Sandown celebs
Robin Oakley
Derek Thompson would, I suspect, like to have been Busby Berkeley or Cecil B. de Mille. In the unsaddling enclosure at Sandown on Saturday the Channel 4 commentator could not resist taking through their paces an assembled group of dancing girls dressed in shimmering fuchsia pink outfits, outfits which were a curious combination between leotard and body armour. It did quite literally frighten the horses, or one of them anyway, Milton Bradley's The Tatling, winner of the Sunshine Coach Rated Stakes, whose lad had to turn the concerned animal backside-on to the frolics. Perhaps he was just miffed that his moment of glory was being taken away from him as the crowd concentrated on the human form rather than the racing kind.
I wasn't sure whether it was the dancing troupe which surrounded him for the presentation photo or the improved form of The Tatling which had put the twinkle back in Milton's eye. After a storming season last year his horses have been quieter this year. 'There's nothing much wrong with them,' said the Chepstow trainer. 'It's just that their white blood cell count is down — and that usually shows they're using it for something else.' The other factor, of course, is that the handicapper has caught up with most of the Bradley horses. Spoil
sport. He shouldn't be too harsh on The Tatting after his victory by two necks and the gelding should win again off his present mark. 'He is a horse who needs to be covered up,' Milton reminded us. Some might say the same of one or two of Derek's dance troupe.
It was, of course, Variety Club Day at Sandown which meant the course was clustered with showbiz celebs of various degrees of distinction. Jeremy Beadle's relentless series of podium interviews with any of them we'd ever heard of reminded me constantly of the Marlon Brando remark: 'An actor is the kind of guy who if you ain't talking about him ain't listening.' Egos were not in short supply. But it was all in a good cause.
The best equine performance of the day came in the Iveco Daily Solari° Stakes, won by John Gosden for Sheikh Mohammed with Foss Way. The race, aptly described by the trainer as a smart graduation affair for a lot of decent horses who had won their maidens, can be a handy guide to next year's three-year-old prospects, even if you have to go back to the likes of Charlottown to find a Solari° winner who went on to take the Derby. The Variety Club day has been going a long time and looking at all the showbiz hoo-ha around him John recalled that when his father Towser Gosden had won the race he had been presented with a huge box of chocolates wrapped with red velvet ribbon. When the actress who handed over the prize did so with a big kiss for the trainer, it caused a sensation which reverberated in racing circles for days. How times have moved on.
Foss Way looks a genuine prospect. With several of the leading contestants coming from off the pace it was a pretty rough race at the end and the principals had to survive a lengthy stewards' inquiry. What impressed me was not just Foss Way's acceleration but the resolution he showed as Jimmy Fortune found the gaps slow to open. He had real trouble extricating himself from the pack and it was a bit of a sardine-can job as he had to go for a pretty narrow opening in the end. Unluckiest of all behind the winner and Ian Wood's outsider Sweet Return was Ben Hanbury's Silver Hawk colt Dhabyan. He finished close up despite twice being the victim of interference and should be worth watching for next season.
One more for the notebook is Mick Ryan's Dream Magic, winner of the William Hill Handicap. The four-year-old has been running consistently without winning but responded well to a positive ride from Martin Dwyer. Trainer's son and assistant John Ryan said that the canny yard have always had the Cambridgeshire in mind for Dream Magic, who has the pace for a mile but the stamina to go further. It is maybe a little early to be committing but he looks a reasonable price at 16-1.
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