Charlie Johnston was always destined to take over from his record-breaking father Mark at their Middleham base. But to have a realistic Betfred Derby contender through Dubai Mile in his first year with just his name on the licence has certainly exceeded his expectations.
While Johnston senior went close at Epsom with Dee Ex Bee in 2018, finishing second to Masar, the blue riband event was one of only a handful of major races to elude him during a stellar career.
Charlie initially shared the licence with his father last season before Mark took his name off completely, sooner than many thought but done partly through paternal pride so that his son would get the credit he felt he deserved.
Now, with Dubai Mile having won a Group One over 10 furlongs at two in France and run perfectly well in the 2000 Guineas when fifth, Charlie has a real shot at putting the Johnston name on the illustrious Epsom roll of honour.
“I wouldn’t be singing from the roof if he wins having done so in my name, in fact I’d be a bit embarrassed after dad had been trying for 30 years and we won it for the first time without his name on the licence!” said Johnston.
“There’s still no greater race for a trainer to win, I think.
“There’s no race I can win this year that would give me greater assurances that when I go to the yearling sales, people will want to fill this barn again next year and try to find the next one.
“This game is a cycle and you always want people to invest in you, by winning the Derby there is no greater advertisement.”
Dubai Mile is owned by Ahmad Al Shaikh, who himself has had two of his horses finish second at huge prices in recent years – Khalifa Sat at 50-1 behind Serpentine in 2020 and Hoo Ya Mal at 150-1 to Desert Crown last year.
Johnston said: “He’s gone close twice in the Derby at huge prices, so I’m sure he’s going there with huge expectations and he’s great fun to train for.
“He flew a team from his favourite restaurant in London up here and we had a huge lunch with all the staff while watching the (Saint-Cloud) race and he gave prizes out and I don’t think the team has ever felt closer or more involved than he made them.”
Having only cost €20,000 at the Goffs Orby Sale, despite being by Roaring Lion and out of Beach Bunny, who was beaten just a short head by Dar Re Mi in the 2009 Pretty Polly, Johnston has shown he can look beyond the obvious – and feels others may have been put off by Dubai Mile’s big white face.
“We thought we’d got a bargain at £20,000. To us he’s a very good looking horse, but bizarrely a lot of people would be put off by his markings for a start. He’s got so much white about him and he must have had a fight with a fence at some point as a foal as when you take the saddle off, he’s got white marks all over his withers,” said Johnston.
“His pedigree, as is always the case, put us on to him. We’ve been fortunate to have horses for Lady O’Reilly (Beach Bunny’s owner), so would always pay close attention to her horses. Another factor was probably the fact that his stallion was sadly dead at the time, which meant he was never going to get the same support as most first-season sires and he was a weak, backward yearling.
“I’m not going to say we knew right away (he was good) as we buy 70 every year in that price bracket, but am I confident that out of 20 every year we’d find one good one? Yes, but was I confident he was the one? Probably not until he ran in the Royal Lodge, if I’m honest.
“The Royal Lodge (second to The Foxes) looked ambitious at the time, because of his price he’d been astutely placed to win two restricted novices, but I think the handicapper would have said he had no chance going into the Royal Lodge, as did the market. But it was a small field and it was a race we always like to target which led us to roll the dice.
“We’ll be taking the winner on again and a lot of water has gone under the bridge for both since the Royal Lodge. I got the impression up until York they thought he (The Foxes) was a 10-furlong horse and there was talk of the French Derby, whereas we’ve always known where we were going.
“Ahmad was always keen to go for the Guineas and, in hindsight, it was clearly the right decision because there’s been a hell of a lot more interest in him since then than before it. People take him a lot more seriously now.
“I said if he finished in the first six and hit the line strong I’d be delighted and that is exactly what he did. He’d have been fourth in another stride which would have been lovely but knowing he wants further, we couldn’t have wished for much more.”
Since the Guineas, John and Thady Gosden’s Arrest has won the Chester Vase on soft ground. His first run since being beaten a head by Dubai Mile in France and yet Dubai Mile is available at a much bigger price.
“A lot has been made of our form with Arrest and interestingly he’s about a quarter of the price we are. It’s probably not surprising given John Gosden’s Derby record and ours, but the weather forecast means it should be a good to firm Derby, whether it is or not we’ll wait and see,” said Johnston.
“I’m sure Arrest’s camp are a lot more worried about that than us. We might have won a Group One on heavy, but we’d rather it was quicker as it might inconvenience a few others.”
Of the others, he said: “I have a lot of respect for the (Jessica) Harrington horse (Sprewell), he looks overlooked in the market simply because Aidan (O’Brien) doesn’t get beaten in that (Leopardstown) trial and if you do beat him, you must have a good one.
“It’s been a bit different this spring as the two trials you’d expect Aidan to win he’s been beaten in, with the (John) Murphy horse (White Birch) winning the other (Ballysax) – and he ran a nice race at York (second to The Foxes).
“It should always be the best test of a three-year-old and all the ones who deserve to be there will be there. Does 14-1 represent our chance? It probably does, it might underestimate him a little.
“There’s no horse in this race that we know is better than ours, on ratings we’re right there with them all. He’s a Group One winner who ran a good trial over an inadequate trip in the Guineas, so in that sense I think we’ve got a rock-solid profile.
“The fact he was a €20,000 yearling and a bit more unfashionable probably explains why he’s 14-1 rather than 4-1. There’s nothing in there that scares me or we have 7lb to find with. If he improves for the trip, which we all expect he will, then he goes there with a good chance.
“I don’t feel it has added any pressure, it’s great to have a horse like this, you need them any time but to have one the first year the licence is in my name is great.”
David Menuisier is confident a step up in trip can help Heartache Tonight hit the big time when she races in the UK for the first time in the Betfred Oaks on Friday.
A €160,000 purchase as a yearling, she is a half-sister to two-time Group One-winner Wonderful Tonight, Menuisier’s former stable star.
The daughter of Recorder now has the chance to step out of her sibling’s shadow and she heads to Epsom with an encouraging book of form in France to her name, placing in the Prix Cleopatre and beaten less than two lengths when a close-up fourth in the Prix Saint-Alary last time out.
Despite bringing that Group One form to the table, Heartache Tonight is still available for the Oaks at odds as big as 33-1.
But her handler is not fussed by her outsider status, with Cristian Demuro set to continue his association with the filly having ridden her in all three starts so far.
“I don’t mind being overlooked, that is the story of my life, but it won’t stop her from running well,” said Menuisier.
“It was a great effort in the Prix Saint-Alary and she has been craving the step up to a mile and a half. We decided to keep her at one-mile-two to try to gain more experience and more tactical speed and we are delighted so far.
“Cristian Demuro will come and ride. We get on well and he’s our go-to man when we go to France. He absolutely loves the filly and the schedule wasn’t too busy for him, so he’s really delighted to keep the ride on her.”
So far, all of Heartache Tonight’s appearances have come on ground described as soft or slower, but Menuisier is hopeful she might not be as ground dependant as her illustrious mud-loving half-sister ahead of her bid for Classic honours.
“We’re just hoping the ground isn’t too quick, we’re hoping for genuine good ground,” continued Menuisier.
“She seems different to the half-sister – she was really designed for soft ground and had a very high knee action.
“Heartache tonight is a bit more elegant, she moves much better, so we like to believe she might not need it as soft. Obviously she will handle soft/heavy conditions later in the year probably better than most, but if she could handle quicker ground then that is a definite plus.”
The handler also feels her performance in the Prix Saint-Alary shows she has the potential to match Wonderful Tonight’s achievements on track.
Menuisier added: “At the moment she is showing the right signs and is a little bit above Wonderful Tonight as she would have been unable to perform good over one-mile-two at Group One level in the spring.
“So whether the finished article will be ahead of the sister, it would be lovely to think so, but she has a serious challenge ahead of her, so we will see.”
Savethelastdance heads a field of 11 declared for the Betfred Oaks on Friday when she will bid to give Aidan O’Brien his fourth straight victory in the Epsom Classic.
The daughter of Galileo has been favourite for the fillies’ showpiece ever since decimating the opposition in the Cheshire Oaks earlier this month and heads to Epsoms in anticipation of faring much better in the 12 furlong event than her dam Daddys Lil Darling who bolted to post during a thunderstorm, unshipped Olivier Peslier and was subsequently withdrawn in 2017.
As well as Savethelastdance, O’Brien will also saddle Be Happy and Red Riding Hood in his attempt to secure Oaks win number 11 and continue his domination of the Friday feature.
John and Thady Gosden are responsible for what the bookmakers feel will be Savethelastdance’s biggest challenge saddling both Pretty Polly winner Roaring Lion and Musidora scorer Soul Sister, the latter the mount of Frankie Dettori in his final Oaks outing before retirement.
Supplementary entry and Lingfield trial winner Eternal Hope is entrusted with trying to provide Charlie Appleby with his first Oaks success, while Heartache Tonight is an interesting contender for David Menuisier having finished a close-up fourth in the Prix Saint-Alary.
Jack Channon’s 1000 Guineas fourth Caernarfon steps up in trip from a mile for her first start since Newmarket, while Maman Joon (Richard Hannon), Sea Of Roses (Andrew Balding) and Bright Diamond (Karl Burke) are the others heading to the mile-and-a-half start on Friday afternoon.
The other Group One on the card is the Dahlbury Coronation Cup where Westover will look to erase the demons of his troubled run in last year’s Derby.
Ralph Beckett’s Frankel colt was a somewhat unlucky loser behind Desert Crown 12 months ago, but gained compensation in the Irish equivalent and arrives on the back of a fine run to finish second in the Dubai Sheema Classic in March.
Emily Upjohn was another to be narrowly denied in her quest for Classic success in 2022 and reappears having opened her Group One account in the autumn, while Hurricane Lane is Godolphin’s chosen representative having bounced back to his best in the Jockey Club Stakes.
Ballydoyle’s Point Lonsdale is unbeaten in two starts this term and races over 12 furlongs for the first time, with Tunnes an interesting raider from Germany rounding off a select field of five.
Middleham Park Racing will have their first Betfred Derby runner as Dear My Friend bids to do his owners proud this weekend.
The chestnut is one of 16 possibles for the Epsom Classic on Saturday and will mark a significant milestone when he carries the syndicate’s familiar pale blue and orange silks in the revered Group One.
The colt’s route to the Derby included the Dante at York earlier in the month, an established trial in which he finished eighth, and a win in the Listed Burradon Stakes on Newcastle’s all-weather track in early April.
Those efforts, added to two successes and a handful of Listed and Group performances as a juvenile, have left him on a rating of 104 ahead of the Derby – for which he is currently a 100-1 shot for trainer Charlie Johnston.
“It’s our first ever runner in the race, we’re going into it with eyes wide open,” said Mike Prince of Middleham Park.
“He was well beaten in the Dante but we think the step up in trip will suit him. There’ll be a few horses in the race who don’t say, there’ll be a few horses in the race who don’t handle the track and there’ll be a few horses in the race who don’t handle the occasion – hopefully we’ll be there trying to pick up some of the pieces.
“He’ll need to take a step up in his form, he’s a notch below the favourites at the moment but we’re hoping that step up in trip will lead to some improvement from him. He’s got a lovely, long stride and a slow cadence.”
Though likely to be an outsider with the market favouring Group winners such as Auguste Rodin and Derby Trial winner Military Order, it is not unheard of that a horse at a big price should go well and there are recent examples in Hoo Ya Mal, who was second at 150-1 last year, and 50-1 chance Mojo Star who came second the year before.
Prince said: “There have been some horses at big prices making up the placings in recent years, Hoo Ya Mal was 150-1 and I think the third and fourth that year were big enough prices (Westover at 25-1 and Masekela at 66-1).
“That’s one of the things we said to the owners when were deciding to enter, there’s good place money down to sixth and they’re all delighted that we’re rolling the dice.
“He is rated 104 so he is going there on his merits, it’s a race with a great sense of tradition and there’ll certainly be a good contingent there to support him and enjoy the occasion.”
Middleham Park Racing will have their first Betfred Derby runner as Dear My Friend bids to do his owners proud this weekend.
The chestnut is one of 16 possibles for the Epsom Classic on Saturday and will mark a significant milestone when he carries the syndicate’s familiar pale blue and orange silks in the revered Group One.
The colt’s route to the Derby included the Dante at York earlier in the month, an established trial in which he finished eighth, and a win in the Listed Burradon Stakes on Newcastle’s all-weather track in early April.
Those efforts, added to two successes and a handful of Listed and Group performances as a juvenile, have left him on a rating of 104 ahead of the Derby – for which he is currently a 100-1 shot for trainer Charlie Johnston.
“It’s our first ever runner in the race, we’re going into it with eyes wide open,” said Mike Prince of Middleham Park.
“He was well beaten in the Dante but we think the step up in trip will suit him. There’ll be a few horses in the race who don’t say, there’ll be a few horses in the race who don’t handle the track and there’ll be a few horses in the race who don’t handle the occasion – hopefully we’ll be there trying to pick up some of the pieces.
“He’ll need to take a step up in his form, he’s a notch below the favourites at the moment but we’re hoping that step up in trip will lead to some improvement from him. He’s got a lovely, long stride and a slow cadence.”
Though likely to be an outsider with the market favouring Group winners such as Auguste Rodin and Derby Trial winner Military Order, it is not unheard of that a horse at a big price should go well and there are recent examples in Hoo Ya Mal, who was second at 150-1 last year, and 50-1 chance Mojo Star who came second the year before.
Prince said: “There have been some horses at big prices making up the placings in recent years, Hoo Ya Mal was 150-1 and I think the third and fourth that year were big enough prices (Westover at 25-1 and Masekela at 66-1).
“That’s one of the things we said to the owners when were deciding to enter, there’s good place money down to sixth and they’re all delighted that we’re rolling the dice.
“He is rated 104 so he is going there on his merits, it’s a race with a great sense of tradition and there’ll certainly be a good contingent there to support him and enjoy the occasion.”
St. Peters FC’s six-game winning streak was broken on Friday when MFCR Old Road United Jets overcame a deficit to defeat them 4-1 in Verchilds in round two action of the SKNFA Premier League.
Tyquan Terrel put St. Peters ahead in the 28th min and they led for the rest of the first half. The second half, however, was all Old Road.
Tiquanny Williams started the comeback with a penalty in the 52nd minute and followed that up with a second goal in the 20 minutes later to give Old Road the lead before Kaylon Liburd scored a third in the 75th minute. Captain Nequan Browne completed the goalscoring in stoppage time.
Old Road coach, Alexis Morris, credited his team for their fight and resolve in the second half to claim a resounding victory.
“At the end of the first (half), we should not have been 1-0 down with (Tiquanny) getting in front of the goal. On any day he would have been scoring those goals. Nonetheless, we kept working and we dug deep and we found a way back, like I asked them to…I know we were going to get one back within the first 10 minutes and that set up the game for us,” Morris said.
Coach Austin Huggins of St. Peters said the team was unable to refocus after having a goal they scored early in the match, ruled out for offside.
“First of all, let me congratulate OR for scoring four goals. I think that the game was a good game. We had opportunities to score as early as couple of seconds after the game started, but the goal was disallowed and I think that the referee made some very difficult decisions that worked hard against us, broke our momentum, and put us in a very unfavorable position,” Huggins said.
In the day’s earlier match, league leaders Flow 4G Cayon Rockets comfortably defeated Jones Group Sandy Point FC 3-0, also in Verchilds.
Raheem Davis scored for Cayon in the 4th minute, Kavon Phillip scored a Sandy Point own goal in the 10th minute and Devontay Carty scored Cayon’s third in the 64th minute.
Coach Al Edwards of Cayon said despite the win, his team needs to do a better job in finishing their crosses.
“I like the fact that we got down the wings, which is one of our strengths. I like the fact we are putting in the crosses, but I don’t like the fact that we are not finishing those crosses,” he said.
Shaquan Pemberton a player with Sandy Point bemoaned his team’s loss at the bottom of the table.
“We started the game wrong and we didn’t commit to the plays and (Cayon) capitalized on it,” Pemberton said.
Fast Cash Saddlers FC suffered a 4-1 loss to Rams Village Superstars on Saturday at the St. Paul’s playing field.
Glenville Gumbs gave Saddlers a rare early lead in the 18th minute but that was soon erased when Village won a penalty, which was converted by G’vaune Amory in the 32nd minute.
In the second half, it was more Village, again earning another penalty, this time converted by Joseph Wilkes in the 60th min. Kimaree Rogers then got two breakaway runs, scoring both in the 73rd and in stoppage time.
Assistant Coach for Village, Vaughn Patrick, said they had a slow start, but they encouraged the players to keep pushing.
“We had a slow start; the fellows went out a little flat-footed. We went behind, we encouraged them, talked to them. We put in the fighting spirit. We got one goal; one led to two, two led to three, three led to four. We just keep on the pressure on them and play a little faster. We were too slow in the beginning,” Patrick said.
Coach of Saddlers Samuel Phipps said some tough calls by the referees, affected their ability to get a positive result. He said they will have to work hard now to get some wins under their belt.
“We played most of the difficult teams in the first half of the second round and then we intend to go back again and work hard and try to get some wins under our belt,” Phipps said.
In the next match-up, S L Horfords St. Paul’s United and Newtown United drew 1-1. Deneilson Thomas of Newtown gave the East Basseterre outfit the lead before April’s player of the month, Keithroy Freeman, equalized moments later heading in a corner.
Coach Anthony “Nets” Isaac of Newtown was pleased with the performance but said more work must be done defensively.
“I am about 80 percent satisfied, counting the last game we played against St. Paul’s. I think we did much better defensively, even though we gave up that soft goal,” Isaac said.
Manager of St. Paul’s, Austin Lewis, said the result is better than a loss.
“I appreciate the point,” he said.
Sunday’s action saw SOL IAS Conaree FC and Bath United earning crucial wins at Warner Park.
Conaree edged Hobson Enterprises Garden Hotspurs 2-1. Errol O’Loughlin scored both of Conaree’s goals from the penalty spot in the 38th and 71st minutes, while the lone goal from Spurs came from Steve Archibald in the 42nd min.
Coach of Conaree Al Richards said it was an important win for them.
“It was a dog fight. I told my team that it was a derby…this win was needed tonight in order to get up back in the table in the top six. The guys came out and performed, fight to the end and I must say congrats to my team,” Richards said.
Hotspurs coach, Stephen Brown, said the performance of his team was good but it was unfortunate they were unable to get the win.
“The performance of the guys wasn’t bad at all. They really put in a shift. We had some unfortunate calls that went against us that I felt decided the game but outside of that, I am content with the performance of the team,” Brown said.
In Sunday’s earlier match, Bath United trounced Security Forces FC 4-0. Goals were scored by Kenaicy Dorsett, Jalden Meyers, Omarion Bartlette, and Jahmal Lewis in the 19h, 1st minute of first-half stoppage time, 62nd and 81st minutes respectively.
Pascal Bary has confirmed his unbeaten colt Feed The Flame will be supplemented for Sunday’s Prix du Jockey Club at Chantilly.
The son of Kingman was unraced at two after a series of niggly problems, which meant Bary did not consider him as a suitable candidate to be part of the original entries.
However, he made a winning debut earlier this year, triumphing by five and a half lengths at ParisLongchamp, before returning that venue to beat subsequent Prix Hocquart winner First Minister with ease.
Bary, who holds the best record in the Prix du Jockey Club among currently active trainers with six wins, said: “Feed The Flame had a few issues at two and it was only in February that he started to come to hand and he has improved throughout with each run.
“He has only run twice, but he is professional enough that he can handle the Prix du Jockey Club.
“He’s a very big horse and like all big horses, he needed time to grow into himself. At the time the entries were made I never thought he’d be running this Sunday, but he has been supplemented.
“He only made his debut six weeks ago. I thought he would win but I didn’t think he would win that easily.
“We then ran him again quickly because I felt if he had any chance of running in this, he would need time between a second run and a Classic. When he won easily again we then made the decision the supplement him.”
Christophe Soumillon will maintain his partnership on the colt, the trainer also reported.
Bary’s six winners in the French Derby are Celtic Arms (1994), Ragmar (1996), Dream Well (1998), Sulamani (2002), Blue Canari (2004) and Study of Man (2018), with Celtic Arms, Ragmar and Blue Canari all sporting the Jean-Louis Bouchard silks that Feed The Flame will wear.
A total of 12 horses remain from the original entries, with supplementary contenders officially announced on Wednesday.
Among his potential rivals are French Guineas winner Marhaba Ya Sanafi, Andre Fabre’s Flight Leader, Christopher Head’s Big Rock and John and Thady Gosden’s Epictetus.
Dermot Weld has paid tribute to 2010 Ascot Gold Cup winner Rite Of Passage after the Irish National Stud announced his death at the age of 19.
Trained by Weld for owner Dr Ronan Lambe, Rite Of Passage was placed twice at the Cheltenham Festival, taking third in the 2009 Champion Bumper before having to settle for the same position in the Neptune Investment Management Novices’ Hurdle the following season.
That defeat was followed by an audacious bid for Gold Cup glory at the Royal meeting and ridden by Pat Smullen, Rite Of Passage dug deep to fend off the challenge of Age Of Aquarius by a neck at odds of 20-1.
Rite Of Passage ran just twice more after that success, winning the 2012 British Champions Long Distance Cup off a 510-day break on what was the final outing of his 12-race career.
Weld said: “He got a brilliant ride from Pat Smullen and came back two years later to win the Long Distance Cup on Champions Day. He was difficult to keep sound, but he was an extremely talented and courageous racehorse. His performance in the Gold Cup was one of the best for many decades.
“He had a wonderful retirement in the National Stud, he looked magnificent and his fabulous care is a great credit to the team at the National Stud. When I went to see him recently, he came straight over to me and reminded me of what an outstanding individual he was.”
INS CEO Cathal Beale said, “Coming on the back of the recent loss of Kicking King, it is a sad day to report the passing of Rite Of Passage. He was a lovely, gentle horse who lived out his days receiving the greatest of care from all the team here.
“I would like to thank his connections for entrusting him to us and pay special tribute once again to Leona Harmon who cares for all our horses with such great affection.
“He will be deeply missed by all of us.”
Half-centuries from Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Joshua Da Silva and Raymon Reifer have put the West Indies “A” in a solid position after the first day of their third four-day “Test” match against Bangladesh “A” at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium on Monday.
The tourists currently find themselves 320-6 off 82 overs after winning the toss and batting first.
Chanderpaul led the way with 83 off 160 balls, hitting nine fours and a six in the process. The 26-year-old also made 83 in the first game.
Da Silva, the Captain, was much more proactive for his 82. His knock came off 94 balls and included 12 fours and a pair of sixes.
Alick Athanaze also chipped in with a well-compiled 59 off 66 balls including seven fours and two sixes while Reifer ended the day 56* off 90 balls including six fours and a six. Kevin Sinclair (22*) is currently partnering Reifer in the middle.
Nasum Ahmed has, so far, taken 3-92 off 26 overs for the hosts while Musfik Hasan has taken 2-50 in 13 overs.
West Indies “A” lead the series 1-0.
There are two kinds of people in life – those blessed with happy happenstance and those for whom the opposite is true. Ben Hanbury puts himself firmly in the former camp.
Despite ending his training career prematurely for financial reasons in 2004, the passing of his beloved wife Moira four years later and his own ongoing health issues, Hanbury’s particular, unmistakable vernacular is most notable for the use of the word “lucky”, in every conceivable grammatical form.
And it provides an interesting dichotomy.
Replete with perma-tan and always the sharpest-dressed man on a racecourse, he was never one to follow the usual fashions or tried-and-tested ways of acquiring equine talent.
Hanbury will forever be remembered for his association with Midway Lady, winner of the 1000 Guineas and Oaks in 1986.
“She is a remarkable story,” said Hanbury, 77, who saddled some 900 winners in an illustrious career.
“I used to go to Venezuela to look for new owners, because when I was assistant to Bernard Van Cutsem he trained for Venezuelan owners.
“Michael Stoute and Barry Hills were plundering the English market for owners and I thought I’d go to Venezuela, America and Japan, anywhere to look for new owners.
“I made friends with a man whose father was a trainer out there and I said to the Venezuela Racing Association I was the champion trainer in England – and I’d hardly trained a winner!
“I kept in touch and he rang me up one day and he said, ‘I’ve seen a horse and I’ve had a dream – and in this dream she is going to become the champion filly of Europe’.
“I was desperate for horses, so we went to Keeneland and he showed me this filly. She was by Alleged, who was a hell of a sire, but she was very crooked and very ugly.
“The average for Alleged was 200,000 or 300,000 (dollars) and we picked her up for 42,000, which I thought was a lot of money. So we bought her with his dream intact.
“I got her home and she was very weak and a chronic box walker. She was coming on all right as a two-year-old and I went to Keeneland in July and I said to my apprentice, ‘you can ride her at Yarmouth, but I haven’t worked her’ – she’d just started strong cantering.
“I said, ‘look after her, I don’t care where you finish, but it might just change her mind and give her something to think about’.
“Anyway, she was second to Stoute’s best filly, Untold, and I was absolutely astounded.
“So after that race, I backed her for the Oaks at 100-1, which I thought was a terrible price because I’d never had a Classic runner, never mind a winner. I thought she should have been 500-1.
“After that she was never beaten!”
Midway Lady went on to race five times more, winning a Yarmouth maiden, the May Hill at Doncaster and the Prix Marcel Boussac under Lester Piggott, who retired for the first time at the end of 1985.
“I was never going to train her for the Guineas,” said Hanbury. “As she was a chronic box walker, I used to turn her out in the field.
“Then, in February, she fractured a splint bone, which was quite serious but not life-threatening.
“I said, ‘that’s it, we’ll be lucky to get her back for the Guineas’.
“Anyway, she recovered quite quickly and as any trainer will tell you, they are just like flowers. They suddenly come. This filly had to be box-rested and she got stronger and suddenly looked a million dollars.”
A racecourse gallop at Yarmouth convinced him to run in the Guineas and, with Ray Cochrane in the saddle as Piggott opted not to come out of retirement, the 10-1 chance powered up the stands rail at Newmarket to score by three-quarters of a length from Maysoon, with the 6-4 favourite Sonic Lady third.
On June 7, 1986, Midway Lady then justified 15-8 favouritism in the Oaks, winning by a length from Untold, with Maysoon third.
“Everyone looks from the outside and thinks things are rosy. But there are 365 days in a year – 350 of them are disappointing,” Hanbury pointed out.
“Most days, for everyone with horses, it’s depressing, so it’s great when you have a bit of luck.
“I didn’t have a party, I just went home and was physically ill. It was such a relief.”
However, during the race Midway Lady picked up a leg injury, which failed to respond to treatment, and in August that year she was retired.
“In my short training career, I was never lucky in so far that I had some good horses but every one of them got injured or never went on,” said Hanbury.
“She broke down in the Oaks. She never ran after June, but obviously if she was sound, she’d have won everything.”
Nineteen years later, Midway Lady’s daughter, Eswarah, similarly won the Oaks, a few months after Hanbury retired.
“Eswarah never ran as a two-year-old and had an injury – that’s why I really gave up,” he added.
“I walked into her box about October time and she had this injury, and I said, ‘that’s it!’.
“Eswarah was a very tricky, nervous filly. She went to Michael Jarvis and he trained her unbelievably well.
“I was absolutely delighted for Michael. He was a big friend, good luck to him. He was a lovely man. You can’t look back – ‘if’ is a great word, you know.”
Hanbury was just 58 when Diomed Stables was shuttered, with the keys passed on to Stuart Williams.
“You need a lot of luck. All my life I have been very lucky,” he added. “I don’t think I had much ability.
“I’d had a shocking year. When luck goes your way, I’d won every photograph, the ground was right, the draw was right.
“Then I had a five-year spell when it rained – I got the wrong draw, the jockey got shut in and I was having no luck, absolutely none. Everything went wrong.
“My accountant said, ‘you’ve lost £80,000 and you won’t last’. I had a valuable yard and unfortunately, when things go against you, you have got to have owners, you’ve got to have horses, you have got to have numbers. I was down to 30 horses.
“It takes quite a lot of guts to give up. Once you ring all your owners and say ‘I’m retiring’, that’s it. You can’t ring them up and say ‘I’m very sorry, I made a mistake’.
“I regretted retiring, but as it turned out, it was the best thing that ever happened financially.”
Anyone who is scorched by the fires of hardship – financial, physical or mental – can often feel grateful if blessed with a positive disposition.
To some, Hanbury may not seem particularly fortunate.
In his formative years, after working as a stable lad for Ryan Price, he ventured to Ireland. As a jockey, he had modest success, even partnering Cheltenham Gold Cup and Grand National winner L’Escargot to victory twice early in the horse’s career for Dan Moore.
Yet a terrible fall sidelined him for a year and fate took him on a different path.
“I came to Newmarket to get strong and I went to Bernard Van Cutsem, just to ride out and help him, and I saw there was much more money than being a bad professional jockey,” he said.
“That was 55 years ago and I never left Newmarket, never left my house. That was luck, complete luck.
“You need luck. Kala Dancer is another example. He got such a fright when Law Society bumped him just on the line, that he put his head out and that’s how he won the Dewhurst (1984).
“He only won by an inch. Every trainer will tell you, you need luck,” he added.
“Of course I regretted retiring. But as it turned out, I sold my yard and I had something to live on.
“I looked after the pictures at the Jockey Club Rooms in Newmarket for 16 years, but I’ve had cancer and just had a big heart operation. I’m feeling fit and I’m a million dollars, but not for doing any work.”
He is still content to do things in his own, unconventional way, however.
“I’m just gardening now. My doctor said to me, ‘no gardening for six weeks’. I waited about three days!” he laughed.
“I’m great, but I tell you what, I’ve been very, very lucky. I tell people so much is down to luck.
“I was very, very lucky to have an amazing wife. I was very lucky to meet her, lucky to have the career I had, lucky to have trained some good horses. I feel extremely lucky.”
The Oaks has produced many brilliant winners during its long history – yet the 2007 renewal created two points of argument that are, while more anecdotal than empirical, equally worthy of note.
Light Shift is arguably one of the most aptly-named winners and received the biggest reception for a horse ever to run in the race since its inception in 1779.
Sir Henry Cecil, saddling his eighth and final victory in the middle leg of the fillies’ Triple Crown, felt the warmth of the crowd. He never quite understood the adulation he was afforded or the esteem in which he was held by his adoring public, and the reception he received moved him to tears.
For this moment encapsulated, to the public at least, a glimmer of light at the end of the trainer’s dark tunnel.
“I think a lot of people thought this was his last hurrah, but little did we know it was the beginning,” said his wife, Lady Jane Cecil.
Cecil, a modest man, had almost effortlessly scaled unimaginable heights in a career which stared in 1969 and brought 25 domestic Classic winners and 10 trainers’ titles.
Top-class victories flowed with regularity. Wollow, Kris, Le Moss, Ardross, Slip Anchor, Oh So Sharp, Reference Point, Indian Skimmer, Bosra Sham, Oath and Reams Of Verse – things came easily to Cecil for so long.
What followed is well documented. The removal of Sheikh Mohammed’s horses from the Warren Place yard in 1995, the death of his twin brother David, from cancer, five years later and the breakdown of his second marriage, all took a heavy toll.
“The joy went out of his life and the focus went,” said Lady Jane, “particularly after David’s death. He took it very badly.”
In 2005 he saddled just a dozen winners and his stable of 200 horses shrank to barely 50.
A year later, he was diagnosed with stomach cancer.
Life’s fates then turned once more, with Light Shift providing the most significant winner in his career.
Musidora winner Passage Of Time was the 9-4 favourite. Also trained by Cecil, she was expected to give him his 24th Classic winner.
However, she had not wintered as well as Light Shift and had an issue with her throat, which came to light after the race, in which she finished eighth, over 21 lengths behind her stablemate.
But the diminutive Light Shift, a daughter of Kingmambo, who had broken her maiden at the third attempt the previous September, was no forlorn second-string.
She came to Epsom on a hat-trick, having opened her Classic season with a win at Newbury, followed by a comfortable Cheshire Oaks victory under Ted Durcan.
“She was so straightforward,” said her jockey. “She was neat but was extremely well-made and light on her feet.
“She was a lovely-moving filly with a lovely action and a lovely mind on her. She was a genuine, straightforward filly.
“Although she was a little bit antsy, there was no malice in her. She was one of those fillies who didn’t like hanging around or being held up in her regime. She loved getting on with it.
“She was a little bit headstrong as a two-year-old, but she learned to settle and was just a really sweet filly.”
He added: “I was very taken with her in the Cheshire Oaks. She gave the leaders a good head-start and picked them up in a matter of strides. On paper it says she won by a neck, but literally she won under hands and heels. I never had to give her a flick. She glided around Chester and showed an electric turn of foot.
“Once she won like that, we all headed to Epsom very excited, as she had every attribute you needed.
“She glided under the radar. At Epsom, I was mindful that I didn’t want to get her in a ruck, because she wasn’t over-big and it might light her up.
“But we had a lovely, smooth run around. The only thing was I was left in front too early. I thought by following Mick Kinane on Four Sins, who I fancied to run a big race, I was in a good position.
“I thought that filly would take me a bit longer into the straight, but she emptied quickly and I was left in front a bit sooner than I wanted.”
The Aidan O’Brien-trained Peeping Fawn, closed the gap significantly to half a length, but Martin Dwyer’s mount could not quite reel Durcan in.
“Aidan’s filly turned out to be brilliant. His filly may have lacked a little experience on Oaks day, but she showed she was smart afterwards and won four Group One races on the trot,” said Durcan.
“I think anyone who didn’t have an interest in the race wanted Henry to win with one or the other.
“Anyone who was neutral, or who loved racing, they were willing Henry to win the race. When one of the fillies won, everyone’s goodwill and emotion was aimed towards Henry, and rightly so.
“It was his day and that was right. One of the nicest things was the Niarchos family and Juddmonte had stood by Henry in his lean times. So for him to have a runner for both of them, and for one of them to win, it just added up to a magical day.
“It was my first Classic and an honour for a rider of my stature to win one. I totally appreciate how fortunate I was, as there were a lot better riders in the weighing room who were not fortunate enough to win a Classic.”
Light Shift’s Epsom win and marriage to Jane (nee McKeown) gave Cecil the fillip he needed.
“You’d never see Henry cry, but he shed a few tears that day with the reception he got, although he didn’t understand the public’s affection,” said Lady Jane.
“Light Shift wasn’t very big, but she was very brave. She was actually a bit of a worrier, so to do it on a day like that was incredible.
“It was a completely amazing day. That was the race that mattered most to him, because that was really the start of things.
“He was amazed by that response. Things from then, they started to get better and it bloomed from there.
“I was there when Love Divine (2000) won and that was a wonderful day and we had lots of well-wishers. I thought ‘this is marvellous’, and that we’d never get that feeling again, but when we arrived back after Light Shift, it was a whole different feeling, it went to a whole other level. You could just feel the love.
“People were willing Henry to win, because he’d had all that treatment and he didn’t look that good.
“He was so pleased for the Niarchos family, who were lovely to work for. Maria (Niarchos) was so delighted, as much for Henry as the horse.
“And Ted was a good rider. He knew her well and was a very good jockey and a very nice person. Henry liked him as a person and as a jockey, so he was delighted for Ted as well.”
Cecil’s story was yet to have its glorious final chapter written. The unbeaten Frankel, who gave him his final Classic in 2011, with a memorable 2000 Guineas romp, is the most famous of his training success stories.
Cecil bore his illness and treatment so gracefully, with such humility and dignity right until the end, which came eight months after Frankel’s retirement in October 2012 following victory in the Champion Stakes.
Lady Jane will keep a wistful eye on the action at Epsom this weekend with Soul Sister, a daughter of Frankel, bidding to give Frankie Dettori another big win in what is set to be his final season as a jockey. He also partners Arrest, another son of Frankel, in the Derby.
“Both races are very interesting this year, especially with the Frankel factor,” she added. “It’s just incredible really. That is the saddest thing, that Henry is not around, because he would have loved to have trained any of the Frankels,” she said.
“It’s so lovely to have the interest. There’s the Frankie factor as well. If it was Frankie’s last Oaks and Derby, winning either would be a great send-off, wouldn’t it?”
Who knows, it might even get the same hearty reception accorded to Light Shift, Durcan and the imperious Cecil.
Covey is likely to run in either the Jersey Stakes or the Britannia at Royal Ascot following his easy win at Haydock on Saturday.
The John and Thady Gosden-trained colt has now won three of his four races following a narrow defeat on his debut.
Unraced at two, he is rapidly making up for lost time but after Frankie Dettori admitted to being run away with on the gallops with him last year, what has pleased connections most is that he now saves his energy for the track.
A 10lb rise from the handicapper means he is now rated 100.
“We were all happy at Haydock and I was expecting the sort of rise he’s got,” said Barry Mahon of owners Juddmonte.
“We’ve got a couple of weeks to decide, but I would imagine he’ll go for either the Jersey or the Britannia.
“He’s a beautiful horse, an unbelievably good physical specimen and we always felt he could be a very good horse last year but he just didn’t give himself a chance, as Frankie said he was a bit of a boyo.
“But in every run on the track this season, he hasn’t put a foot wrong in temperament or performance, in every run he’s turned up and behaved well. He’s grown up a lot and we’re on the right path, hopefully he can turn into a nice horse.
“He won under hands and heels at Haydock. We’ve been a little bit behind all year but he’s catching up now, it just takes a while to get where you need to be.”
Peter Schiergen’s Tunnes will fly the flag for Germany in Dahlbury Coronation Cup at Epsom on Friday.
The four-year-old has an eye-catching pedigree as he is out Tijuana, the dam of 2021 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe winner Torquator Tasso.
Tunnes was a juvenile winner and then had a successful three-year-old season as he claimed the German St Leger and the Grosser Preis von Bayern in fairly quick succession as autumn approached.
He then jetted to Tokyo to take on the Japan Cup, a Grade One race in which he finished ninth of 18 to wrap up his season.
This year he kicked off his campaign in the Carl Jaspers Preis, a Group Two held at Cologne, and came home second over the same one-mile-four-furlong trip he will encounter at Epsom on the first day of the Derby meeting.
“He is good, he will run on Friday,” said Schiergen.
“He had a break and after the break he started and was second, he was good, he’s improved and I’m happy in the mornings.
“It was good enough for the first time, he wasn’t 100 per cent, he has improved and should be right now for Epsom.”
Should his Coronation Cup bid go to plan, there may be a return to British turf on the agenda for Tunnes, with the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot pencilled in for later in the season.
Schiergen said: “If he runs well,
we might plan to run him in the King George.”
Emily Upjohn makes her seasonal bow in the race and joint-trainer John Gosden feels the race should put the filly spot on for her targets later in the summer as last year’s Oaks runner-up returns to Epsom.
“She’s been fine but like a lot of the fillies, after that false glimpse of spring in February, we then had it cold and wet and she went back into herself,” he told Nick Luck’s Daily podcast.
“She’s taken a long time to come ready but hopefully she’s ready now to run a nice race in the Coronation.
“The race will bring her on. For the older horses, the races are June onwards. We had a think about going to Dubai but chose not to which was the correct and wise decision given who won it (Equinox).
“It looks like a small, select, elite field and she’s a filly taking on the colts, but we want to get her back going and I think you’ll see a big improvement going into June and July.
“She showed brilliance early on last year then it all went wrong in the King George when a few of them, like Westover, over-raced.
“She then had a long time off to come back on Champions Day, when she won with great authority. Right now she’s on the way to getting back up to that level, but I think the race will be key to bringing her on.”
Royal Ascot’s Hardwicke Stakes is still the aim for Brigadier Gerard Stakes winner Hukum, who handed Derby winner Desert Crown his first defeat at Sandown earlier this month.
Owen Burrows was happy to report the Shadwell-owned six-year-old returned to his Lambourn yard in fine fettle after his first run for 11 months.
Hukum had three screws inserted in a hind leg after suffering an injury when winning last year’s Coronation Cup at Epsom.
Having made a remarkable recovery, under a fine ride from Jim Crowley, he produced a telling burst to collar Desert Crown and take the Group Three 10-furlong prize by half a length.
“Hukum thankfully trotted up sound the next morning all good and had a little canter on Saturday. That was the most important bit,” said Burrows.
Victory over the trip opens a few more doors for the year-older brother to the brilliant Baaeed. Hukum had won over a mile and three-quarters in the past, although he has predominately raced over a mile and a half.
Burrows added: “He is trip versatile. We are just going to be in the lap of the gods to see what sort of summer we have this year.
“He doesn’t need it soft, but he does need it safe, good ground.
“Jim has always made that point and I’m in agreement. Talking to (Shadwell owner) Sheikha Hissa the following day, she was in agreement as well.
“I’ve not got him in the Prince of Wales’s or an Eclipse, but as you know well with the British summertime, if the forecast is a bit wet, we might just have to have a conversation.”
Should ground conditions be favourable, there is the fascinating prospect of a clash with stablemate Anmaat, who won Monday’s Prix d’Ispahan at ParisLongchamp.
“We have Anmaat in both the Prince Of Wales’s and the Eclipse, so it would be a nice problem to have,” he added.
“We will be watching the weather with Hukum and I always said the Brigadier Gerard would be a prep for the Hardwicke, but if the Hardwicke turned up good to firm, we might have to wait.
“There is the Eclipse at the beginning of July and a race in France in early July over a mile and a half. There is the King George at the end of July, but we will be on a constant weather watch.”
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