What is the maximum ‘official’ winning distance?

Historically, the maximum ‘official’ winning distance – that is, the maximum, meaningful distance that racecourse judges could record – was 30 lengths; anything beyond that was simply recorded as ‘a distance’. However, when Kauto Star swept clear of his nearest pursuer, Madison Du Berlais, in the King George VI Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day, 2009, the racing public was, understandably, keen to know the actual winning margin. Shortly afterwards, the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) increased the range of distances available to racecourse judges to 99 lengths.

The next change to the maximum official winning distance was implemented, ‘in the interests of greater accuracy’, on New Year’s Day, 2018. At that point, the BHA extended its computerised ‘lengths per second’ (LPS) tables to 200 lengths. Thus, to quote one recent example of a relevant, wide-margin victory, the result of the open hunters’ chase at Bangor-on-Dee on February 7, 2020 is recorded for posterity as a 107-length win for Bob And Co, trained by Paul Nicholls and ridden by David Maxwell.

What were the winning horses in Frankie Dettori’s ‘Magnificent Seven’?

Lanfranco ‘Frankie’ Dettori, the most celebrated Flat jockey since Lester Piggott, has seen some ups and downs in his lengthy career. However, whatever the future holds, the likeable Italian, who turns 50 in December, 2020, will always be remembered for his exploits at Ascot on Saturday, September 28, 1996. That was the day on which Dettori carried all before him, including arguably the greatest jockey of all time, Sir Gordon Richards – who rode all six winners on a six-race card at Chepstow in 1933 – by going through the card, with seven winners from seven rides. For the record, his winning rides were Wall Street (2/1), Diffident (12/1), Mark Of Esteem (100/30), Decorated Hero (7/1), Fatefully (7/4), Lochangel (5/4) and Fujiyama Crest (2/1). Even at starting price (SP), the cumulative odds on the so-called ‘Magnificent Seven’ were in excess of 25,000/1 and even that was only a tiny fraction of the odds available to ‘mug’ punters who backed all seven horses at early prices.

What is the effect of the draw on a horse race?

With the exception of a handful of long-distance races, all Flat in Britain races in use starting stalls and the ‘draw’ simply refers to the random allocation of a starting position to each horse, by Weatherbys, at the declaration stage of the race in question. One point to note is that, in March, 2011, the numbering of stalls positions on right-handed courses was reversed, so that nowadays the lowest numbered stall is always closest to the inside running rail, regardless of whether the course is left- or right-handed.

Aside from that obvious change, which made no difference to left-handed courses in any case, the effect of the draw on a horse race remains the same as ever; depending on the course and the distance of the race in question, the draw may have profound consequences or none at all. Logically, on a turning course, horses drawn on the inside rail – that is, in lower stall numbers – have less distance to travel than those drawn higher, but it is unlikely that any jockey would be content to remain trapped wide on the course for the whole race.

Conventional wisdom dictates that the effect of the draw is greater in races over shorter distances – that is, five, six or seven furlongs – and this is especially true on courses with a bend, one way or the other, shortly after the start. Similarly, inconsistent drainage, or the movement of running rails to create ‘fresh’ ground, can result in strips of ground that cause a major draw advantage one way or the other. In large, competitive fields, which often split into two, or three, groups, those horses drawn wherever the pace is strongest are always likely to fare better than those drawn away from the pace.

Which races did Frankel win at Royal Ascot?

Bred and owned by Juddmonte Farms, under the auspices of Khalid Abdullah, and trained by the late Sir Henry Cecil, Frankel won five times at Ascot in all, but just two of those victories came at Royal Ascot. Indeed, on the first occasion, as a three-year-old, on June 14, 2011, Frankel came as close to defeat as he did in his entire 14-race career. Fresh from an impressive 6-length win in the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket, the Galileo colt was sent off at 30/100 to win the St. James’s Palace Stakes at the Royal Meeting. However, having taken a 6-length lead with a quarter of a mile to run, Frankel was quickly coming back to his rivals inside the final half a furlong and had to be ridden out by jockey Tom Queally to beat 20/1 chance Zoffany, trained by Aidan O’Brien and ridden by Ryan Moore, by three-quarters of a length.

The following season, as a four-year-old, Frankel contested the opening Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot, for which he started a hugley prohibitive 1/10. Nevertheless, his cramped odds proved entirely justified as he soon quickened clear, despite drifting slightly right in the closing stages, for an extremely impressive 11-length win over old rival Excelebration; in so doing, Frankel achieved the highest rating ever achieved by a Flat horse in the history of Timeform.

1 … 140 141 142 143 144 … 173