Talking Horses: too much attention cost Phoenix Of Spain at Royal Ascot

Continuing my pre-Goodwood tour of racing stables, I’ve been at Charlie Hills’s place in Lambourn on Tuesday morning to see those top-class horses Battaash and Phoenix Of Spain, among others. As a fan of the grey, I was reassured to hear several reasons why Phoenix Of Spain may have underperformed at Royal Ascot last month and the trainer is evidently hopeful of a better performance in next week’s Sussex Stakes.

It’s always the unconventional explanations that stand out in these circumstances and it was interesting to hear Hills suggest that success in the Irish Guineas may have come at a cost to Phoenix Of Spain, not just in the effort he expended at The Curragh but also in the extra attention he received around the yard as a result. That included examination by vets in relation to the stud deal that was being hammered out at the time.

“It was quite busy in between Ireland and Ascot,” Hills said. “Lots of media attention, plus veterinary attention, lots of vets poking around for insurance purposes and everything else. He likes to have a sleep at 11 o’clock every morning and little things like that, which sounds silly but horses do love routines.

“He loves going out at seven o’clock, having his breakfast and lying down, and looking out the window in the afternoon. He wasn’t able to do that. Just, people poking around, really.

“We’ve had a good chance to freshen him up now, he had a good two weeks really going quiet. His weight’s very good and Simon Whitworth, who rides him every morning, is really happy with him at this stage. He did a nice piece of work at the weekend, we managed to get him on the grass, which was important. Goodwood could be a good place for him.”

A more orthodox explanation for Phoenix Of Spain’s sixth place at Ascot would be the rain-softened ground. “He probably just floundered a little bit,” Hills said. “It was horrible conditions for that race, the ground was getting quite loose on top and he didn’t really handle that surface too good. All his best performances have been on fast ground and that’s really what he needs.”

Phoenix Of Spain is a 7-1 shot for next Wednesday’s Sussex Stakes, when he will once more cross swords with Too Darn Hot, who finished ahead of his at Ascot but was runner-up in Ireland.

I’ll have a bit more about Battaash on this page by the end of the day.

Tuesday’s best bets

There were three Irish winners at Ayr yesterday but, alas, not the one I was hoping for. Johnny Levins, who is based on The Curragh, managed to win with both his runners, taking his record in Britain this year to four out of six.

He has one runner today, Your Pal Tal (5.00) going in the last at Musselburgh and he appeals at 3-1. It’s been a long time since his last success, at Lingfield early last year, but this classified race is a lot more winnable than the handicaps and claimers at Dundalk and the Curragh that he’s been trying. The last time he ran in Britain, he was beaten only by Ginger Jam, who is rated about 20lbs higher now.

Earlier, there’s been some support into 13-2 for Classic Pursuit (4.00). This veteran, who changed stable twice this year, has been running into form for Marjorie Fife while dropping down the ratings and was a “nearest finish” third last time from a mark 19lb below the one he had in April.

Danny Tudhope rides for the first time. There’s some risk in the presence of Compton’s Finale, a winner on Monday; he could drop out and cause a Rule Four or turn up and run a big race under his penalty.

Between those two races, I’m interested in Iolani (4.30) at 7-1 from the in-form Dianne Sayer outfit. He’s been running all right for amateur jockeys and now Paul Mulrennan, who has a fine record for Sayer, climbs aboard for what looks a good opportunity at a lower level than the horse usually tries.

Who can say what John Butler saw in today’s card at Wolverhampton? He saw something, as he’s got eight runners in the last four races, which is about what he’d have in a normal week. I can see his Genuine Approval (5.15) defying a penalty for her comfortable success in a claimer here last week.

Butler has the paper favourite, Soar Above, in an earlier handicap but there’s a case for Engrossed (4.15) in that race and Martyn Meade’s three-year-old filly is down to 9-2 from the early 13-2. She just failed to get up on her handicap debut over this course and distance three months ago and may have made plenty of progress since then.

Musselburgh 
2.00 Arriba De Toda 2.30 Northern Hope 3.00 Spirit Of Lund 3.30 Tom 
Tulliver 4.00 Classic Pursuit 4.30 Iolani 5.00 Your Pal Tal (nb) 
Wolverhampton 
2.15 Prissy Missy 2.45 X Force 3.15 Wild Edric 3.45 Deleyll 4.15 Engrossed 4.45 Stormbomber 5.15 Genuine Approval 
Chelmsford 
5.20 Farol 5.50 Hector Loza 6.20 Alkaraama (nap) 6.50 Lawmaking 7.20 Lady Lawyer 7.50 Maximum Effect 8.20 Characteristic 8.50 Threshodofadream 
Southwell 
5.40 Streets Of Milan 6.10 Le Musee 6.40 Red Inca 7.10 Skeaping 7.40 Carrie Des Champs 8.10 Red Royalist 8.40 Theatre Act 

source: theguardian.com