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York could consider watering!

Further to our earlier report on how wrong the weather men are turning out to be, (see below), we have learnt late this afternoon no rain has fallen on the Knavesmire, and Clerk of the Course William Derby is seriously having to contemplate watering the course prior to Tuesday's first day card.

Today was a warm blustery day at York, and with the track already good to firm, any additional drying weather could necessitate watering to ensure safe ground for next week's four day meeting. Certainly, if conditions do not alter markedly over the weekend, Sea The Stars looks likely to get his preferred ground for Tuesday's Juddmonte International Stakes.

Sand Vixen helped by wandering Shamandar.

When Shamandar went for home at the furlong pole of this afternoon's St Hughes Stakes at Newbury, she looked the likely winner, but either through greenness or tiredness, she wandered across the track close home and allowed Frankie Dettori to get home by the minimum distance of a nose on the Godolphin owned and trained Sand Vixen.

Channon on Morning Line.

For those of you who do not believe in co-incidences, please note the guest on Channel 4's Morning Line tomorrow will be Mick Channon - It might be a good idea to look at the early declerations and see what Mick has running in tomorrow's big races!

Sariska scares off her rivals in Yorkshire Oaks.

It would appear at today's latest decleration stage, the dual Oaks winner Sariska has frightened off most of the top class potential rivals for this year's Yorkshire Oaks. There are no other Group 1 winners amongst her remaining six rivals, and only John Gosden's Dar re mi has won a Group 2 race. So on paper, Sariska should be the safest bet of the four day York Ebor Meeting, but how many times has that comment been made , only for things not to go as they appear on paper.

Casual Conquest aimed at Royal Whip.

Having deliberated over the vagueries of the weather and potential opposition, the connections of Casual Conquest have come to a decision today as promised, and the four year old will swerve the Juddmonte International at York, and instead will stay in Ireland for Sunday's Group 2 Royal Whip at the Curragh.

Trainer Dermot Weld is hopeful Casual Conquest's last run in the Meld Stakes will have set him up for a return to the same kind of form which saw him spread-eagle his field in the Tattersalss Gold Cup, and thereby reverse the Meld Stakes placings with Sunday's opponent Lord Admiral.

Luca Cumani has also confirmed Curtain Call will make the trip to Ireland for the Royal Whip Stakes, and on paper, one of these three protaganists should carry off Sunday's first prize.

Head confident while Haggas is hopeful.

Freddie Head this morning expressed his total satisfaction with the condition of Goldikova ahead of her attempt to land Sunday's Prix Jacques le Marois at Deauville. The Breeders Cup winning filly has shown definite improvement between her first and second Group 1 successes this season, and connections believe they have left nothing to chance as she goes in search of her third win at the highest level.

Meanwhile, William Haggas is hopeful Aqlaam will continue the improvement which saw him win the Group 2 Summer Mile on his last outing. Speaking today, Haggas said,

"He is definitely a progressive type, and I am sure he will step up on his last run, but Goldikova is an outstanding filly, and if we can get close to her at the sharp end of Sunday's race, then I will be very satisfied."

Half a million could be up for grabs.

Tomorrow's Totesport Scoop Six bet could provide one lucky winner with up to half a million pounds if he or she can solve the riddle of picking the necessary winners over the next two Saturdays.

The current roll-over in the Win Fund is £245,448 - while the Bonus Fund roll-over stands at £105.192. So with tomorrow's wagers to be added on top, the half million combined prize fund is a distinct possibility.

As a first step, punters will have to find the winning horses in tomorrow's following races:

Leg 1 - 2.20 pm Newmarket.

Leg 2 - 2.50 pm Newmarket.

Leg 3 - 3.10 pm Newbury.

Leg 4 - 3.25 pm Newmarket.

Leg 5 - 3.45 pm Newbury.

Leg 6 - 3.55 pm Ripon.

Lack of rain could see withdrawal of Welsh Emperor.

With the weather men indicating the amount of rain they expected today could be much smaller than first anticipated, connections of Welsh Emperor have warned the old campaigner's participation in tomorrow's Group 2 Hungerford Stakes at Newbury is now in serious doubt.

Madden requires second operation.

Niall 'Slippers' Madden has received the disappointing news he needs a second operation on the broken bones in his arm. A post operation scan of the injury suffered during a fall at Kilbeggan shows his bones are not correctly aligned after the first operation, and a second procedure will be required to correct the alignment. Unfortunately, swelling in his arm means the second operation cannot take place until next Friday at the earliest, and his return to competitive riding could now suffer a further delay.

Meeting to discuss Irish racing attendance problem.

Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) are to have a meeting with Irish racecourse managers during September, and the main point on the agenda will be the 17% drop in racecourse attendances during the first six months of the current year.

It is believed HRI will try to find a formula whereby discounted prices can be offered at certain fixtures, so as to encourage cash strapped Irish race-goers the opportunity to attend more race meetings during the current economic down-turn.

However, as Dundalk have pointed out just this week, the weak pound against the euro means Northern Ireland potential race-goers are being doubly effected, and in Dundalk's case, this has created a situation were bookings from the Province for this Saturday's high profile double card at Dundalk are massively down on 2008 figures.

This kind of hard evidence suggests just reducing prices for horseracing in the Republic may not be the simple answer to the falling attendances problem.

Trainer to hand in license.

Owen Brennan, a trainer in both codes of racing for many years, and who was reknowned for his character horses such as Vulrorys Clown and Speaker Weatherill, has decided to hand in his training license at the end of this month.

Former Diamond Racing Executive receives fine.

Following a two day enquiry conducted by the BHA Disciplinary Panel on Monday and Tuesday of this week, Steve Goodwin, a former Director and Agent of now defunct Diamond Racing has recieved a £3,500 fine for contravening the Rules of Racing.

At the conclusion of this week's enquiry, Goodwin has avoided the draconian sentence hanging over him regarding the use of insider information to place lay bets through his Betfair accounts, but he was found not to have supervised his wife's use of the accounts in a proper manner, and by bringing the sport of horseracing into potential disrepute, he was found in breach of the rules regarding the image of the sport, and accordingly fined £3,500.

Sea The Stars subject to weather lottery.

Exhibiting the foresight of Mister Magoo, the weather men are not sure if today's forecast rain over Ireland and Scotland will move down as far as the Vale of York, so it is likely to be tomorrow before we know if York's underfoot conditions will curtail the participation of Sea The Stars in Tuesday's Juddmonte International.

However, Howard Smith, a resident of Yorkshire who relies on old methods of assessing the forthcoming weather, says if he were a betting man, (which he is!), he would rate the chances of Sea The Stars participation at York as 1/8 he will run, 5/4 he won't run.

BHA may alter fixtures to accommodate England games.

With England's football team only needing to win one more match to be sure of qualifying for next summer's Football World Cup in South Africa, and with the competition due to run between 11 June and 11 July 2010, the BHA are already looking at setting up a working party to examine the possibility of altering important racing fixtures to avoid clashes with the dates when England are likely to be playing.

Profound Beauty impressive in Ballyroan Stakes.

When John Oxx's Irish Derby third placed Mourayan made his way for home in last evening's one mile four furlong Group 3 Ballyroan Stakes at Leopardstown, he may have thought he had the beating of five year old Profound Beauty, but Dermot Weld's filly was travelling omanously well, and when asked to quicken by partner Pat Smullen, she responded immediately, soaring past Mourayan to land the first prize by a comfortable length and a quarter.

Last night's victory means Profound Beauty remains unbeaten this season, and after the race, Dermot Weld confirmed she would now head for the Irish Field St Leger, but in relation to a potential run in the Melbourne Cup, the trainer had this to say,

"I think she has come on since finishing fifth in last year's Melburne Cup, but a return to Australia will depend on the Australian handicapper. If he gives her too much weight for this year's race, we will probably not make the trip."

John Oxx was not too disappointed with Mourayan's second position in last evening's race,

"He needed the run, and anyway, Profound Beauty is a very good filly. Providing he shows no ill effects, we will now almost certainly go to Doncaster for the St Leger."

Spencer sidelined under totting-up procedure.

Jamie Spencer's three day suspension from the Newmarket stewards for his Careless Riding of Klynch at last Friday's meeting has earned him a much bigger riding ban from yesterday's BHA Disciplinary Panel. Spencer had already been suspended for a total of 24 days since 21 December 2008 for various Careless Riding offences, and under the totting-up rules, yesterday's Panel had no choice but to give him a total suspension of 23 days, five of which will be suspended until November 2009.

In essence, it means Spencer will miss the following dates: Friday 21 August, Sunday 23 August to Tuesday 25 August inclusive, and Friday 28 August to Thursday 10 September inclusive.

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