Dirar’s Ebor victory another boost for Gordon Elliott
Gordon Elliott is clearly a trainer who is not put off by a challenge.
Three years ago, when he saddled Silver Birch to win the Grand National, it was remarkable not only because he was only 29 at the time, the youngest trainer to win the race, but also because he had yet to train a winner in his native Ireland and he had only four previous winners to his name with runners in Britain.
He has continued to commute his horses to Britain, at a profit, and did so again when Dirar won the totesport Ebor at York. Dirar had won his last three starts on the Flat – including away days at Wolverhampton and Ayr – but his last run had been to finish third to Overturn in the Galway Festival last month.
Donald McCain’s horse, who had already won the Northumberland Plate before the Galway Hurdle this summer, was so keen going to the start that his jockey, Eddie Ahern, chose to lead him to the start for the last couple of furlongs. He was equally keen when the stalls opened as he came from his wide draw to claim the lead from Centennial and Fortuni.
However he dropped tamely away from the home turn as the field spread out down the home straight, with Fortuni ploughing a lone furrow down the far rail as Centennial briefly found himself the centre of attention down the middle of the track. But the race was developing across the track on the stands’ side.
The lead changed about half a dozen times, with those who had not been up with the pace coming through as Dirar got up close home for Jamie Spencer to beat Rosika by one-and-a-quarter lengths with Bridge Of Gold just a short-head away in third.
“I’m still shaking a bit,” Elliott said. “It’s great. He was third in the Galway Hurdle and we said after that we’ll keep him for the Galway Hurdle next year and the plan was to go to Dubai so we might go there and see what happens.”
Jamie Spencer may not be in the running for the Galway Hurdle ride – even if he did win a Champion Bumper eight years ago – but he was quick to seize the chance for this ride, even if the trainer did not seem too bothered about the finer points of riding York. Spencer had won the Ebor on Purple Moon in 2007 and said that “it should have been about nine – I’ve been unlucky more times than not.
“But it’s not about me it’s about Gordon Elliott, what a trainer. When he came to take the saddle he said ‘we’re drawn 22, is that good or bad?’ so he was a little bit more relaxed than me about the draw. But the horse came here in peak shape and he just left it open to me. They went hard and it suited me perfect. I saw him in the entries, I actually told my agent to ring for the ride so he better not be taking his 10%.”
After a drying day the market support dried up for Opinion Poll in the Group Two Weatherbys Insurance Lonsdale Cup. The four-year-old was marked down as a promising stayer last autumn for Michael Jarvis, but the caveat was a need for soft ground.
Two wins in Listed races this year on favoured ground did not give the belief that he could act on faster ground but few jockeys are better at overturning the odds when their own confidence is at its highest than Frankie Dettori.
Eight winners from his previous 16 rides meant that all things were possible and the Italian got the best of a three-way battle with the John Gosden pair, Samuel and King Of Wands, although Dettori was certainly made to work for his riding fee on this one.
He was last turning for home, scrubbing away like a washerwoman the length of the home straight and driving Opinion Poll throughout the final two furlongs.
“You don’t want too many like this in one day,” Dettori said, having caught his breath. “He’s quite lazy halfway through the race. He had to knuckle down deep the last two, but I knew he’s got plenty in the locker. He’s a much better horse on soft ground but he showed great guts today.
“The autumn’s going to be his forte – when he gets the ground.”
http://www.senore.com/Approve-gives-William-Haggas-second-win-in-Gimcrack-a22228
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