Equinties - bad decisions

Gm Equinauts

In a weird U-turn of events, after being supplemented for the German Derby, TRINITY COLLEGE has now been scratched from the race.

We trust all is well with the horse and the lads just cba to have to go to Germany in this heat.

We will divulge more when more info is released on this but for now…

Let’s dive in.

HEADLINE ROUND UP

BAD DECISIONS

The Nicky Luck Podcast was on fire yesterday as they were talking about one of the biggest stories of the week - Tony Carroll landing a hattrick with LEQUINTO in a week!

Okay, bad joke.

The main headline is that Kevin Philippart de Foy is taking over from Raphael Freire as Amo Racing’s retained trainer at Freemason Lodge.

In January, Kia Joorabchian bought the historic yard from Sir Michael Stoute, and Freire quickly came in to oversee proceedings. For his first job in Newmarket, it was a huge, huge roll to land, arguably too huge for someone with such little experience.

Think about what the job entails. Kia is effectively trying to build his own Coolmore and for that they need Classic winners, the ability to see years into the future and the ability to ready a horse for it’s life on the big day.

It was always going to be a big assignment for Freire, and it seems like both he and Joorabchian believe a different trainer would fit the role better. We imagine Freire didn’t get ‘sacked’, he probably threw his own badge in on the desk himself. It’s a lot of pressure.

There is speculation he will stay working with Amo but the yard will now be under new management with de Foy coming in.

WTF!?

In a statement on X, Joorabchian said: "First, I'd like to welcome Kevin Philippart de Foy as our new trainer at Freemason Lodge. Kevin is a fantastic horseman who understands our goals and shares our ambition. Having known and worked with him for several years, it makes this transition even smoother. We know his character fits and our ideas align perfectly.

"We believe he's the right person to take the operation to the next level, and we're excited about what's ahead with him leading the team at this historic yard.

"At the same time, I want to say a big thank you to Raphael for stepping up and doing such a brilliant job getting Freemason up and running. His work over the past few months has been crucial, and he's laid a solid foundation for the future.

"Raphael has been a big part of Amo Racing's journey so far, and he continues to be an integral part of our team moving forward."

Please don’t get us wrong. We think de Foy is a very nice guy and extremely capable trainer but that’d be for little owners in a yard of say 50 horses targeting Wolves.

de Foy to be a Classic-winning, stallion-making trainer!?

We’re sorry, but absolutely no chance.

This is one of the worst decisions Amo has ever made. And there has been a few!

Anyway, back to the story. This isn’t the first time that Philippart de Foy has flirted with the idea of becoming a retained trainer. In August 2022, Sheikh Abdullah Almalek Alsabah, the former owner of HAATEM, took 20 horses away from Philippart de Foy when the young trainer turned down an offer to become his private trainer.

That was a big blow for him at the time. In 2022, he trained 60 winners, 61 in 2023, but 2024 saw him train just 29 winners, and he has 14 successes to his name this year - still, that’s 10 more than Charlie Fellowes!

Now a similar offer has come up with Amo, Philippart de Foy has decided to accept rather than reject. We say similar, as he will still train horses for his existing owners in the yard. Who knows whether this will change as the years go on?

So, this is another big Amo Racing change after their few alterations in the jockey ranks. For an operation of this size, Joorabchian was always going to be cutthroat until things sorted themselves out. After all, he is spending millions at the sales to try and build this empire, so he wants to get it right.

The next few seasons will be crucial, and Philippart de Foy will have a lot riding on his shoulders. Good luck, Kevin!

CLASSIC CONTENDER

We’ve already experienced St Leger chat in the early parts of this week thanks to LAZY GRIFF. His run in the Irish Derby on Sunday allowed connections to dream big, and their next big target is the final Classic of the year.

Could MERCHANT, the horse who beat SERIOUS CONTENDER at Royal Ascot, be another Leger horse to consider?

William Haggas and Highclere Racing gave the King George V Stakes winner an entry for the Group 1 King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot later this month, and that was an interesting revelation earlier this week. However, it seems like the TEOFILO colt will go down the more “regular route”.

Highclere's racing manager Harry Herbert said: "It was a highly unusual entry and I'd say the King George is unlikely unless it completely fell to pieces. You're likely to face a dual Derby winner and it looks like it would be a tough race. I think William would rather look after him, take him through the gears and see where he takes us.

"He's very exciting and he's in the hands of a masterful trainer. He's improving rapidly, but we're going to take a regular route."

"He's very well after Ascot and the plan is very much to go to the Gordon Stakes [Glorious Goodwood], as long as William is happy with him, and then on to the Great Voltigeur at York's Ebor meeting.

"It's possible he could be a St Leger horse and it's a fabulous race, but is going a mile and six the right move for him? We'll see. We have to take it one step at a time in mind for the future.”

This is the right move. William Haggas was quick not to get too excited after his Ascot success, even if he is a smart horse. Bring him along slowly via some winnable Group races, and everyone is happy. Bosh.

DUNLOP’S IMPROVER

And finally, we want to highlight a steady improver from the Ed Dunlop yard. The horse is called SKUKUZA, who finished second in the Britannia Stakes last year before winning twice at the Curragh this year, once in handicap company and once in a Listed race on Irish Derby Day.

He’s clearly very good, and his ceiling does look quite high, though he probably hasn’t been spoken about much, which is fair enough. They did have the Irish Derby just over an hour later!

So, where next? Having won a Listed race at the Curragh with an official rating of 103, he is likely to go up in the ratings, so that could push him out of handicaps.

Dunlop said: “We always thought he was a decent horse, he obviously ran very well in the Britannia last year (second) but then had a hiccup and didn’t run again.

“He’s a horse that we need to protect from fast ground after that, which is why he’s been to Ireland twice. He’s improving and he’s becoming exciting.

“It was quick ground again at Ascot so we missed the Hunt Cup. It didn’t do him any good the year before, so we thought it wouldn’t do him any good this year.

“Obviously the Bunbury Cup will come too quick and he will have penalties for the others (International at Ascot and Golden Mile at Goodwood), so I’d have though handicaps are out now. I hope we’ll be looking at Group races now.

“There are various options but it’s too early to decide where next, we wouldn’t be scared of going up in trip. Ryan (Moore) was keen to go forward from his draw and that is the first time he’s made the running which was encouraging. He will go further in time, whether we need to yet, we’ll see. He’ll have options in France and England but we’ll be dictated by ground.

“He’s still a colt, he’s a homebred for Mrs (Gaynor) Rupert so it’s very exciting for her. It was a fantastic day.”

Eyes on him going forward.

STATS OF THE DAY

Barely any useful stats today but the standout might be Tracy Waggot’s record in the 17.48. She’s 2 from 2 in this race and sends last time out winner LADY OF THE GARR to land the hattrick.

RISK ON

We don’t typically like backing shorties but SUDU should win the 19.58 if you can find something to double it with! We have played a single hoping to simply buy money for punting live at Newbury tomorrow.