The weekend had me wishing that one did not need jockeys to ride these magnificent horses. Two Graded Stakes runner, one 3rd and one 4th.

Firstly GITANO HERNANDO in the Champion Stakes at Newmarket. A gallant 4th place, but what could have been????!!!!!!!

It was almost like watching a repeat of the Dubai World Cup. Gitano had a favoured draw on the best strip of ground, and in a race where there was no pace, connections had discussed with jockey Fallon to lie handy, follow a lead and come late with a burst. So what does the reinsman do? He breaks well then pulls back and loses his position. Then gets interfered with by Frankie Dettori ( horse was nearly brought down) but by the time that incident happened Fallon had already 'lost the race'. We might not have beaten Twice Over, but I have a feeling we would have been 2nd at least.  Of course it's easy to be an armchair jock, but sometimes ( as in this case) one cannot get away from the feeling that a more 'hungry' and less reserved jockey could have made a huge difference.

It will be interesting to see whether the owners now decide to go fro the Breeders Cup. GITANO himself came out of the race well and according to the trainer hardly looks to have had a race.

 

Secondly KID EDWARD in the Oak Tree Derby. He finished a good 3rd ( only beaten about 1/2 length) BUT it is interesting to note that the first two finishers were up with the pace throughout and both Kid Edward and Sebastian Flyte were closing fast but just had too much ground to make up off a slow pace. That's the 2nd time that Kid Edward has been in that position and it will be interesting to see on his next start whether he can race closer to the pace and still use his finishing speed. I still believe this colt can win a Graded Stakes race.

 

I am now looking foward to the Breeders Cup where hopefully we will see GITANO and TALE UNTOLD fly the colours