FAR FROM CRYSTAL CLEAR
Jockeys banned for not stopping
CRYSTAL OCEAN is William Hill’s favourite for Saturday’s St Leger at Doncaster which the firm now sponsors.
The Sir Michael Stoute-trained colt is 3-1, a point ahead of Aidan O’Brien’s Capri on 4-1. Defoe is 9-2.
From a betting point of view, the final Classic is as open as the Derby, in which Cracksman went off 7-2 favourite.
Crystal Ocean is a late developer, coming third to Permian in the Dante and at Royal Ascot before winning the Gordon Stakes at Glorious Goodwood on soft going.
Like Defoe, he is a Group Three winner with scope for further improvement.
“He ran a great race in the Dante back in May and had been working well ahead of Goodwood,” said Stoute’s assistant James Horton yesterday. “We’re very pleased with where he is now. He’s still a big, weak, frame of a horse that we think is going to be better next season.
“He won on soft at Goodwood, but as he’s running in a higher grade, the better the ground the better for him.
“If it’s dry from Thursday, as forecast, that would suit him.
“The way he has finished his races he should stay the St Leger distance.
Andrew Balding, who contested the Great North Run on Sunday, has Count Octave, a 25-1 shot with the sponsors.
“I reckon I was about seven miles behind Mo Farah when he crossed the line,” said the trainer.
“Count Octave is next year’s project but his form is very solid and it is a chance to win a Classic.”
Brian Meehan thinks Raheen House, is overpriced at 12-1. “He has the pedigree for it and was unlucky in running when only a length behind Crystal Ocean at Ascot in June,” he said. “It is an open race and 12-1 looks on the generous side given his stamina is proven.” Coolmore’s Kevin Buckley expects Douglas Macarthur and Venice Beach to line up alongside Capri with Abyssinian, The Anvil and Air Supremacy dropping out.
O’Brien first won the Doncaster Classic with Milan in 2001 and has since added to his tally with Brian Boru (2003), Scorpion (2005) and Leading Light (2013).
Hills betting: 3 Crystal Ocean, 4 Capri, 9-2 Defoe, 13-2 Stradivarius, Coronet, 12 Raheen House, Venice Beach, Rekindling, 25 others. SEAN QUINLAN, Stephen Mulqueen and Derek Fox received 10-day bans for not stopping during a race at Perth yesterday.
Harriet Graham, the clerk of the course, stopped the race on the grounds of safety after Johnny Go was fatally injured close to the winning post.
Graham said: “I stopped the race for the safety of the personnel by the screens of the injured horse.”
But despite the yellow flag, meaning the race must stop, being waved Quinlan, Mulqueen and Fox continued racing.
Quinlan, first past the post on Red Giant, disagreed and believed it was safe to pass the injured horse and the race should not have been voided.
“There was nothing in front of the third-last fence or the second-last,” said Quinlan.
“And, there was nothing in front of the last, and we had plenty of room to go through to the finish line.”
Robin Mounsey, of the British Horseracing Authority, said: “The rules of racing are clear that once the ‘stop-race’ flag is deployed, the jockeys must stop riding and the race is void.
“The ‘stop-race’ flag is used for safety reasons and jockeys are aware that they must stop riding immediately once they have seen the flag being waved, and that the stewards have no choice but to declare the race void.”
Sky Bet confirmed they had paid out on first-pastthe-post Red Giant as the winner and voided the remainder of the market.
Brian Hughes, the rider of ill-fated Johnny Go, partnered the Charlie Longsdon-trained Hammersly Lake to victory in the Sodexo Handicap Chase.
“We are now considering a trip to the States with him for next month’s American Grand National Hurdle,” said winning owner Robert Alpin. “The winner gets $240,000 so that’s a seriously good reason to consider going to America.”