How can you tell if a horse acts on soft going?

How can you tell if a horse acts on soft going? The state of the ground, or going, on a racecourse is often a determining factor in where, when and how well racehorses run. Soft going is deep, moist and slightly muddy, thereby presenting a challenge that some horses relish, but others absolutely detest. However, there are several ways you can tell, or least make an educated guess, that a horse acts on soft going. In order of efficacy, they are its previous performances on the racecourse, its pedigree, its confirmation and gait and, last, but by no means least, the size of its feet!

If a horse has already raced, preferably more than once, on soft going, you can probably assess its going preference by reference to its previous form in, say, the ‘Racing Post’, or learned commentary, such as that provided by Timeform. If it hasn’t, you can only really speculate, but there are still one or two pointers that can help predict preference for one type of going or another.

Going preference tends to be inherent, so analysing the pedigree of the horse will reveal if it was sired by a stallion, such as Lope De Vega or Pivotal, whose progeny prefer soft ground. If you are able to see the horse in motion, concentrate on its knee action. Conventional wisdom suggests that horses with a high, rounded knee action naturally lift their feet up and out of the ground on each stride, so are more effective on soft going than those with a low, ‘daisy cutter’ action. Likewise, horses with larger, ‘soup plate’ hooves tend not to sink as far into soft going as those that don’t – think of a man wearing snowshoes – so waste less time and effort pulling their feet out of the ground.

How many times did Moscow Flyer win at the Cheltenham Festival?

How many times did Moscow Flyer win at the Cheltenham Festival? Owned by Brian Kearney, trained by Jessica Harrington, in Moone, Co. Kildare and ridden, in all bar six of his 44 races, by Barry Geraghty, Moscow Flyer was an outstanding two-mile steeplechaser in the years following the turn of the millennium. The son of Moscow Society, from the family of Nijinsky, was no slouch over hurdles, winning seven of his 12 starts over the smaller obstacles, including three at Grade 1 level. Nevertheless, it was over fences that Moscow Flyer became what his trainer described as a ‘once in a lifetime horse’, winning 19 of his 28 steeplechases, including 10 at Grade 1 level, and just over £1 million in prize money in that sphere alone.

Moscow Flyer made an inauspicious debut over the larger obstacles, falling five fences from home in a beginners’ chase at Fairyhouse – which, unsurprisingly, he started at odds-on – in October, 2001. Thereafter, though, he won his next 19 completed starts before succumbing, by a short head, at odds of 1/4, to Rathnagar Beau in the Champion Chase at Punchestown in April, 2005. Indeed, he was awarded a Timeform Annual Rating of 184, placing him co-eighth in the all-time list, alongside Cheltenham Gold Cup winners Burrough Hill Lad and Long Run.

As far as the Cheltenham Festival is concerned, Moscow Flyer made his debut at Prestbury Park in March, 2002, when he was a ready, 4-length winner of the Arkle Challenge Trophy. He returned to the Festival in 2003, justifying favouritism in the Queen Mother Champion Chase and again in 2004, when he was sent off odds-on to defend his title. However, he and Geraghty parted company at the fourth-last, leaving the race at the mercy of second favourite Azertyuiop, who ran out a ready 9-length winner. Moscow Flyer was back again in 2005, regaining his title at the chief expense of Well Chief, with Azertyuiop only third, to make it three wins from four attempts and the Festival. He had one last try, on what turned out to be his final start, in the Queen Mother Champion Chase in 2006, but could only finish fifth, beaten 11½ lengths, behidn Newmill.

Which horse completed a hat-trick in the Nassau Stakes in 2009, 2010 and 2011?

Which horse completed a hat-trick in the Nassau Stakes in 2009, 2010 and 2011? Established in 1840, the Nassau Stakes was named by Charles Gordon Lennox, Fifth Duke of Richmond, to reflect his close ties with the House of Orange-Nassau, which survives today as the Royal House of the Netherlands. Elevated to Group 1 status in 1999, the race is run over 1 mile, 1 furlong and 197 yards at Goodwood and is open to fillies and mares aged three years and upwards. It is currently scheduled as the feature race on day three of the five-day Qatar Goodwood Festival, staged annually in late July or early August.

The Nassau Stakes has a rich history and its roll of honour includes such luminaries as Spectre, Pretty Polly, Ouija Board and Minding, to name but a few. The late Sir Henry Cecil remains the most successful trainer in the history of the Nassau Stakes with a total of eight wins. Cecil saddled Roussalka to back-to-back victories in 1975 and 1976 but, following Connaught Bridge, in 1979, Nom De Plume, in 1987, and Lyphard’s Delta, in 1993, it was Midday who provided the Master of Warren Place with a record-breaking hat-trick in the Nassau Stakes in 2009, 2010 and 2011.

Bred and owned by the late Khalid Abdullah, Midday was a very easy, 6-length winner of the Lingfield Oaks Trial on her second start as a three-year-old, but was beaten a head by Sariska in the Oaks at Epsom and 7½ lengths by the same horse in the Irish equivalent at the Curragh the following month. However, the daughter of Oasis Dream resumed winning ways in the Nassau Stakes, staying on well to draw clear in the closing stages and beat the favourite, Rainbow View, trained by John Gosden by 2¼ lengths.

Following a successful trip to Santa Anita Park, California, where she justified favouritism in the Breeders’ Cup Fillies & Mares, Midday was back at Goodwood, as a four-year-old, in July, 2010. Again, she justified favouritism in the Nassau Stakes, despite idling and hanging left in the closing stages, and repeated the dose in 2011, with a ready, 2-length win from Snow Fairy.

Which came first, the 1,000 or 2,000 Guineas?

Which came first, the 1,000 or 2,000 Guineas? Nowadays, the first two Classics of the season, the 2,000 and 1,000 Guineas, are staged on the Saturday and Sunday of the Guineas Festival at Newmarket in late April or early May. The 2,000 Guineas, which is open to three-year-old colts and fillies, was established by the Jockey Club on April 18, 1809. The 1,000 Guineas, which is restricted to three-year-old fillies, followed five years later on April 28, 1814.

Both races are run over a mile on the Rowley Mile Course and took their names from the prize money originally awarded to the respective winners; until the adoption of decimal currency, a guinea was a money of account, standardised at a value of twenty-one shillings. However, since 2001, both races have offered identical prize money, currently guaranteed at £500,000, of which £223,550 goes to the winner.

Both races owe their existence to Sir Charles Bunbury, who became a senior steward at the Jockey Club in 1768 and susbequently adopted the role of ‘perpetual president’. Of course, Bunbury is also credited with co-founding the Derby, alongside Lord Derby, Edward Smith-Stanley, in 1780, but continued to exert a major influence on horse racing until well into the nineteenth century. The other British ‘Classics’, the St. Leger and the Oaks, were first run in 1776 and 1779, respectively, but were not designated as such until after the inaugural running of the 1,000 Guineas.

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