Right royal rendezvous: Millions at stake for Home Affairs
The Kiwis who conquered the racing world on Tuesday face an even more important test at Royal Ascot tomorrow at 3.20am.
Because while Nature Strip thrilled Downunder racing fans when winning for ex-pat Kiwis trainer Chris Waller and jockey James McDonald, winning tomorrow’s Platinum Jubilee with Home Affairs would be even more important and far more lucrative.
Waller was true to his word about not backing up Nature Strip for tomorrow’s race even after he barely raised a sweat in his stunning King’s Stand Stakes win, and with Home Affairs already set for the Platinum Jubilee over around 1200m, Nature Strip was never really a chance of being a rival.
Because not only is the Platinum Jubilee, at £1 million, worth twice as much as the King’s Stand, victory for Home Affairs would be worth much more than that.
Nature Strip is older and flat-out faster than Home Affairs but the huge difference is the 3-year-old is a colt, so is worth tens of millions as a potential stallion.
Having won two major Group 1 races in Australia this season, including beating a luckless Nature Strip at Flemington in February, Home Affairs is already hot property as a stallion and will stand this coming spring at Coolmore in New South Wales for a A$110,000 service fee.
While that is already serious stuff for a first-season sire, if Home Affairs wins tomorrow, he instantly becomes a commercial stallion prospect in both hemispheres, which is the main reason global racing powerhouse Coolmore and his syndicate of other owners sent him to Ascot.
A good-looking, athletic young horse by Australian siring superstar I Am Invincible, if Home Affairs wins what would almost certainly be his last career start tomorrow, he becomes one of the most valuable horses in the world.
He will start a warm favourite, not only because of his own record, but also the demolition job Nature Strip, Waller and McDonald did on their international rivals on Tuesday.
Recent trackwork, including a pretrip trial at Flemington three weeks ago, would suggest Nature Strip is about two lengths superior to Home Affairs but the best of Nature Strip would be way too good in tomorrow’s enormous 27-horse field.
Perhaps one worry for Home Affairs is his wide draw, which can very often be a blessing in a sprint race late in a Royal Ascot carnival, but on Thursday, the third day of the meeting, the best jockeys were steering towards the inside third of the track.
That could change by race start time tomorrow morning, and Home Affairs does have McDonald, who even plenty of pundits in England are now declaring the best in the world with two wins this week.
While McDonald loves Nature Strip, winning with Home Affairs would have deeply personal meaning, as the colt is part-owned by New Zealand Bloodstock supremo Sir Peter Vela, who has been one of McDonald’s greatest supporters during the highs and lows of his career.
Home Affairs is not the only Australian-trained runner in the Platinum Jubilee, as the enigmatic Artorius, winner of last season’s Blue Diamond but so often the architect of his own demise since, looks a realistic blowout chance around the $20 mark, especially if the inside of the track is the place to be.
Domestically, there are thoroughbred meetings at Te Rapa and Trentham today, with the former hosting five jumps races, including both the Waikato Hurdle and Steeplechase.
But perhaps the most anticipated jumper on show will be superstar hurdler The Cossack (R5, No 9), as he steps up to steeplechasing for the first time, opening at a fair $1.65 with the TAB taking on maidens.