Bullseye: 'We must make sure this vital part of racing’s history continues'

Tom Bull

30 August 2022

What happened to showing heroic courage? A throwback to when tilts at the top were commonplace and no questions were asked. I, for one, miss the tales of derring-do.

How refreshing it was, then, to hear Jack Mitchell say that Double Or Bubble might take a trip to the Breeders’ Cup following her excellent victory in Sunday’s Supreme Stakes at Goodwood. Rejoice, for ye olde derring-do is borne again!

Arthur Miller demonstrated in All My Sons, a play focused on a lack of moral responsibility in wartime America, the dangers of pursuing the American Dream. I wonder how many trainers read that and took the story to heart. After all, Aidan O’Brien and Charlie Appleby aside, these days the Breeders’ Cup is somewhat bereft of British and Irish challengers.

Let’s not forget, it can be a fruitful trek with the right horse. Take James Fanshawe with Audarya, for example, or Kevin Ryan with Glass Slippers. We’re reaching the season’s twilight in the coming months and decisions need to be made. Let’s see The Platinum Queen strut her stuff Stateside, or how about Vadeni in the BC Turf. Or even William Haggas’ Maljoom, considering injury has plighted the second half of his campaign.

Travelling abroad and taking on the best in their own backyard is one of the big advantages Flat racing has over Jumps. Putting aside Willie Mullins’ tremendously brazen decision to send Blackstairmountain to the Nakayama Grand Jump a few years ago - what a stroke of genius that was! - sending runners to Auteuil doesn’t really create the same buzz as a tilt at the Arc, the Melbourne Cup, or the Breeders’ Cup.

Charlie Appleby has shown all summer that raiding US tracks like Belmont and Saratoga can be done if you place the right horses in the right races. Take With The Moonlight, his three-year-old filly who finished 14 lengths behind Tuesday in the Epsom Oaks. She’s no world-beater but has won nearly £400,000 for a victory and two seconds in three Graded races since July.

I find it unfathomable that this route is not explored by more trainers or owners - and I can’t have the excuse that it costs too much, because the prize-money is likely to be significantly more than we can offer over here. Now I’m not cheerleading for a mass exodus - far from it. But as a racing fan, taking on the Americans on their home turf makes for fascinating viewing.

Only a few days ago I had one of my frequent forays into the YouTube abyss, finding myself trapped between racing replay and top 10 compilation, the cavernous black hole of reruns once again threatened to swallow me up. During this particular hiatus from consciousness, I stumbled for the umpteenth time upon the 2003 Breeders’ Cup Turf. For those whose memory has clouded over, this was the epic three-way battle royale between Johar, Falbrav and High Chaparral. It really was one of the all-time great contests, and so often we see wonderful races when our best horses are sent overseas.

In recent years alone we’ve witnessed Magician down The Fugue in a nail-biting Breeders’ Cup Turf, Snow Fairy nose home in both a Hong Kong Cup and QEII Cup in Japan, and Mishriff narrowly seeing off global raiders in the Dubai Sheema Classic and Saudi Cup. We must make sure this vital part of racing’s history continues and isn’t thwarted by lack of ambition or, dare I say it - derring-do.

Baaeed: needs to win the Arc to be considered one of the greats

And now we come to the elephant in the room - Baaeed. I’ve found the debates about where he fits into the echelon of greats a little bit tiresome, but one aspect of the discussion I can very much get on board with is whether or not he should run in the Arc. If he were mine - and it’s probably a good thing he’s not - he’d go to Leopardstown for the Irish Champion, Longhchamp for the Arc, then, if sound, Ascot for the Champion Stakes before getting on a plane and running in the Breeders’ Cup.

I’m being greedy, and the fact William Haggas is likely to send Baaeed to two of these options is probably more than we might have expected a little earlier in the campaign. The real question-mark, though, is Baaeed’s legacy. He’s an exceptional, once-in-a-generation talent - we know that. But he hasn’t won a Classic, he’s only beaten one truly top class horse (Palace Pier, and that was at the end of a long season) and, for all his ability, he’s yet to truly capture the public’s imagination in the same way as a Sea The Stars or a Frankel. They might say they’re not worried about that, but you can be sure the folks at Shadwell would love Baaeed to be remembered as an all-time great.

For that to happen, he has to win the Arc. It’s the greatest and most prestigious turf Flat race in the world and he would be given a test so difficult that, if he passes it with flying colours, Baaeed would earn his place at the top table in the Hall of Fame. Racing is all about taking on the best. These days, we see precious few clashes to stir the spirit. Hopefully, William Haggas, Angus Gold and Shadwell can begin to help buck the trend by employing a large dose of derring-do.

Going for Bull

There isn’t much quality midweek action this week, although a £20,000 nursery (6.25) at Hamilton on Wednesday night certainly caught my attention. Only six runners will head to post and three of them have ‘Jungle’ in their name, so make sure you concentrate when placing your bets!

Outsider of the field Iato’s Angel isn’t being given enough respect in the opening market and I believe she has an excellent chance of retaining her unbeaten record at the track. She impressively accounted for her opposition in a maiden back in July, and I’m not convinced that she was suited by the undulations when well beaten on handicap debut at Sandown last time.

That came in a ‘Sunday Series’ contest and she’ll find this much easier, particularly now that she’s got a little more experience under her belt. Her mark (76) seems fair and hopefully Keith Dalgleish’s runner can cause a minor shock.