Classic Prospects for the Flat

By 0 ' D .

THE European classic races this year will lose nothing in financial comparison with the mammoth US prizes, and the top three- year-old colt should be able to earn £100,000, and possibly as much as £250,000, for his owner.

Thanks to a £30,000 contribution from the Horse Race Betting Levy Board, the Epsom Derby (June 3) will be worth more than £50,000. The Irish Sweeps Derby (June 27) will carry prize money of an equivalent amount. The tote-subsidised French promise the richest race of all time for the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp on October 4. With added money, the winner's share is ex- pected to be not less than £85,000. The Champion Stakes at Newmarket on October 16 could bring in another £35,000, and the winner of any of these races is certain to be on John D. Schapiro's all- paid invitation list for the $150,000 Washington, DC, International at Laurel Park, Maryland, on November 11.

Other high-value races include the Coronation Cup at Epsom on June 4, which has £30,000 attached to it, the £50,000 Grand Prix at Saint- Cloud on July 5, and the £30,000 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot (July 18).

These tot up to an impressive aggregate of £380,000.

The four-year-olds Ragusa, Relko and Le Mesnil will probably dominate the all-aged events, for—with the solitary exception of the Irish- trained Santa Claus—the European three-year- old crop is unlikely to prove of vintage quality.

The reputation of Santa Claus, which caused him to be promoted 6-1 ante-post favourite for th•e Derby when William Hill issued his first list, in mid-winter, depends solely on one race—the National Stakes, run over seven furlongs at the Curragh on September 19. (He had earlier run unplaced in the Anglesey Stakes over the same course, seven weeks previously.) In the National Stakes, he ran clear away from the brilliant filly, Mesopotamia, and ten others, to win by eight lengths in very fast time.

'I'm fully satisfied that your filly was at the top of her form, and that no fluke attached to the result—she could not have finished a yard closer,' remarked Mesopotamia's trainer, Brud Fether- stonhaugh, when discussing the race afterwards with Major Victor McCalmont. If Santa Claus justifies this opinion, yet another page will be added to the unending chapter of turf romance.

He had changed hands twice, before eventually coming into the possession of his present owner, Mr. John Ismay (a relative of the man whose Craiganour suffered sensational disqualification in the 1913 Derby). The late Miss Dorothy Paget bred the dam, Aunt Clara, in 1953, by Arctic Prince from the unraced Sister Clara, a half-sister to the unforgettable Sun Chariot.

Aunt Clara proved hopeless as a racing pro- position, and after running three times unplaced, she was sold for 130 guineas to Mr. E. Martin- dale at the 1955 Newmarket December Sales. Mr. Martindale passed her on to Doctor Frank Smor- fitt of the Marton Manor Stud near Rugby.

He mated her in 1960 with Chamossaire, the St. Leger winner of 1945. The produce was sold as a foal for 800 guineas, again at Newmarket December Sales, to the Irish breeder Bertie Rey- nolds. Mr. Reynolds, hoping for a quick profit, put him up as a yearling at Newmarket the fol- lowing September, but the 1,200 guineas he re- ceived barely covered the cost of the colt's keep during the interval. The new buyer was Tom Cooper, of Tim Vigors and Co., who later turned the horse over to Mr. Ismay for training with Mick Rogers at the Curragh.

Chamossaire, a son of Precipitation, by Hurry On, had sired the winners of 347k races valued at £190,341, up to the end of 1963, his best pro- geny being Chamier, Your Highness (both winners of the Irish Derby) and Cambremer, winner of the St. Leger. Good horses undoubt- edly, but certainly not the top of their generation, and there must be grounds for doubt whether Chamossaire, at his advanced age, is capable of

fathering a champion—a point to which the pun- dits will certainly give their deep consideration at the approach of Derby Day. But Chamossaire has the blood of Myrobella, one of the greatest racing fillies of all time, in his veins, and this might have fused with the Sun Chariot lineage to produce a champion.

Only twice in the last forty years has the Derby been won by a colt whose parentage did not con- form to the generally-accepted pattern. April the Fifth (1932) was, undoubtedly, a freak of breed- ing, and so—to a lesser extent—was Hard Ridden (1958).

It seems probable, at this stage, that Lester Piggott's mount will be Casablanca, owned and bred by the late Colonel B. Hornung. trained by Noel Murless. Here again pedigree doubts crop up, for this grey colt, although sired by the stay- ing Never Say Die. is a son of the brilliant but short-running Abelia. by Abernant. He stayed well enough under a hard ride from Piggott to beat Desaix for the Royal Lodge Stakes, run at Newbury in September, after an all-the-way suc- cess in Sandown's Battersea Park Stakes at the end of July.

The French stables will not disclose their real strength until the races for their graduated classic trials, the Juigne, the Lupin and the Hocquart.

Mick Rogers trains a second string to Santa Claus in Fino, a Court Harwell colt from the ex- cellent winner-producing mare Angelicus (dam of Hot Brandy and others).

Paddy Prendergast has an eye-catching Aureole colt—Anselmo, by name—from a Vatellor mare, unraced as yet. The early classic hope from this quarter will be Lady Granard's rangy filly Pour- parler, whose mission is the One Thousand Guineas.

No colt has won the Triple Crown—the Two Thousand Guineas, Derby and St. Leger—since Bahram's year (1935). Tulyar might, perhaps, have won the '2,000' had he run for it, and Crepello would have started at long odds-on for the 1957 St. Leger if only he had remained sound.

The Guineas, both in England and France— run in early spring—show signs of developing into contests where precocity and speed pay off most highly. The modern training technique leans towards specialisation, and we can be assured that Showdown, Talahasse and the French-trained Djel will be put into top gear for the first classic at Newmarket in April.

Mr. Dan Sheppard rated Talahasse at the head of his Free Handicap, but this writer concurs with bookmaker opinion in preferring Showdown, winner of the Middle Park Stakes. The perform- ance of Madame 'Suzy' Volterra's Djel will afford a line to the French prospects.

Our three-year-old fillies are best left alone. Lerida (by the sprinting Matador) cannot be guaranteed to stay a mile, and Crimea II will never be at her best except on firmish going.

Early classic trials, such as Newbury's Green- ham Stakes, will turn up some talent not exploited in 1963. Sir Gordon Richards, for instance, is choosing this race for the introduction of Never Never, a son of Never Say Die.

On the brink of the greatest-ever gambling season, it appears probable, however, that Irish- trained horses will dominate the big European races, even if Showdown and Talahasse finish 1,2 for the Two Thousand Guineas.

Pourparler ('1,000'), Santa Claus (Derby) and Mesopotamia (Oaks) will be backed up by Ragusa —outstanding prospect for the European cham- pion of 1964. This will surely be another great year for the Irish.