Battaash storms to record-breaking win
➤ Six-year-old lands fourth King George in track-best time ➤ Hills gelding to head for the Nunthorpe at York this month
Racing on the Downs at Goodwood is generally unpredictable, but put Goodwood and Battaash together in the King George Qatar Stakes and you get glorious predictability.
Charlie Hills’s six-year-old, the 2-7 favourite, not only won the race for a record fourth time yesterday but he smashed his own five-furlong track record by over half a second – the equivalent of roughly five lengths – lowering it to 55.62sec in another terrific display of sprinting which puts him among the best in a generation.
As a gelding that might not be the last King George he wins either, with just two more five-furlong races to go for this season in Europe – unless his owner is finally tempted by the Breeders’ Cup.
The form, beating Glass Slippers, running a career-best in second, by 2¼ lengths might not be worldclass but it was the time which gave this performance significance and there was never any doubt about the outcome with the 100 or so officials and professionals giving him the biggest clap of the week on his return to the winners’ enclosure.
“They were great conditions for him,” Hills said. “They went a very fast pace early and his key asset is his cruising speed. Mid-race he gets other horses out of their comfort zone. That was an exciting performance. Sheikh Hamdan has kept him training and he’s captured the public’s imagination.
“He a six-year-old now, he knows more about racing than most of us, and he’s become very professional. For a six-year-old to have such great enthusiasm, he’s a true athlete. As soon as he stops showing such enthusiasm we’ll call it a day.”
Angus Gold, Sheikh Hamdan’s racing manager, said: “Aren’t we lucky, in such a terrible year, to have Stradivarius, Enable and Battaash, all six-year-olds. It’s very special. As Jim [Crowley] said he couldn’t have gone any slower if he’d wanted. The gates open and he’s away. The track suits and unless anything happens he’ll go to York next for the Nunthorpe.”
Crowley, who does the steering but that is about all, said: “It’s a job to find a horse fast enough to lead him. He was in front a long time and
idling. He’s a pleasure to ride. He’s a super horse to go and break his own track record.”
Meanwhile, after Thursday’s decision by the British Horseracing Authority independent disciplinary panel to quash a 10-day ban given to Rab Havlin, at Yarmouth on July 22, the rules on interference look set to come under increased scrutiny. There is a strong belief within racing that, with the majority of appeals being upheld, it will lead to more jockeys taking a chance on
the rules, which could lead to someone being badly hurt.
There was a nasty incident at the end of the Bonhams Thoroughbred Stakes when Ryan Moore, riding with head down on the winner Tilsit, cut over to the rail so sharply that the runner-up, My Oberon and Tom Marquand, did well to remain upright. Moore received a five-day ban for careless riding but if he wants to get off it appears he only needs to appeal to the independent disciplinary panel.