Latest news with #Richard Hannon
The Guardian
12 hours ago
- Sport
- The Guardian
‘That's horse racing': 150-1 Sussex Stakes winner Qirat longest-priced Group One victor
The teeth, perhaps, were slightly gritted, but Richard Hannon offered some perspective after watching his colt, Rosallion, finish second to the 150-1 shot Qirat in the Sussex Stakes here on Wednesday. 'That's horse racing,' the trainer said. 'That's what keeps us all in it. It's not a great day when you're second in these races but we're lucky to be part of them.' Mundane words like 'shock' and 'upset' do not come close to describing the result of this Group One contest, one of the most prestigious and prized events in the global racing calendar, which was won by a horse that finished 27th of 30 runners in the Royal Hunt Cup Handicap on his previous trip to the track. Qirat, as the stewards drily noted afterwards, 'appeared to show improved form compared with its previous run'. Ralph Beckett's gelding was widely assumed to be in the race simply to ensure an even pace before Field Of Gold, the 1-3 favourite and, like Qirat, in the colours of the Juddmonte operation, swept through the field to victory. It was, as it transpired, a rash assumption. The first part of the script played out much as expected, as Serengeti, the pacemaker for Aidan O'Brien's Henri Matisse, worked his way to the front after a slow start and then went clear with Qirat and Richard Kingscote in close attendance. At the point around two furlongs out where Field Of Gold was expected to start closing them down. However, it soon became clear that the favourite was struggling to make ground. Instead, it was Sean Levy, on Rosallion, who set off in pursuit of the leaders, but as Serengeti dropped away, Qirat stayed on well and he was still two lengths in front at the furlong pole. Rosallion closed all the way to the winning post but Kingscote and Qirat still had a neck to spare at the line. Qirat was the longest-priced winner of a Group One race in Britain since the grading system was introduced in the early 1970s. Field Of Gold was clearly a long way below his best on his first visit to this tricky downland track, but Kingscote also deserves great credit for a no-nonsense ride at a front-runners' track, in a race where his rivals left themselves with too much to do. Ralph Beckett, Qirat's trainer, was certainly surprised to find himself in the winner's enclosure afterwards, but not entirely astonished. 'We set out to go 12-second furlongs,' Beckett said. 'That was the plan and what he did. It is as simple as that. They didn't sit close to him and that is the end result. When he went past Serengeti, I could see they were not coming and I was fairly confident he would not stop.' Kingscote described the outcome as 'a bit surreal and not what I expected this morning' but the race was also a fine advertisement for his talent for judging the fractions in front, a gift that should find plenty of new fans when Kingscote sets off for a four-month stint in Hong Kong from the start of September. 'Towards the cut-away [around two furlongs out] I was thinking he was going well,' Kingscote said, 'but you always expect the horses rated 20lb higher to be coming through. 'It is better to be going off [to Hong Kong] on a positive note. I'm looking forward to the opportunity but I have not burned bridges so I can always come back if need be.' John Gosden, the trainer of Field Of Gold, said that the favourite 'didn't seem too well-balanced on the track', adding: 'He got a little unbalanced coming out of the dip into the bend, but I am not making any excuses. They ignored the pacemaker and paid the price.' The five-runner field for Thursday's Nassau Stakes is the joint-smallest this century for the Group One feature on the third day of Glorious Goodwood, but while Minding was a prohibitive 1-5 favourite to beat four opponents in 2016, this year's renewal is a fascinating and open contest with four closely matched fillies at single-figure odds. Whirl, the Oaks runner-up and a Group One winner in Ireland last time out, heads the three-year-old challenge alongside Cercene, last month's Coronation Stakes winner, and Bedtime Story, who is looking to recapture the form of her impressive juvenile success at Royal Ascot last summer. It is an impressive squad for the Classic generation, in a Group One where three-year-olds have enjoyed plenty of success in recent seasons. They face a stern four-year-old opponent in See The Fire (3.05), however, and Andrew Balding's filly is a solid 2-1 shot to improve on her narrow defeat in this race 12 months ago. See The Fire produced one of the most visually impressive performances of the season to finish a dozen lengths clear of her field in the Middleton Stakes at York in May in a fast time, and raced closer to the pace than the two that beat her in the Prince of Wales's Stakes at Royal Ascot last month. That run in open company confirmed that she is an improved performer this season and Ombudsman, the winner, went down only narrowly in the Eclipse next time out. Goodwood 1.20 Best Secret was a big-money buy to join the Wathnan Racing operation before Royal Ascot last month and repaid at least a little of the outlay when finishing third in a strong renewal of the Golden Gates Handicap, despite finding plenty of traffic problems in the home straight. If James Doyle can keep him out of trouble from stall two, his proven turn of foot could well be decisive. Goodwood 1.55 Clive Cox's Coppull was a big outsider for the Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot but took a major stride forward to finish third, just a neck behind the runner-up, Do Or Do Not. The latter colt franked the form when finishing second to Zavateri, Tuesday's Vintage Stakes winner, next time up and Coppull has scope for significant further progress on just his third trip to the track. Goodwood 2.30 This is a much-anticipated step into Group-race company for Merchant, who beat Serious Contender, the subsequent runner-up in the Irish Derby, by a length in the King George V Handicap at Royal Ascot last month. William Haggas's colt was among the initial entries for last weekend's Group One King George VI at Ascot and will be a warm order for this traditional trial for the St Leger at Doncaster in September. Goodwood 1.20 Best Secret (nb) 1.55 Coppull 2.30 Merchant 3.05 Sea The Fire 3.45 Ruby's Profit (nap) 4.20 Steel Drum 4.55 Quiescent 5.30 Kaleido Nottingham 2.18 Nebrook Star 2.53 Moby Quick 3.30 Dancingintherain 4.05 Mini Mac 4.40 Blenheim Lad 5.15 Dogged Wolverhampton 5.45 Intervention 6.15 Loving Apprentice 6.45 Chutzpal 7.15 Change Sings 7.45 Love Is The Law 8.15 Mr Swivell 8.45 Bint Al Daar Epsom 5.50 Etretat 6.25 Norfolk Blue 7.00 King's Castle 7.30 Brielle 8.00 Uncle Simon 8.30 Muscika Goodwood 3.45 Ascot's stiff final furlong was the undoing of Ruby's Profit at the Royal meeting last month but this return to a sharp five furlongs should see her in a much better light. The speedy front-runner was a course-and-distance winner in May off a 5lb lower mark and she remains well-handicapped on that form.
Telegraph
16-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
Horse racing tips: Wednesday July 16
Ron Wood's selections NAP: Wheels Of Fire (4.30, Catterick) 1pt win @ 9/4 with Betfred ⭐⭐⭐ Other: Stardancer (8.40, Yarmouth) 1pt win @ 10/3 with Betfred ⭐⭐⭐ Odds provided by Betfred and correct at the time of writing. Stars denote strength of selection (max 5). If you already have a Betfred account and are looking for a new bookmaker to use for this week's racing, check out more free bets from the best betting sites, reviewed by our experts. 4.30, Catterick – Class 4 Handicap (6f) WHEELS OF FIRE still has improvement in him. He was sold for 70,000gn this month, a fair chunk of money for a Class 4 handicapper, but he remains with Richard Hannon. This three-year-old Mehmas colt has been running creditably in defeat in handicaps lately and he is a strong-travelling type who will be well suited by this return to a turning track, particularly a sharp course like Catterick. His sole previous win came at Lingfield, which is also a tight course. Slow ground would be an unknown, but he should move through the race quite easily. Check out Betfred promo code July 2025 8.40, Yarmouth – Class 4 Handicap (7f) The Clive Cox-trained STARDANCER shaped well when third in a Class 4 Doncaster event on his handicap debut. Seeing as this Dark Angel gelding had been off for five months before that outing, and this race comes another six weeks on, he should improve – and if so, he will go well. Selection: Stardancer 1pt win @ 10/3 with Betfred Go to site > Today's UK and Irish racing (Flat unless stated) Bath 2.20-4.53 Catterick 2.30-5.00 Uttoxeter (NH) 2.38-5.10 Killarney 5.20-8.20 Yarmouth 6.10-8.40 Ffos Las 6.30-9.00 What does NAP mean? NAP is a word used in betting circles to describe a prediction that a tipster thinks has a particularly strong chance of winning. Many horse racing tipsters pick out a 'NAP of the day', which is their favoured selection from all the races across the different meetings. The term NAP derives from the French card game Napoleon. When players of this game thought they had a particularly strong hand that they would win with, they would shout 'Napoleon'. What is an each-way bet? An each-way bet is a popular type of wager, particularly with horse racing fans. It is essentially two bets, both of which have the same size stake. An each-way bet features one bet on the selection to win and the other bet on the selection to place. So a £10 each-way bet will cost you a total of £20. There will be one £10 bet on the selection to win and another £10 on the selection to place. It's a popular bet because it offers punters the chance of a return, even if the horse in question fails to win. Bookmakers will pay out at a stated percentage of the odds for a place finish, for example one-fifth of the starting price (SP) for finishing in the first three. The more runners there are in a horse race, the more places will be on offer. In races that feature lots of runners, the horses will be available at bigger odds, making an each-way bet a wise choice. If you're looking for casino bonuses, we've ranked UK welcome offers Ron Wood 2025 horse racing profit/loss Star ratings explained ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - confident selection ⭐⭐⭐⭐ - strong fancy ⭐⭐⭐ - fair claims ⭐⭐ - tentative choice ⭐ - minimum confidence If you want to find more odds and offers, take a look at our list of the best betting sites and free bets Check out our list of the best casino bonuses in the UK
