Grugy ran through the 4^th last very badly in the style of a tired horse while Uxizandre also made a mistake, allowing Mr Mole to take the lead. However, Sire De Grugy made even less of an attempt to clear the third last fence and went through it lazily, unseating Gary Moore in the process. Mr Mole was 15 lengths clear in front by the time Uxizandre made a bad mistake at the last to also unseat his rider, leaving just Mr Mole, Upsilon Bleu and Karinga Dancer to finish the race.

Firstly, before we move on to the post-racing events, a word on Sire De Grugy: he looked a tired horse, and this is understandable after such a long break, but it’s hard to tell whether we can put his bad performance down to him needing a run to shake off the cobwebs. It certainly wasn’t the same type of performance that saw him win four Grade 1’s last season, and with neither he nor Sprinter Sacre impressing on their reappearances, the Champion Chase is an open race to say the least.

Mr Mole brought AP McCoy his 200^th winner of the season making this the tenth time that he had ridden 200 winners in one season, and, as he told Rishi Pershad post-race, the last time. He confirmed in an announcement that shook the racing community that he will be retiring at the end of the season.

The Champion.

I have little to say about McCoy that hasn’t been said already over the last couple of days and words seem futile to express this man’s talent, his commitment, his bravery, his humility, his dominance over National Hunt racing over the last 20 years. He has a natural ability the likes of which we’re unlikely to ever see again and we could never ask for a better ambassador for our sport. In the 75 days remaining in his career, I would urge everyone to seize any opportunity they get to see McCoy ride a horse in the flesh. He truly is a jockey we’ll be telling tales of for decades to come.

For many National Hunt fans, Tony McCoy has been a constant in their following of the sport. Some know not what National Hunt racing is without AP McCoy riding winners and obliterating all competitors in the British Jumps Jockeys Championship. A gap will be left in our sport and not many men will ever be able to fill the boots of the great McCoy.

National Hunt racing can be as cruel as it is unpredictable, however, and it’s highs and lows were demonstrated immediately after McCoy announced his retirement. The Betfair Hurdle seemed almost insignificant considering the enormity of the bombshell McCoy has just hit us with, but we were reminded of the harsh reality of racing with its highs and lows when Goodwood Mirage unseated the man of the moment at the first hurdle.

He was one of two horses which had already lost a small bit of ground at the start, the other being Wicklow Brave, possibly worth noting considering the fact that the same horse shied away from the tape and lost a lot of ground at the Punchestown festival last April.

Violet Dancer was the eventual winner from Cheltenian, Activial, Calipto, Jollys Cracked It and Arzal. The winner put in a good run and must be in the County Hurdle picture now. Activial is probably still higher-rated heading towards the festival with some good form over hurdles taken into account. Jollys Cracked It finished well and could well be suited by the Cheltenham hill, but it was Arzal that most will take from the race, recovering well after he lost ground when hampered by the fall of Chieftains Choice. This might make him worth watching next time out, but the market often over-compensates for such hard-luck stories so we have to be cautious too.

An eventful day at Newbury to say the least, with a few pointers towards the festival, but it wasn’t the horses that took centre-stage but a man who has been inseparably associated with the sport for 25 years now; AP McCoy – the legend, the Champion.