IT'S BEEN heartening to see some great racing salvaged from the ravages of the Coronavirus pandemic this summer but, as the strangest of Flat seasons draws to a close, some bad old habits have resurfaced.
There has been a welcome trend in recent years of the best horses sticking around much longer than was once the norm with star filly Enable and champion stayer Stradivarius leading the continuity.
Seemingly now standard policy at Coolmore – the world’s greatest breeding operation – there had been a definite shift to keep the cream of the three-year-old crop in training for a crack at the next generation. Afterall, few horses packed off the stud following a stellar career on the track ever breed anything as good as themselves.
Sadly, this year, there have been far too many gold watches handed out to some of the best performers of this condensed season. Some, like Enable, are understandable. Others, including Commonwealth Cup hero Golden Horde and Sussex Stakes winner Mohaather, are down to injury.
BREAKING: 2 time Arc champion Enable has been retired!! Thank you for everything you have given this sport, we will miss you girl! pic.twitter.com/ug9ZfhCEfs
— The Horse Racing Insider (@THRInsider) October 12, 2020
Then there is the country’s top-rated horse Ghaiyyath. Yes, he’s a five year old and, as a son of Sheikh Mohammed’s top stallion Dubawi and Irish 1,000 Guineas winner Nightime, he has every ingredient to be a hit at stud.
That said, his form this season when landing a trio of Group 1 wins with victory in the Coronation Cup, Coral-Eclipse and Juddmonte International was miles better than anything he had shown in previous seasons so better again could have been expected. Of course, we would have all loved to have seen the fantastic front-running ace return next year but the argument for retirement is easy to understand, unlike another Godolphin star.
Pinatubo ended last year as the highest-rated two-year-old of the last 25 years. His victory in the Dewhurst Stakes extended his unbeaten juvenile campaign to six wins and he was a red-hot winter favourite for the 2000 Guineas. Finishing third in the opening Classic was hardly a disgrace and his St James’s Palace second behind Palace Pier, who would go on to end the season as the top-rated three-year-old, was a solid effort.
Pinatubo’s only victory this season came at Deauville in the Group 1 Jean Prat and, what will now be his final appearance on a racecourse, also came in France when runner-up behind Persian King.
Considering how good he looked as a two-year-old it was an underwhelming season but surely he was a horse who now had a point to prove next year. The decision to retire him smacks of trying to protect his dented reputation when any more prangs would seriously compromise his attractiveness at stud.
BREAKING: 2 time Arc champion Enable has been retired!! Thank you for everything you have given this sport, we will miss you girl! pic.twitter.com/ug9ZfhCEfs
— The Horse Racing Insider (@THRInsider) October 12, 2020
Regardless, it’s hard to see breeders queuing up for his services even if Sheikh Mohammed’s bloodstock operation Darley push him as a replacement for his dad Shamardal, who died in the spring.
Just as sad is Siskin’s intended exit after a crack at the Breeders’ Cup Mile. His American jaunt will be just his fourth run of a season that started with victory in the Irish 2,000 Guineas.
Classic winners are not easy to come by even for his veteran owner Khalid Abdullah’s Juddmonte powerful breeding operation. Perhaps, the plunging price of oil or the stuttering bloodstock market prompted the Saudi Prince to ship him out to Japan with his Ireland-based trainer Ger Lyons admitting he was “gutted” not to get the chance to train Siskin as a four-year-old.
His impending retirement means the winners of both 2,000 Guineas this year will not see the track in 2021 as Kameko will also be whisked off to stud.
It means three of the first four home in the Sussex Stakes – Mohaather, Siskin and Kameko – will all be missing when the top mile races are fought out next year.
Kameko’s career will be one of what could have been as he failed to stay the Derby trip, endured a luckless passage in the Sussex and couldn’t get into the Juddmonte International having been held up in the rear after a slow start behind all-the-way winner Ghaiyyath.
A farewell win in the Group 2 Joel Stakes will hardly live long in the memory but his premature departure is partly understandable as Sheikh Fahad of owners Qatar Racing has been desperate to find a stallion having lost Roaring Lion before he had time to settle into his post-racing career.
Kameko did at least prove one point in his nine-race career. His victory in the Group 1 Vertem Futurity Trophy on Newcastle’s all-weather having been rerouted from waterlogged Doncaster last October showed the switch to sand did not diminish the quality.
2000 Guineas winner, KAMEKO will be retired to stud at the end of his 3-y-o campaign. pic.twitter.com/ljyjfDdhzV
— Timeform (@Timeform) October 17, 2020
With subsequent Grand Prix de Paris winner Mogul back in fourth the standard was well up to scratch and, perhaps, it’s about time all-weather racing got a permanent Group 1 prize.
The transfer of the Vertem Futurity, a mile contest for juveniles, to Newcastle would be harsh on well-run Doncaster but it would certainly be a progressive move for British racing. The sport will need to come out firing next year after a shortened season that has hit the coffers hard and the absence of too many of the current stars won’t help.
So, thank God for the geldings. Having been removed from the equipment needed to perform at stud, no less than six of this year’s Group 1 winners will be back next year having triumphed as geldings.
Brilliant Battaash leads the conker-less half-dozen completed by Prince Of Wales’s Stakes hero Lord North, July Cup speedster Oxted, Sprint Cup victor Dream Of Dreams and Champions Day winners Addeybb and Glen Shiel.
Despite the premature loss of some of this season’s stars there is still plenty to look forward to next year. God knows, we need it.
