Monday, March 30, 2015

Prince Bishop wins Dubai World Cup

I want you all to read Sam Walker's piece in the Racing Post about Prince Bishop winning the Dubai World Cup on Saturday.

I have often said that 'pace makes the race.' The pace was very quick. In the early stages, Prince Bishop, William Buick up, was unable to keep up. It would be appropriate to say that Prince Bishop was more out of the race than in it. The Dubai authorities had changed the Tapeta surface to conventional dirt to encourage American participation. The move may not have the desired effect but it has opened the door to US-based runners. Secret Circle , trained by Bob Baffert and ridden by Victor Espinoza, won the 1200-metre Golden Shaheen. The Golden Shaheen result was in keeping with the pattern set for the day. Speed was good and front runners did very well. The Dubai World Cup was an exception.

The pace set in the World Cup was unsustainable. California Chrome, wide for the most part, was part of the pace-making apparatus. I tried to get the fractions but could not despite a diligent search.
The speed machine fell apart.  Prince Bishop went from last to first.

Could California Chrome's jockey Victor Espinoza have done something different? It is a judgement call. California Chrome has done well when up with the pacesetters. The last thing that jockey Espinoza would have thought about was Prince Bishop making up that much ground in the stretch.

Yes, I had a small wager on California Chrome. I had a friend make my wager at an offtrack location in suburban Chicago.

Races are run to determine the winner. More often than not, the result does not meet our expectation.
That is what we need to understand.

A horse not being allowed to run on merit is a serious charge. Such a charge needs a higher-than-usual standard of evidence. In the absence of such evidence, 'the benefit of the doubt' theory prevails.

Take the case of Oxford Opinion. The MAM-owned youngster was making the fifth start in his career. Why would he shy away? Why would he become temperamental? He won in a 12-horse field in Bangalore. He was third in a big field in Mumbai's Poonawalla Million. In a four-horse field, Oxford Opinion was on his worst behavior. I am not attributing a motive. Frankie Dettori told me after running unplaced in the 2007 Arc de Triomphe with Authorized, "whenever horses race poorly, if we can pinpoint the reason, we will all be millionaires."

Suraj Narredu is going to France. He will ride there until mid-May. He called  Monday evening. Wished him good luck.

Yash Narredu called me. I said until we meet again, take care of yourself  and ride a lot of winners.