Wootton Bassett hits jackpot at York
The opening race on a card can often pass by unnoticed but, with a winner’s cheque of £147,000 and change, the DBS Premier Yearling Stakes attracts plenty of attention.
It also attracted a field of 18 but Wootton Bassett was way ahead in the market if not in the race itself. He flew the gates and Paul Hanagan was still trying to restrain the colt at halfway when every other jockey was leaning forward in the saddle, most of them trying to find more with little hope of success.
From two furlongs out only Kieren Fallon on Galtymore Lad was able to raise a challenge but the 5lb weight concession was just too much as he was beaten one-and-three-quarter lengths, with Chiswick Bey four-and-a-half lengths back in third.
Sales races like this have divided opinion since they first appeared more than a decade ago. Their supporters point to the fact that they offer owners of ordinary horses the chance to race for a big prize but their detractors point to the fact that a race like this, with a first prize that is almost as much as some Group One race, diverts runners from Group races which goes against the ethos of the Pattern system.
Even Richard Fahey, the trainer of Wootton Bassett along with the third and fifth, admitted that it was the lure of the money that made him run in this race rather than the Group Two Gimcrack Stakes the day before. “We think he’s pretty special. We tried to drop him in but they’re quick enough to take him off the bridle. There’s a lot of these sales race, but the problem is that I think he’d nearly have won the Gimcrack and I’ve come for a sales race.
“It’s massive money. He’s in a few more sales races and we’ll have a look.”
Hanagan was not complaining about his share of the prize money but another winner, his 126th of the season, was just as welcome as he got back on track following a one-day suspension as he tries to maintain his lead over Richard Hughes and Ryan Moore in the battle for the jockeys’ championship.
That is a test of stamina but this was more a matter of pure speed. “He hits the gates running so quickly, he gets nearly a length clear at the stalls, so there wasn’t anything quick enough to lead me. Kieren got to my girths but it actually helped me, being out there for such a while. He just dug deep for me.”
Horses may be a herd animal but there are time when jockeys can have much the same instinct and it was the one who rose above that who profited in the Addleshaw Goddard Handicap. The stands’ rail was considered the fashionable place to be which left the Barry Hills runner, Ransom Note, something of a hostage to fortune breaking from stall one.
However, Michael Hills used the draw to his advantage, getting a clear run on the outside of the pack, while many of the other 17 runners simple got in each other’s way, to beat Acrostic by two lengths. “He’s an easy horse to ride – he makes me look good,” Hills said.
Kieren Fallon kept himself in line for the leading rider award at the meeting with his fourth winner of the week on Brushing in the Listed EBF Galtres Stakes.
http://www.senore.com/Midday-strikes-in-Yorkshire-Oaks-a22414
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