Hangin' With Haskin : sagaro

All Hail Yeats

Blood-Horse Staff — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 17:26:00 GMT

For 32 years I was able to say I was at Royal Ascot to witness history. Well, it’s history no more. It was 1977, my first trip to Ascot, and I was privileged to see the great stayer Sagaro become the first horse in the 170-year history of the Ascot Gold Cup to win the 2 1/2-mile race three times. To do it in successive years made the feat all the more impressive.

Watching Yeats this morning break Sagaro’s record, storming to victory in the Gold Cup for the fourth consecutive year, it brought a sense of purity and timelessness to the Sport of Kings that has been lost in this country. To hear the Ascot crowd salute the Ballydoyle-trained 8-year-old with an ovation worthy only of true champions, it showed there still is a place in the heart for the long-distance runner.

The purity and timelessness I refer to is stamina, an inherent trait of the Thoroughbred that has been so consumed by speed over the past several decades it has all but disappeared. What trickle of stamina, or at least what resembles stamina, that does remain is frowned upon by owners, trainers, and especially breeders.

There certainly is nothing wrong with speed, which is the premise on which the sport was born. But there is more to speed than five- and six-furlong races or even eight- and nine-furlong races. As was written about Sagaro: “Sagaro despite being an out and out stayer had a blistering turn of foot and could give an electrifying burst of a rocket propelling in the air, at the end of two and a half miles.”

What has made this year’s Ascot meet so memorable and significant is that we saw history made at 2 1/2 miles by a European horse -- I emphasize horse (not a gelding), by Sadler's Wells -- and at five furlongs by American horses -- two distinct worlds coming together to form a magnificent tapestry of the turf. In addition to Yeats, we had General Wesley Ward lead an unprecedented army of 2-year-old sprinters across the Atlantic to put on a spectacular display of American speed in front of The Queen and everyone else hoping to establish Royal Ascot as a true international event. By winning the listed Windsor Castle Stakes on Tuesday, Strike the Tiger became the first American-trained horse ever to win a race at Royal Ascot. By winning Wednesday’s group II Queen Mary Stakes, Jealous Again became the first American horse to win a group race at Royal Ascot.

To then have Yeats win his fourth consecutive Gold Cup the following day, it not only inscribed two new chapters in racing lore it burned this year’s Royal Ascot meet into the hearts and minds of racing fans in Europe and America.

The resounding ovation given Yeats is what this sport is all about. We even had a slight hint of it in this country last year when the 10-year-old Evening Attire was given a hearty round of applause by the Belmont Park fans after finishing second in a gallant effort in the 1 1/2-mile Brooklyn Handicap. There is just something about watching a horse, especially an old horse like Evening Attire or Yeats, run his heart out at the end of a long-distance race that strikes an emotional chord.

I heard those same cheers in 1977 when Sagaro defeated the top-class stayer Buckskin, despite having fallen victim to his rival on three occasions that year. Also in the field was the previous year’s St. Leger winner Bruni. Buckskin not only had beaten Sagaro in three major stakes in France prior to the Gold Cup, he had annihilated him by 20 lengths in the Prix Jean Prat. But in France’s top stamina test, the Prix du Cadran, Sagaro had cut that margin to three-quarters of a length.

In the Gold Cup, Sagaro burst to the lead and opened up to the cheers of the crowd who were looking to witness history. It was if Sagaro knew the Gold Cup was his race, just as Yeats appears to know it. He drew off from Buckskin to win by five lengths, establishing a record that would last for more than three decades.

In a bit of irony, the horse Yeats defeated today, Patkai, had won one race this year…the Sagaro Stakes at Ascot.

I remember standing and cheering Sagaro with everyone else that day as the grand-looking chestnut with the attractive stripe down his face was led into the winner’s enclosure.

I couldn’t help but relive those memories and emotions watching Yeats charge to victory today and march into the winner’s enclosure to those same cheers.

So, here is a toast to longevity, perseverance, courage, and stamina.

As William Butler Yeats himself wrote: “Every trial endured and weathered in the right spirit makes a soul nobler and stronger than it was before.”

Royal Ascot a Tonic for U.S. Woes

Blood-Horse Staff — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 23:39:00 GMT

What a joy to watch the Royal Ascot meeting on TV last week, especially hearing the rousing ovation for the champion stayer Yeats after his record-equaling third straight Ascot Gold Cup (Eng-I) victory at 2 1/2 miles. In case you’re unfamiliar with the term, a stayer is a creature unknown to American racing fans that actually relishes distances well beyond 1 1/2 miles (pssst, Breeders’ Cup officials, 1 1/2 miles is not a marathon). In speed-crazy America, horses like Yeats are considered a notch above plow horses and cast aside, while being treated like lepers by the breeders.

The last horse to win three Ascot Gold Cups was Sagaro in 1975-77, and, believe it or not, I was at Ascot when he completed his triple in 1977 and can remember very well the enthusiastic reception he received. By the way, if you want tradition, next year the Ascot Gold Cup will have its 200th running. Not many people realize that an American Triple Crown winner ran in the Gold Cup. Omaha was the 6-5 favorite in 1936 and was beaten a nose by the filly Quashed.

At the same time Yeats was being saluted for his remarkable achievement, Americans were listening to its leaders testify at a congressional hearing how drugs are ruining the sport and need to be abolished, how fragile the breed has become, and how racing desperately needs to be regulated by a governing body. Most witnesses painted a bleak picture of the sport and virtually pleaded with the subcommittee to do the work for them instead of offering a positive alternative and expounding on racing’s virtues. Talk about hostile witnesses. Yes, the sport in America needs a kick in the ass, but that was painful to listen to, and it was necessary to rush back to the Ascot races.

Royal Ascot was a startling reminder how racing was meant to be -- horses without drugs, jockeys restricted in their use of the whip; no track surface controversies, grooms (lads) wearing suits and ties; entertaining and insightful analysis, candid comments, first class TV coverage and camera work, and a genuine love and respect for the sport and the horse. All this in a kaleidoscope of glorious colors and images set against a lush green backdrop and one of the most magnificent grandstands in the world. And, of course, there was the Queen’s procession each day.

Getting back to Yeats, in America, he would be an outcast, floundering at distances 12 furlongs short of his best. In England, he is a hero worthy of the adulation he receives. Yeats’ victory capped a remarkable opening three days for trainer Aidan O’Brien, during which he also captured the group I St. James’s Palace Stakes with dual Guineas winner Henrythenavigator; the group I Prince of Wales’s Stakes with the former bridesmaid Duke of Marmalade, who has been born again as a 4-year-old, winning three straight group I stakes; and the group I Queen Anne Stakes with the Australian import Haradasun. Then on closing day, Saturday, O’Brien won the group II Hardwicke Stakes, a traditional prep for the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes (Eng-I), with Macarthur before bidding aloha to Royal Ascot by capturing the finale, the Queen Alexandra Stakes at two miles and five and a half furlongs, with Honolulu.

The races were exciting, with numerous tight finishes and the occasional bravura performance. Even the TV commentary was exciting.

Not to knock American TV commentators and analysts, but how refreshing and entertaining to listen to the unconventional and outspoken John McCririck and analyst Matt Chapman going at each other on the air. Here is an exchange between the two on opening day after McCririck was severely critical of the whipping rules in England (imagine what he’d have to say about our non-rules) and expressed his displeasure with Johnny Murtagh for abusing the whip on Haradasun.

McCririck: “Murtagh would not have ridden like that if he knew he’d be disqualified. He could not come back and say, ‘I apologize, Aidan. I hit the horse too often, too hard, and I lost the race because of it’. The only way they’re going to stamp out excessive use of the whip, especially in big races, is to disqualify the horse. The jockeys wouldn’t do it. I’m right, but no one ever listens to me. It was a great training performance by Aidan O’Brien, but it’s slightly besmirched because of the way the horse was ridden. It’s unnecessary to hit a horse like that.” (By the way, Murtagh’s whipping of Haradasun was mild compared to the way many of our jockeys abuse the whip -- more on that in the future).

Chapman (to the audience): “If you were listening to McCririck about the whip, please don’t get sucked in by his total buffoonery over the issue. The rules may be wrong, that’s a different issue, but Johnny Murtagh, to any normal horse racing fan, did absolutely nothing wrong. The horse was responding to a very light whip. The rules may be wrong, Big Mac, but that doesn’t mean the horse should be disqualified.”

McCririck: “If you listen to Chapman we shouldn’t have any rules at all. You should go and slash the horses and beat them in the name of the sport. There are certain guidelines and all the jockeys know them. Murtagh deliberately broke them because it was group I and he keeps the race. He would not have done it, Matt Chapman…listen! He would not have broken the rules if he knew Haradasun would have been disqualified. He wouldn’t do it! Get THAT through your thick skull.”

Chapman: “Of course, McCririck once again failing to grasp any of the point. No one wants any horse slashed. No jockey would slash a horse. It is absolutely not even the issue that he’s talking about. Jockeys, of course, wouldn’t break the rules if they got disqualified. However, that is not the point either. You’ve really got to get a grip about this, Big Mac, because you’ve got no idea what you’re talking about.”

Now that’s good TV.

Having been a huge fan of European racing for 40 years, Royal Ascot was a much-needed respite from all the craziness that has afflicted American racing lately, including one of the most tumultuous Triple Crowns ever. Now refreshed by Ascot’s week-long splash in the face, it is time once again to get back to the rush hour-like bustle of American racing. That is until July 23 when it will be time once again for our own catharsis known as Saratoga. It cannot come too soon.