Gosden gambles on rain for Cracksman
Cracksman is one of eight horses left in tomorrow’s King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot but, surprisingly, Grand Prix de Paris winner Kew Gardens, expected to be Aidan O’brien’s No1 contender, misses the race.
Cracksman’s presence is something of a gamble by trainer John Gosden, who is hoping the thunderstorms which are forecast for today actually turn up. If they do not appear, then neither will Cracksman.
A runaway winner of last season’s Champion Stakes on soft ground, Cracksman’s defeat last time out, when favourite for the Prince of Wales’s Stakes, has been put down to fast ground. However, Gosden is keen not to miss out on the £1.25million Qipco-sponsored prize should rain arrive.
Speaking yesterday, Chris Stickels, Ascot’s clerk of the course, said that, as it stands, the ground is “good to firm” and if there is no rain he will put 4mm on tonight to maintain “good to firm” ground for tomorrow’s card.
“There is a small risk of rain on Thursday night increasing through Friday,” he explained. “We have been predicted to get between two and 12mm, which is a wide range, but there is also 20 per cent risk of 25mm-plus. Thundery showers are very hit and miss. They can be all around you and you can get nothing so I can’t tell you whether we will get some or not.”
Should he run, Cracksman will be ridden by Rab Havlin, the Gosden stable’s reliable No2 behind the banned Frankie Dettori.
Kew Gardens returned a dirty scope yesterday and O’brien has put Ryan Moore on Hydrangea. She won over a mile and a half on Champions Day at Ascot last year but has yet to win this season in two starts over a mile.
Gosden’s St James’s Palace Stakes winner Without Parole heads the 13 left in Wednesday’s £1million Qatar Sussex Stakes, the biggest race at Glorious Goodwood next week. Expert Eye, Sir Michael Stoute’s impressive Jersey Stakes winner and a course winner as a two-year-old, has been supplemented.
The 2019 Fixture List was published yesterday. There are a record 1,511 meetings – three more than this year. It is, however, meant to be more user-friendly and balanced, particularly for jockeys and racing staff. There are breaks for the Flat in March and November, at the end of Weather watch: Cracksman only runs in the King George if it rains at Ascot the turf season, and a last race time for floodlit winter meetings of 8.30.
One of the key timings for jump racing is that the gap between Cheltenham and Aintree in the spring is down to three weeks from four in 2018.