2009 Season Review
Newmarket 2009 – a feast of superb sport!
By Tony Rushmer
At Newmarket racegoers are accustomed to the very best action that the sport can offer, but in 2009 we have enjoyed a vintage year.
In reflecting on some of the great days and classy horses that have graced the Rowley Mile or July Course over the past six and half months it would be remiss not to start with Sea The Stars. His extraordinary run of six Group 1 triumphs started back on the first Saturday in May when he emerged a convincing winner of the stanjames.com 2000 Guineas.
Sent off an 8/1 chance – and what a price that looks in hindsight – he was an impressive sight, running on strongly to beat the favourite Delegator (who’d scored over course and distance just over two weeks earlier in the banshahousestables.com Craven Stakes) by a length and a half.
“This horse has got everything and has a real presence in the yard,” trainer John Oxx remarked in the warm afterglow of victory. “Horses like this get you out of bed in the morning.”
Much of the post-race discussion revolved around whether Sea The Stars would stay a mile and a half at Epsom in The Derby. History, of course, shows that he did and what a remarkable horse the son of Cape Cross turned out to be.
Whether he can be considered the greatest Flat horse ever is a subjective matter and a definitive verdict is impossible when trying to compare across the generations. But one thing is for sure: Sea The Stars was a consistently brilliant performer and a fantastic flag-bearer for racing in 2009. Horses like him don’t come along too often so those that saw his splendour – either in the paddock or on the track – first-hand can feel privileged to have witnessed a true equine legend.
Ghanaati sprang something of a shock in the stanjames.com 1000 Guineas as she beat several stronger fancies in convincing style. But, if punters were somewhat surprised to see her prevail by a length and a half from Cuis Ghaire, her connections were not.
“I’ve always thought she was a very good filly – she is pretty special,” trainer Barry Hills said of his 20/1 winner, who had previously only landed a maiden. She would go on to secure another Group 1 victory at Royal Ascot in the Group 1 Coronation Stakes.
The highlight of the summer season at the July Course is always the July Festival, sponsored in 2009 by Champagne Lanson. As always, the fashion was fantastic, the festival’s customary joie de vivre was present and the action on the track was pulsating.
Newmarket’s "Fashion At The Festival" initiative spanned the entire three days and there were many stylish ladies present. But the fastest filly in town was Fleeting Spirit who beat the boys in spirited style in the Darley July Cup, the Group 1 showpiece contest of the meeting.
All the talk beforehand had been about Aussie raider Scenic Blast – successful three weeks earlier in the King’s Stand at Royal Ascot – but trainer Dan Morton’s charge failed to fire on the day and instead it was the Jeremy Noseda-trained Fleeting Spirit who scored at odds of 12/1.
“The Darley July Cup is a great race to win,” said Noseda, offering a ringing endorsement for the event that so often defines who becomes Europe’s champion sprinter for the year. “This is the sort of moment you do this job for.”
With fillies to the fore at the Champagne Lanson July Festival, there was also a chance to see the outstanding race-mare Goldikova strut her stuff as she won the Group 1 Etihad Airways Falmouth Stakes.
The autumn season on the Rowley Mile is, of course, somewhat fresher in the memory. There have been a string of dazzling displays with Special Duty (Electrolux Cheveley Park Stakes) and Awzaan (Shadwell Middle Park Stakes) underlining their credentials for the respective 2010 Stan James-sponsored Guineas with stirring performances. Sahpresa demonstrated the international appeal of racing at Newmarket with a fine effort in the Kingdom of Bahrain Sun Chariot Stakes and Supaseus proved too good in the totesport.com Cambridgeshire.
The scene was set, then, for Champions’ Day on October 17 and what a magnificent afternoon’s action it turned out to be. Six fabulous Group races and the totesport.com Cesarewitch ensured a big crowd, which reserved its biggest cheer of the day for trainer Henry Cecil as Twice Over was led into the winner’s enclosure after the Emirates Airline Champion Stakes.
Trainer Aidan O’Brien showed his Midas touch by saddling the first, second and fourth in the Jumeirah Dewhurst Stakes. Beethoven was O’Brien’s leading light on the day, but perhaps the Classic clues came in the shape of the runner-up Fencing Master and fourth Steinbeck’s respective runs.
Then there was the eye-catching victory of Music Show in the Lotus Evora Rockfel Stakes and also Darley Sun’s storming finish in the totesport.com Cesarewitch. Champions’ Day offered up a feast of superb sport, just as the rest of Newmarket’s 2009 season had.
Here’s to the future: roll on Wednesday 14th April and the 2010 Craven Meeting!