Clancy shows golden touch
SALTY SUGAR (14) P Cole 9-8 .................................... L Morris FABELLA BERE (26) K Burke 9-8 .............................. C Lee (3) BLUE HAVANA (133) J J Quinn 9-8 ............................... J Hart CALL DAWN (47) M W Easterby 9-8 ........................... P Makin LORD CAPRIO (68) B Haslam 9-7 ...................... P Mulrennan MR CARBONATOR (16) P Kirby 9-7 ............................ J Quinn AVENGING RED (28) Adam West 9-6 ....................... F Norton ISTANBUL PASHA (16) P Evans 9-6 .............. Daniel Tudhope LADY SANDY (49) T D Barron 9-5 ............................ B A Curtis ROCK ON BERTIE (49) N Tinkler 9-5 (BF) .................... T Eaves NAVARRA PRINCESS (76)DCantillon9-3 ........... SDonohoe OUT LAST (78) K Dalgleish 9-2 ................................. A Mullen LADY JAYNE (19) I Williams 8-12 ............... Josephine Gordon PARTRY FLYER (8) Oliver Greenall 8-12 ...................... K Stott BETTING: 4 Istanbul Pasha, 6 Rock On Bertie, 7 Salty Sugar, Mr Carbonator, 8 Lady Sandy, Avenging Red, 12 Fabella Bere, Blue Havana, 14 Others.
4-1 Chased leaders, ridden and effort over 1f out, stayed on to chase winner final furlong, no impression, 2nd of 14, 2 3/4l behind Excellent Times at Redcar 6f 2yo hcp 0-65 (6) sft in Oct.
7-2fav Mid-division, headway over 1f out, ridden inside final furlong, kept on same pace, 5th of 20, 3 1/2l behind Crazy World at Redcar 6f 2yo hcp 0-60 (6) gs in Sep. 16-1 Mid-division, ridden 2f out, stayed on to take 3rd inside final furlong, not pace to trouble front pair, 3rd of 14, 4 1/2l behind Excellent Times at Redcar 6f 2yo hcp 0-65 (6) sft in Oct.
16-1 Steadied start, held up in rear, headway over 1f out, ran on, nearest finish, 4th of 11, 1 1/2l behind Hic Bibi at Kempton 6f 2yo hcp 0-60 (6) pol. 6-1 Keen close up, hung left over 3f out, weakened final furlong, 6th of 10, 6l behind Jonnysimpson at Kempton 5f 2yo hcp 0-60 (6) pol in Oct. 16-1 Mid-division, ridden over 1f out, kept on inside final furlong, 6th of 20, 3 1/2l behind Crazy World at Redcar 6f 2yo hcp 0-60 (6) gs in Sep. 22-1 Always in rear, 11th of 12, 13l behind Trusting Friend at Thirsk 6f nov auc stks 2yo (5) gd in Jul. 20-1 Towards rear, outpaced over 2f out, never a threat, 7th of 9, 10l behind One For June at Redcar 7f 2yo clm (6) gs in Oct. 200-1 In rear, ridden 2f out, never on terms, 8th of 10, 17l behind Breath Caught at Doncaster 7f 2yo mdn (5) gs in Oct. 9-1 Outpaced, 11th of 12, 8l behind Zain Smarts at Bath 5f 2yo hcp 0-65 (6) gf in Aug. TWO track races in a Great Britain skinsuit, two gold medals. They may have been 15 months apart but that’s just what Ed Clancy does.
Not since his Olympic triumph in Rio had Clancy, the former Holme Valley Wheelers rider, donned the red, white and blue in a velodrome, but the TISSOT UCI Track World Cup in Manchester was the perfect place to mark his return from a year on the road.
On the track they call home, Clancy, Steven Burke, Kian Emadi and Ollie Wood simply blew their Danish opponents away to win team pursuit gold in a time of 3:55.847 - Great Britain’s first victory of the weekend.
Almost lapping their European counterparts, it was a far cry from their tussle with France in the first round where the Brits stole the win on the line.
But they got the job done in the one that mattered, and Clancy couldn’t have been happier to be back where he belongs.
“I’ve missed the boys, missed the team pursuit, missed the track,” he said.
“That was a nice way to kick it off again at a home World Cup.
“I have to admit, I love this place, it feels like home. It’s nice to come here and do this.
“I thought the Danes would be a bit closer. One of their best guys did the omnium earlier the same day and I was hoping that would cause them to be a little weaker.
“I think that probably helped us to be fair. That said, we had a real tough fight to get in pole position after qualifying, and then we had a real tough one with the French after that.
“It’s not like we had pretty fresh legs coming into the final, but we can’t ask for much more than that.”
Clancy has already pledged his intention to go for a fourth Olympic title at Tokyo 2020, having been part of the quartet that has been victorious at three consecutive Games.
But at 32, Clancy knows he faces quite the challenge if he is to board the plane to Japan in three years’ time - particularly with teammate Wood 11 years his junior and already proving his worth on the global stage.
“One hundred per cent I’d love to go to Tokyo and that is 100 per cent the aim,” he said.
“You never know when your time is going to come, and looking there at Ollie Wood at the back, I’d say out the four of us he was the strongest.
“I might have already had my day, but I’m going to give it a good go.”
Can’t get enough of the track? Hot on the heels of the TISSOT UCI Track World Cup, tickets for the 2018 HSBC UK National Track Championships in Manchester are now on sale.