Patience rewarded
Robin Oakley
In his Devil's Dictionary Ambrose Bierce describes patience as 'a minor form of despair, disguised as a virtue'. Bierce obviously did not spend much time in National Hunt racing stables where the vet's confirmation of tendon or other damage so often means the dread phone-call to an owner with the message: 'He's got a leg, and I'm afraid that's it for this season.' In jump-racing, patience — the patience to take long enough in treatment and not to rush a racecourse return — is undoubtedly a virtue, as was amply demonstrated at Ascot on Saturday.
It was 392 days since the seven-year-old Supreme Catch had been on a racecourse. Henrietta Knight had wondered at times about missing the whole season with him since he had been `wrong in front' for more than nine months, crippled with trouble in his shoulder muscles. But treatment by Roger Stack and daily dressage to supple him up had finally paid dividends. Even then it was touch and go. Some horses are born to stretch a trainer's nerves and Supreme Catch trod on a nail the night before he was due to contest the vcpoker.com handicap chase and spent an hour with his foot in a cold bucket before he was pronounced ready to run. We then saw an admirable display of patience in the saddle from the man whom they've taken to calling 'confident Culloty' as stable jockey Jim Culloty, aware that his mount stayed, switched off Supreme Catch at the back and still had fully 12 lengths to make up turning into the straight. As Ei Ei and Trouble Ahead tired in front he came with a wet sail and did for them after the last, going away to win by two and a half lengths. Quite some comeback.
It was the same story in the handicap hurdle with Mark BracIstock's Germanbred Almaravide. 'Nobody liked him except this genius,' grinned bloodstock agent and former jockey Graham Bradley, indicating the trainer. 'I couldn't sell him for five months.' Poor Almaravide then cracked a bone in a foot and had leg problems. He ran only once in the past two seasons but after a pipe-opener at Leicester he came to Ascot and jumped superbly to show he had retained the ability evident in two novice hurdle wins back in 1999-2000.
Germany is still a comparatively cheap source of good jumpers, says Brad, who has made it his speciality. As for Almaravide, he is quite a character. 'He's a little Mensa,' said trainer's wife Sarah. 'He's very, very clever.' But you don't always need them too clever. 'It'll take us an hour to get him back in his box now,' said her husband, who clearly did not resent it.
It was a day of spectacular racing around the country, which began to fit the clues together for Cheltenham. At Ascot Nicky Henderson scored yet another big victory with Isio's win in the Victor Chandler Chase. But he insisted honours had to be shared with Paul Nicholl's Azertyuiop in a race he called `Bustino versus Grundy over fences'. Mick Fitzgerald aboard Isio and Ruby Walsh on Azertyuiop hurled themselves and their mounts at the last and battled head-to-head up the straight with the race going to Isio in the end by a neck. But Azertyuiop was carrying 19 lbs more and Nicky declared, `It was just a great race and I'm sorry for the second horse.' Anybody who could not thrill to that sight shouldn't waste time going to a racecourse.
Paul Nicholls was delighted with a display that makes Azertyuiop a clear second favourite behind Moscow Flyer for the Queen Mother Champion Chase. Pointing out that his star two-miler had often had things easy in his races, he said, 'He'll have learned more today than he's ever done in a race and he'll come on for that. We're not going to be afraid to take on Moscow Flyer.'
Henderson's Got One Too, one of my Ten to Follow last season, ran well to finish third at 33-1. Another in that Ten, though, was the Queen's horse First Love, who ran a stinker behind Supreme Catch. What was wrong. I asked Mick Fitzgerald: 'Best go to the racecourse stables and ask him. He was talking to me all round rather than racing,' said his frustrated rider. I think we can expect blinkers on First Love next time.
From this year's Ten both Kingscliff and Artic Jack ran at Haydock, unfortunately in the same race. The odds-on Kingscliff did not cope well enough with the stiff fences but, fortunately for me, it was Artic Jack, at 6-1, who took the honours. Another of our Ten, the champion hurdler Rooster Booster returned to winning ways with a 5-4 victory over Hasty Prince and Specular, having to make much of his own running to do so. He remains on target for a repeat victory in a race where he should get the fast pace he needs.
I was feeling sore at the end of the day, my place-pot selections at Ascot having provided five first places, only for me to miss out with fourth place in the other race when Byron Lamb finished out of the frame for the first time ever. But my tribulations were nothing to those of Kingscliffs jockey Andrew Thornton. He spent £1,200 on a helicopter so he could ride both Kingscliff at Haydock and Behrajan in the big race at Warwick, only for bad weather to prevent him taking off. But perhaps that was just as well. Poor Behrajan fell fatally in the Tote Classic, breaking his neck instantly at the third last as Take Control had done earlier in the same race. On such a glittering day, the race, which provided Henrietta Knight with yet another success via Southern Star, proved a tragic reminder of the price some of these wonderful animals pay for our pleasure.
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