David Hayes hopes lightning strikes for Nicconi
How times change, even at one of British racing’s most traditional meetings. When Queen Anne first decided, back in 1711, that a patch of open ground in Berkshire would make a splendid spot for “horses to gallop at full stretch” nobody cared much about what was happening in Australia.
This was understandable because Captain Cook did not drop anchor at Botany Bay for another sixty years but even as recently as seven years ago little had changed at the royal meeting. The locals may have been used to the steady stream of Australian jockeys who had adorned the scene but there was precious little interest when Choisir arrived from Down Under.
Not until he became the first of four Australian horses to win the Group One King’s Stand Stakes – along with Takeover Target (2006), Miss Andretti (2007) and Scenic Blast (2009) - on the opening day of the fixture and this year Nicconi, trained by David Hayes, is the market leader.
One of the reasons for this is Nicconi’s victory in the Group One Lightning Stakes, which the five-year-old won with his usual withering late burst of speed. This was the race that the other four had won as part of their preparation for Ascot and Hayes is hoping that lightning can strike for a fifth time. “He finished in 32.5 that day so they weren’t going slow in front either,” Hayes pointed out, before balancing the argument. ““The Lightning’s probably the premier sprint in Australia, and consistently the form transfers, so I think history is in his favour but he’s coming off two unplaced runs. When he wins, he does win well but he can have a shocker, so you can’t be over confident.”
However, Hayes believes that those two Group One defeats – sixth in the William Red Stakes and then 14th in the Newmarket Handicap – can be explained. The William Reed came just too soon after Nicconi’s win in the Lightning and it was a lightning storm that did for him in the Newmarket. “The Newmarket was run in incredibly bad conditions,” he explained. “There was a storm that hit at the top of the straight. The horses kicked off in single file and not one of the horses passed a horse for the last 600 metres. It was herd mentality and my horse was back, as he usually is, and didn’t pass a horse – but neither did anyone.”
Nicconi will need to pass 11 other horses to win the King’s Stand but Hayes reckons he has a few factors in his favour. The horse is unbeaten when running over five furlongs, goes well fresh – he has not run since the Newmarket in March – and is suited by a fast pace. Hayes has also taken the precaution of acquiring some local knowledge by booking Frankie Dettori , who rode this speedball in a gallop at Newmarket last week.
“He’s had one ride on him and he said he won’t need Botox next week,” Hayes joked. “He went very fast and he was pretty happy with him. It looks like there’s a good, true pace – there’s three or four horses who will make sure it’s set up for a horse coming from the back. And one of the main reasons for booking Frankie was that he’ll know who to follow and could pick the run better than an Aussie boy.”
There may not be an Australian riding but there will be plenty of them watching. “I would say that the King’s Stand would get more publicity in Australia than it would here,” Hayes said. “People are staying up all night to watch the race. It’s created a lot of interest.”
Hayes is not a man for bullish statements but he is also not one to travel a horse halfway round the world for a holiday. “I don’t think our team Aussie is over confident this year. I think it’s a competitive race,” he said diplomatically, citing Sir Michael Stoute’s Kingsgate Native as a threat. Then he let slip the words that the local trainer should probably fear. “I just felt that this is the classiest sprinter I’ve had and, on his day, I think he can do it.”
A confident-sounding Australian sportsman? Some things never change.
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