Equinties - switching codes

Gm Equinauts

We posted a video yesterday, a recording from a racegoer’s phone who was at the exact point on the track of Crowley and Whelan’s horrendous crash.

The video, which remains up online, is simply there to show how dangerous horse racing is, or any form of horse riding as for that matter.

Especially given the NH season is around the corner and the risks are heightened over jumps, just think twice before giving the jockeys any stick - they put their lives on the line for your entertainment.

Let’s dive in.

HEADLINE ROUND UP

DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH

It may be St Leger week, but sadly, the smell of the jumps season gets stronger and stronger by the day.

Look, we love the jumps. Jumps racing is Boxing Day. It’s good-thing novice hurdlers winning hard held. It’s running out from the warmth of Newbury’s restaurant to go and place a bet in the freezing cold. Jumps is hard.

But jumps racing has a time and a place, and it’s not yet so you can shove your all your threads and ante-posts up your ar$e.

Alas, we must press on with the news updates though as all the big horses are back in their respective yards getting ready, the National Hunt fanboys are getting oh so excited on Racing X, and Paul Nicholls got his finest blue blazer out on Sunday afternoon for his owners’ day.

Note: Nicholls is bloody bullish on TUTTI QUANTI winning the Welsh Champion Hurdle. You heard it here first (well, second, actually).

Anyway, back to the jumps news. Although the season hasn’t properly started yet, ROCKY’S DIAMOND, fourth in last year’s Stayers’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival, got his chasing career off to a good start at Galway as he won by a nice five-and-a-half lengths.

He showed his class over hurdles last season, and while he may have been a bit of a ‘nearly horse’ in Grade 1s, he did win the Grade 2 Galmoy Hurdle in good style, and he looked like a novice chaser on the up yesterday.

Let’s start with the positives. He jumped like a horse that had been doing it for three years, he travelled away from the front, and he went clear up the run-in. Noice. There are a few caveats to mention, however. WATERFORD WHISPERS, a likely strong contender in the pre-race build-up, was a non-runner, and the form of the race may not be the strongest. It was a beginners chase, and some of the horses behind him were rated 130ish tbf, but he will face much stronger opposition this season.

So, what could his year look like for him? Cheltenham may not be the be-all and end-all, though he has gone well around there before, so the Browns would look like a natural Festival race for him.

More immediately, the Grade 1 Faugheen Novices’ Chase looks like his Christmas target, which could be quite fun, as we already know that THE BIG WESTERNER is working back from this race.

Anyway, ROCKY’S DIAMOND is nice, and he just looks like a loveable sort. Mega.

SWITCHING CODES

While we’re on the topic of the jumps, do we all remember PONIROS?

Of course you do, he won the Grade 1 Triumph Hurdle on his first start over hurdles, and he did that at odds of 100/1 for Willie Mullins and Tony Bloom. Woof.

He came from the Flat (Ralph Beckett, specifically) before winning a Grade 1 for the master of Closutton, and Mullins could be about to receive another Tony Bloom-owned ex-Flat horse.

In this case, we’re talking about THE REVEREND, who is rated a very tasty 98 on the Flat having won three Class 2 handicaps for William Haggas, one of which was the Old Borough Cup on the weekend.

Now, a career over sticks beckons for him, as Haggas said: "He's best fresh and I think his first trip to Ireland would be to Willie Mullins. I don't know the plan but [going jumping with Willie] was mooted last year and I asked to keep him because I didn't think he was quite ready or strong enough.

"They love having horses with Willie and he's obviously a good type. He can come back on the Flat and give them some fun and I'm all for that."

Speaking of Haggas and Bloom, one of the more impressive handicap wins of this weekend came at Ascot on Saturday when CROWN OF OAKS blitzed his rivals.

We were on!

He is now 4/1 for the Cambridgeshire Handicap at Newmarket later this month, but after just a 4lb rise in the weights (penalty), he doesn’t have much of a chance of getting in, so Haggas is going to try and give him his best chance by running him in Sunday’s Northfields Handicap over in Ireland.

He added: "I'd think he's about 20-1 to get in the Cambridgeshire, never mind win it. He's got no hope [at present] so he's possibly going to run in a handicap in Ireland on Sunday with a penalty. If he can win there, it would increase his penalty to 7lb for the Cambridgeshire.

"He won very nicely at Ascot and a bit of cut in the ground is important. Sunday's race is over a mile and a quarter and worth €150,000. It's a bit of a rush but I think he'll go up more than seven pounds [for Saturday's win] and we've got to take advantage if we can."

We saw Haggas trying to make hay with BULLET POINT at York, and it looks like he’ll do the same here. It’s a bit un-Haggas-like, but if the horse is fit and well, we love to see it.

NEW JOCKEY

News was a bit light yesterday, but following on from the horrible incident at York on Sunday, a few sets of connections have had to make a few decisions.

Firstly, we are glad to hear that both Jim Crowley and Trevor Whelan are, apart from their broken legs, okay. Of course, Whelan breaking his leg in three pieces is a major injury, but they both could have died, and that’s the simple truth.

For Shadwell, Crowley’s side-lining has come at a slightly inconvenient time, as they are set to send ANMAAT to Ireland on Saturday for the Irish Champion Stakes. This is a huge race for ANMAAT, as he may get a bit of softer ground, and he will hopefully bounce away from the weekend towards the Champion Stakes at Ascot.

So, whoever has to pilot him has a big job on their hands, and that responsibility has fallen upon Chris Hayes, as he will get the leg up for the very first time. Trainer Owen Burrows said: “It’s a shame what’s happened to Jim as he obviously knows the horse very well.

“He’ll have a new jockey on and I think Chris Hayes is going to ride him. Chris has obviously ridden big winners for Shadwell in Ireland, he won a City of York Stakes for me a good few years ago (2017 on Talaayeb) and we felt someone with plenty of experience of Leopardstown was vital.

“The horse has done nothing wrong this season. I know he hasn’t won yet but he hasn’t done a lot wrong and if the ground comes more in his favour, I’d like to think he can run a big race.”

In fairness to Hayes, while this will be a pressure ride, ANMAAT isn’t a tricky horse to sort. Just deliver him late, and you should come there swinging. From there, it’s all about how fit he is and what is left under the bonnet.

RISK ON

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