IT’S my last column in The Favourite for 2023 and I hope we can end it how we started – with a big winner.
We kicked off on a brilliant note back in May when Chaldean won the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket under Frankie Dettori.
Richard Pelham / The SunAndrew Balding is looking to end the season on a high at Ascot[/caption]
I hope there is a big sense of irony in that we finish on a huge high with the same horse – with Frankie in the saddle once again.
As a whole I’m very pleased with how this season has gone, we are third in the trainers’ standings and have pretty much matched the results of the last two years.
Chaldean winning the Guineas, for all it feels like a very long time ago, is definitely the highlight.
We had a testing time of it at Royal Ascot but had some nice winners at Glorious Goodwood and York’s Ebor Festival. It can be so competitive at those big meetings.
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Unfortunately we lost Sheikh Mohammed Obaid as an owner this week – he removed his horses and they’ve gone to Karl Burke’s.
I have no hard feelings towards him, we didn’t have much luck for him and pretty much everything that could go wrong, did go wrong.
He said to me a few times, “I don’t think you’re lucky, we aren’t lucky together”, so I could see it coming somewhat.
It’s a blow, no doubt, but he was very good to deal with throughout his time with us and I would train horses for him again in a heartbeat.
We have some big chances at Ascot this afternoon but, of course, the day is all about Frankie. And rightly so.
He has had plenty of winners for us over the years and has been unbelievable for the sport in this country.
We are going to miss him and I hope he can have at least one winner on Champions Day – preferably on our horse in the QEII!
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I was amazed at CHALDEAN’S (3.05) price for the big Group 1 earlier in the week, especially as we know he handles soft ground.
He has had plenty of time off since his rare bad performance in the Prix Jean Prat at Deauville in July, and he is coming into the race a fresh horse compared to some.
He put on plenty of condition during his midseason break but, over the last two or three weeks, he really has come back into his early season form on the gallops.
I couldn’t be happier with him and I’m hopeful he will run a massive race on his day of reckoning.
We kick off Champions Day with dear old COLTRANE (1.15) in the Long Distance Cup.
It was a complete write-off at Doncaster last time when he didn’t run his race at all, but he had been having a tremendous year up until then.
It’s hard to know if the tough races he had earlier in the campaign have taken their toll, but he seems in fine fettle at home and will be thereabouts if he is back to his best.
SANDRINE (1.50) will absolutely love the soft ground in the Champions Sprint – though you could say the same of most of the field.
Kinross is the one to beat, but Sandrine has turned a corner recently and she deserves to win a Group 1.
There can be upsets in this race especially – as we know having won it with Donjuan Triumphant at 33-1 a few years back.
SEA OF ROSES (2.25) hasn’t quite scaled the heights I had hoped at the start of the year.
But she ran a nice race in the Ribblesdale over C&D earlier in the year and she will like the ground, so she could hit the frame at a big price.
And similar comments apply to VETIVER (4.25), who loves it when the mud is flying and ran a cracker in a Group 3 last time.
She gets in off a lovely weight and must have a good chance, for all this race is a bit of a lottery.
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