Sand 'The Revival' Repeal

It is with great sadness that I report the retirement of Sand Repeal.

This may be the first time you've ever heard of him, or maybe you're an avid fan of the beast, but, to me, he was a great, a horse that touched my heart.

At times though, he could seem a yak, most notably when he would occasionally nip you and produce a bruise or when he would try and barge out his stable door.

Inside though was a heart of gold.

His story began in Ireland, in 2002, when a small stud owner called Donald Cummings decided to breed Columbian Sand with Revoque - a pretty unspectacular cross, one which was unlikely to lead to a high price at the sales.

So it was not surprising that he skipped the sales and went straight to Harraton Stables, base of trainer Julia Feilden.

From here he remained. A big gangly yearling, he was castrated early to keep his mind on the job.

As a two year-old he surprised many (as he was to do in the future) by being placed twice from three runs but he was always going to be a better three year-old.

And so, loaded with a rating of 73 (the highest he would ever reach) Sand Repeal raced around the courses of the United Kingdom from Ascot to Yarmouth.

It was the winter 2006 however that he really started to make a mark. Three wins during that period kept us all warm although they were split with two defeats behind a 66 rated Young Mick (not bad form in hindsight).

Little did we know it would be another 14 months before he won another race, interspersed with one attempt over hurdles where he duly unseated his rider at the first.

During this time, I had just observed, riding him occasionally and regarding as nothing more than one in the yard.

As time went on and I started riding in amateur races, our link developed. I rode him at Wolverhampton, finished 4th and hoped I'd never ride him again because he was such hard work.

Luckily, things didn't turn out as I hoped. We went to Windsor and on the back of a few placed efforts, he started at odds of 13/2. It was a venture into the unknown on this day - he was racing over 1m4f for the first time in well over two years. I knew one thing - he stayed, so I kicked him on four out and we never saw another horse. Chuffed, I obviously was.

What came next though, no-one expected.

To Chester, three weeks later and we're still not greatly fancied at 15/2 despite our obvious good rapport. 1m4f again, so what do we do? Kick on. It wasn't so easy this time, Sand Repeal had to dig deep and dig deep he did. We won by a head.

From these days, he became a favourite. Renamed Sand 'Revival' due to his recent resurgence in form, he obtained a slight cult following amongst the villagers of Exning and university students alike.

Between then and yesterday, not much had changed; he raced, ate and went out in the field to fight the ponies.

But after 63 runs, 7 wins, 21 places and £33,000 earned in prize money, it all caught up with him. He suffered a tear in his tendon when racing at Brighton. Not life threatening, but enough to end his racing career.

His future is safe, a good home for life is certain but he will be missed by all at Julia Feilden racing, most notably by me.

He was a pet and, as much as an animal can be, a mate.

Champion system?

Move over Pricewise, there's a new kid on the Saturday afternoon tipping block! Twice Over at 12/1, did you get it? Oh, but you're still in the red after a substantial forecast in the Dewhurst. Never mind. I also fancied Darley Sun in the big handicap but I didn't bother telling you because it was obvious, wasn't it?

Now for a little enlightenment. Jimmy Pugh and I are experimenting on a new system that we hope will prove profitable (like all good ideas initially do).

Take last year's Champion Bumper at Cheltenham, won so impressively by Dunguib. Now back every horse that ran in that race when it makes a hurdling debut. Any good?

Well, so far it looks promising. Second at the festival in March was Some Present...who won on 15/10 at Punchestown at 13/8fav.

Next we take the horse that finished sixth at Prestbury Park - Cranky Corner. He won at Gowran on 06/05 at 6/5fav. He's in on Sunday at Aintree.

Three places behind him was Benbane Head who won at Cheltenham on Saturday priced 8/1 after finishing third as 5/4fav on his hurdles debut. Disappointing admittedly but he eventually won nonetheless.

As for the imminent future, the ninth, Pepe Simo, runs at Wincanton on Sunday in the same race that the 18th, Henry King, makes his hurdles debut.

Shinrock Paddy, an unlucky eighth at Cheltenham runs at Thurles on Thursday.

And finally, the horse that only beat one home, Bygones of Brid, takes to the jumping game for the first time at Cartmel, also on Thursday.

Let's get on and see what happens!

Lightning doesn't strike Twice

With a chill in the breeze, Wolverhampton night meetings becoming more regular and the top racehorses retiring to sud, it most definitely feels like the ed of the flat season.
For me, Newmarket's Champions Meeting tomorrow is the annual last hurrah for the speed kings. I know there's the November Handicap meeting to contend with still but, let's be honest, we won't be seeing too many superstars there and the Breeders' Cup has taken a significant knock with the imperious Sea The Stars deciding that he'll be better off enjoying the company of some lady friends rather than trounce the same old horses, this time in America.
I don't know if I'm alone on this but, I find the Champions Meeting one which is quite profitable. Maybe it's because the best horses usually win or because you can put your money on safe in the knowledge that connections are trying, but my selections always do themselves proud.
This year is no different. New Approach was scorching value at 6/4 in last year's headline Champion Stakes and the horse he beat into second that year, Twice Over, can go one better this time around.
Not only that, I've also cracked the Dewhurst Stakes as well. A quality renewal it is and I think Silver Grecian will get back to winning ways with Dick Turpin filling the runner's up spot.

Youm must be in-Zain (or how it could have been)

Mick Channon hailed Youmzain as "the biggest thief since Ronnie Biggs" after the gelding's unimaginable third consecutive Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe victory in Paris yesterday.

In familiar style, the six year-old swooped late under Kieren Fallon to nail Cavalryman on the line in front of an ecstatic crowd.

For Fallon it was an even more memorable day, barely a month after his return to race riding from a two year drug suspension, this was his signal that he is back on the big stage.

"The horse is quite remarkable," said the Irishman. "You can only hit the front late and he's a complete mongrel but I wish all my dogs were as talented as him."

Available at odds of 20/1, it was clear that the public believed his victories over Soldier of Fortune (2008) and Sagara (2007) were complete flukes and lightning doesn't strike three times.

How wrong they were though. Despite looking short of room two furlongs out, the son of another Arc winner in Sinndar, burst through to land the £1.6m first prize.

As to the future, another crack at France's premier race looks possible.

"We'll see how he comes out of the race and check that he eats all his pedigree chum tonight," said Channon. "When he wins we give him chicken and vegetable flavour - he loves it."

"I'd love to come back here because the bread rolls are delicious but I'm not really sure whether the track suits him."

Water waste of time

I'll tell you something else that has got up my goat recently - over-watering. The amount of races I've seen where the ground looks desperate is growing like Joseph Fritzl's beard.
Take Newmarket for instance; beautiful ground on the Friday, then by Saturday it's like watching a load of old chasers at Kelso. I know it's been an incredibly dry autumn but it's as if the courses have left the tracks unattended and then the day before the race they've thought 'oh, it's quite hard out here. Taps on, Geoffrey!'
The result? Ground described as good to firm yet kicks up like Worcester on a good day. The top is very loose because of all the water put on it but it hasn't had time to penetrate the ground o underneath the grass it's rock 'ard.
As you may guess, the turf is then slippy and the amount of horses who have been close to falling on the flat has increased.
So what can you do? It's too loose for the fat ground horses but still firm for the mud lovers. Leave it alone until some rain comes. Or go to Wolverhampton.

PS, I'm tempted to lay Yeats today. I know it goes against sentimentality but the old boy's always underperformed in this event and at 4/1, I'd oppose him. But lump on Dick Turpin and rob those bookies!

Pay peanuts...get monkeys

Ha! So all of those of you who voted against me updating this blog in a week were wrong. Oh, no one voted at all.

There was a little debate on the way to the races yesterday in respect to prize money - notably the lack of it. People moan that there is too much racing and not enough prize money. I take argument to this view; the amount of racing at the moment is sustainable and provides a regular flow of action to punters and fans alike. The problem is though that those associated with the upkeep of the horses (owners, trainers, staff etc) will not be able to provide the horses for the action because they can't afford to.

The recession hasn't dramatically altered the training of racehorses which has been the same, more or less, for hundreds of years but people are now being more economical - instead of trecking to a venue with one runner, they'll fill the box up with two just to make the trip more cost effective. Similarly, trainers' steeds now share lifts in horse boxes thus reducing the cost as well.

None of this is bad, in fact it saves money and reduces carbon emmissions because less boxes are travelling to the races, but it doesn't detract attention away from the problem of prize money.

You see horses racing round Wolverhampton on a Saturday night for roughly £1500. This barely covers a month's training fees for the nag. Ownership should be profitable for everyone and this would surely bring new faces to the game.

To boost the pot at the lower end of the scale, I think the authorities need to trim something off the top of the tree. Why, for instance, does the QE2 need to be £142,000 to the winner when there are only 4 runners and most years the quality of horse is substandard to Group 1 level?

Yes, the big handicaps should have valuable pots to attract competition but why does the Derby need to be worth almost £1m? Surely Chris Tsui, owner of this years winner Sea The Stars, wouldn't mind if he only won half that amount because, at the end of the day, he's still going to get insane money for him as a stallion.

Basically, the big Group 1s don't need big prizes because the value of the win comes with the horse, at sale or through breeding. Little handicap winners won't be worth much more for winning a class 6 event, they don't have a future in the industry after retirment, but if the prize is good, then things are more affordable.

Say you trim £200,000 off the prize money of the Derby, this could be redistributed as an extra £1000 prize money for 200 other races.

It seems that the rich only get richer in this game and for that reason, racing is excluding 99.9% of the British population.