Horse Racing: ‘Starspangledbanner’ takes Darley July Cup win, Johnny Murtagh banned
There was victory and loss on Friday for Ballydoyle and another feather in Aiden O’Brien’s cap, as Starspangledbanner won the Group $1,600,000 July Cup. However, the bad news came in the shape of their star studded jockey Johnny Murtagh who was banned for six days.
Johnny made a move towards the rail by starting in the 11th stall, interfering with four riders behind him and got into the fight for the first place with pacesetter Equiano. The two battled it out till the end, until Starspangledbanner finally prevailed, hardly 170 yards from the finish. Equiano made one final push but his effort was in vain. Alverta was three quarters of a length behind Equiano in third place, ahead of Kingsgate Native in fourth and Fleeting Spirit in the fifth. Starspangledbanner finished the race only 0.31 seconds slower than the track record.
The race stewards were not at all pleased by Johnny Murtagh’s move for the rails. They ruled that Murtagh rode carelessly when he moved across the field and for that they gave him a 6 day ban. “I have won a group one but this has left a bad taste”, a visibly disappointed Murtagh said. He said that the ban, which in his opinion was “way over the top,” had robbed him of the pleasure of victory. “The race is gone for me, after that”.
Defending the move, Murtagh said that he thought going to the far rail would have helped Starspangledbanner. “They wouldn't all be getting a lead off me, so they had to make their own minds up,” he said. The jockey further added that the move for the rails was very likely as it helped him win the race. Aiden O’Brien disliked his decision.
“I haven't seen the race again, but it looked to me as if he jumped and moved across when it was clear”, O’Brien said. He said that moving towards the closest rail was an obvious choice and it was never to a front-runners disadvantage to have a rail to run against.
Murtagh, speaking in appreciation of Starspangledbanner said that winning the July Cup after winning at Ascot was not a feat that any horse could accomplish. Murtagh said that the Australian Starspangledbanner’s stamina contributed greatly to the win.
This win was more important for the horse than it would be immediately apparent. Starspangledbanner was going to retire to the stud after racing at the Ascot or at least that was the original plan. Contrary to that, he performed so beautifully that they just couldn’t retire him back then. So his retirement was delayed for just one more race which was to be the July Cup at Newmarket.
But once again, his performance just blew everyone away. Mulling over the horse’s future, trainer O’Brien said that the decisions about the horse had to be made from a business point of view. On Friday, the decision makers for the Star - Spangled Banner had to decide between keeping him in training or resigning him to stud duty. Although both were good options but the two were mutually exclusive. If the horse was to partake in this year’s Australian breeding season, he had to be placed in quarantine by Friday night.
They must have been at their wits end because a lot was at stake. Their choice was between keeping this race winning horse in training or nearly 2.5 million pounds in stud fees. Horse owners were falling over each other for Starspangledbanner and as many as 150 already are willing to pay 17,000 pounds for him.
The men made no decision on Friday at the racecourse. If the horse passes a physical examination, there are indications that he would be kept in training. That’s good news because in that case both Equiano and Starspangledbanner could make an appearance at Nunthorpe. We could witness an exciting rematch to what was already a close and thrilling race.
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