Equinties - York day 2

Gm Equinauts

York served up some first day yesterday. Not only was it ‘classic’ York day with some incredible finishes down that long home straight, culminating in several hard luck stories,

but it also saw some event’s where punters would have been sat on the edge of their seat through the race thinking ‘what the f*ck!'.

A case in point was the pace maker in the Juddmonte, check this out:

Don’t tell us you thought glorified work rider Havlin was getting caught! Because at one point, we didn’t!

We love York and that was day 1. Today is round 2 and we have some very strong views.

Let’s dive in.

HEADLINE ROUNDUP

FUNNY OLD GAME

As the Juddmonte International kept progressing, we all thought BIRR CASTLE was going to win.

Just imagine the scenes. Another huge Group 1 done by a ‘pace maker’.

Alas, Andre Fabre’s runner could only muster third (which was huge for him), and OMBUDSMAN duly obliged in emphatic style, something that certainly made John Gosden rather relieved and more, happy he was right.

Yes, BIRR CASTLE did make the spectacle of the contest a bit weird and visually exciting, but actually, the running of it was pretty standard. Five of the six runners sat in an orderly group, and they then started to properly reel in the runaway pacemaker with over a furlong to go. OMBUDSMAN showed his class when he went away from the field, and that was job done for everyone involved.

And yet, the post-script from the race was full of mixed messages. For fun, let’s have our say on it all. Firstly, the race was called a farce by some and yes it was unquestionably a weird watch, so we understand why it was called a “farce”. But, the finishing result of the race included the market leaders in the first two, and SEE THE FIRE, the third-favourite, was just three-quarters of a length and half-a-length behind the third and second. That doesn’t seem too farcical.

We assume a lot of this chat is a result of the use of BIRR CASTLE as a pacemaker, which was complaint number two of the day.

Pacemakers aren’t new, but they have certainly been fashionable and unfashionable. BULLET TRAIN is a good example of a famous pacemaker, and just think of the number of times Ballydoyle have employed pacemakers in the past (nearly every big race when they can). SERPENTINE was probably meant to be one in the 2020 Derby when he won at 25/1!

In recent years, pacemakers have been few and far between, but this season, they seem to be coming back. QIRAT, CONTINUOUS, and BIRR CASTLE, as examples.

They serve a purpose, obviously, and yes they can be annoying, that is very understandable. But they can also be very helpful in certain races if they get the best out of the majority of the field. Yesterday, people were calling for pacemakers to be banned because they are ruining the sport. Respectfully, please give your head a wobble. They literally have them in all sports and in our sport, the BHA allows it.

We have bigger issues than QIRAT and BIRR CASTLE plaguing our sport right now.

“But, aren’t horses meant to run on their merits in order to achieve their best possible position?” we hear you cry. Well, yes, but pace makers are allowed according to the BHA. Plus, with a straight face, can you seriously say that BIRR CASTLE would have finished any better than third if he wasn’t right at the front of the race? No.

Unfortunately, it’s just one of those situations where you have to suck it up and back the right horse.

And finally, point number three that people got worked up about was Rab Havlin’s ride on BIRR CASTLE. Lol. Apparently, he didn’t give him a ride in the final furlong. To our eye, he was running up and down on a spot, and a few uses of the whip wouldn’t have helped. Anyway, rant over.

OMBUDSMAN could head to the Irish and English Champion Stakes now, which would be fun.

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