a day ago
Godolphin's business sense trumps sporting narratives on both sides of the Atlantic
Many years ago, a well-known journalist did an interview for the job of sports editor in a Dublin newspaper and was asked what ideas he'd implement if successful.
'First thing I'd do is get rid of the racing,' he announced. 'It takes up too much space. And it's not even a sport. It's a business.'
Such black-and-white demarcation was always going to spook the editorial horses and, thankfully, he didn't get the gig. Every professional sport is a business. No one argues the
Premier League
isn't sport just because it generates so many billions and so much cynicism.
Racing pulls off the same combination and maybe doubles down on the cynicism given how much betting is front and centre. But rarely has business trumped sport like it did with
Godolphin
's campaigning of their two best classic colts on either side of the Atlantic last week.
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On Friday, a weather forecast for significant rain on Derby Day 24 hours later prompted doubts about the 2000 Guineas winner, Ruling Court, lining up for English racing's 'Blue Riband'. Godolphin's trainer Charlie Appleby said they could take out the colt if conditions got too soft.
No deluge occurred before the Derby. But after jockey William Buick rode in the first race, he adjudged the ground to be good to soft. Appleby took out Ruling Court. The Derby was run on going officially described as good.
Perhaps the most disillusioning element to it all was the lack of indignation at such a faint-hearted move.
Amid a narrative of the Derby being the most coveted prize in racing, there was little or no surprise at the Godolphin call. Conditions weren't lightning quick. But they weren't bog-like either. Given Appleby's reassurances about the trip not being a particular worry, the defection smacked of an expedient exercise in asset protection.
In the stallion business, a Guineas winner is a valuable commodity. A Derby victory should increase that value but doesn't. A St James's Palace Stakes at a mile, or an Eclipse at 10-furlongs, does, and that's where Ruling Court goes next.
The usual caveats apply about Sheikh Mohammed and his team not being obligated to run any of their horses anywhere they don't want to. But it pulled the rug out of a rather frantic narrative about how special winning the Derby is.
Maybe Ruling Court wouldn't have overhauled Lambourn. But maybe he would. No one will ever know. It showed a dispiriting lack of sporting pluck, but Godolphin's transatlantic timidity betrayed a woeful lack of appreciation of racing's broader picture.
Their Kentucky Derby winner Sovereignty landed the Belmont Stakes with aplomb. It meant the colt has two legs of the US Triple Crown under his belt, which makes it even more astounding that he wasn't given a shot at what has always been American racing's Holy Grail.
Having beaten Journalism at Churchill Downs on the first Saturday in May, it quickly became obvious that following the natural path to Pimlico for the Preakness was a non-runner. Instead, Sovereignty would be kept in reserve for the Belmont.
It left Journalism to win the Preakness despite an agricultural effort by jockey Umberto Rispoli that memorably prompted rival trainer Steve Asmussen to say the Italian had ridden the winner 'like a rented mule'. Journalism was again runner-up in the Belmont.
Despite his dodgem experience in Pimlico, Journalism again ran his race last weekend. Sovereignty looks to be just better than him. There's no shame in that. The real shame afterwards was the sense of 'what if?' that accompanied the winner's classic glory.
All evidence suggests US racing would have had its 14th Triple Crown winner if Sovereignty had lined up in Baltimore. That he didn't was due to a meagre two-week gap between races being less than perfect. Defeat might have carried significant reputational cost.
Sovereignty, ridden by Junior Alvarado, crosses the finish line to win the 151st Kentucky Derby in May. Photograph:'If there ever would have been a horse you could have tried the Triple Crown with, he might have been it – big, sturdy, came out good,' trainer Bill Mott reported. 'There was no reason physically why we couldn't have run in the Preakness. We had no excuse other than we didn't feel like it.'
The Triple Crown races are crammed tightly. It's part of the challenge. The 2022 Derby winner, Rich Strike, skipped the Preakness too. But he was an 80/1 freak result. Sovereignty looks the best of his generation.
The Triple Crown is the pivotal story US racing tells itself and sells to the world. It's become a much harder sell in recent years. This time no one appeared to care. Godolphin weren't feeling it. The schedule wasn't ideal, but it it's never perfect. It wasn't ideal for American Pharoah and Justify either. They at least got a shot at overcoming it.
It's always easy to be plucky with someone else's horse. But the privilege of a Kentucky Derby winner comes with a responsibility too and ducking the Triple Crown challenge left another hallowed racing narrative sounding hollow.
All of it ultimately comes down to Sheikh Mohammed, the man we're assured is instrumental in everything his operation does. Presumably no one makes any classic decisions before talking to him.
Maybe those decisions with both Ruling Court and Sovereignty were judicious investments in commercial bloodstock good sense. But from a sporting point of view, it just looked gutless.
Something for the Weekend
This weekend's classic action is the French Oaks, the Prix De Diane, at Chantilly where
Mandanaba
(3.05) should relish the step-up in trip following her third in the 'Pouliches' last month.
Henry de Bromhead has snapped up Colin Keane's services for
Town and Country
(2.40) in tomorrow's Listed sprint at Sandown. The filly came up just a head shy of First Instinct in Cork last month and doesn't need to step up much on that to go close.
