Section:GDN 1N PaGe:36 Edition Date:190821 Edition:01 Zone: Sent at 20/8/2019 20:40 cYanmaGentaYellowb
- The Guardian Wednesday 21 Au g u st 2019
(^36) Sport
Racing
Gosden fears Enable may
be undone in tactical race
Chris Cook
John Gosden is concerned about a
potentially tactical race after only
four runners were declared for the
Yorkshire Oaks tomorrow , expected
to be the fi nal race in Britain for his star
mare Enable. The fi ve-year-old is long
odds-on with bookmakers to land the
prize on her way to Paris in October,
where she will attempt to become the
fi rst horse to win the Prix de l’Arc de
Triomphe for a third time.
“The smaller the fi eld, the stranger
the race can often be,” said Gosden,
who has provided one of Enable’s
three rivals in Lah Ti Dar. The other two
runners are trained by Aidan O’Brien,
notably Magical, supplemented into
the race last week at a cost of £30,000.
Completing the fi eld is South Sea Pearl,
only eighth in a French Group Two race
at the weekend.
“Magical was what you might call
an unusual late supplement for one
of Aidan’s, who are normally in all
the races from day one,” Gosden said.
“And then they’ve popped in a fi lly that
just happens to have run a mile and a
half round Deauville on Sunday. She’s
obviously on a travel bonus scheme.”
To a suggestion that South Sea Pearl
may be a pacemaker, Gosden replied:
“I don’t know if she’s fast enough to
do that. She didn’t look fast enough
to me the other day, so I’m not quite
sure what she’s doing there.”
Enable can make the running if
required and did so when winning
the Yorkshire Oaks two years ago but
Gosden would not commit to her doing
so again. “I’ve got to discuss it with
Frankie [Dettori] and leave all the
options open. They’re very trappy,
these small-fi eld races. You can have
a plan but you usually go pretty quickly
to plan B, which is a blank canvas.
“We’ve been very happy with her
indeed. And actually, funnily enough,
with Lah Ti Dar. She’s run twice at
York and won there both times. The
Lloyd Webbers are very keen, they’ve
planned it all year, so she’s running.
“I’ve never been a great one for
running good fillies against each
other but once you get into the late
summer and autumn, the options are
not multiple if you want to operate at
Group One level.”
The presence of Enable and Magical,
the two highest-rated females in
Europe, proved enough to scare away
the other possible runners, Sir Michael
Stoute taking out Sun Maiden, while
Ralph Beckett withdrew Manuela
De Vega. Gosden’s Oaks winner,
Anapurna, will also go elsewhere,
possibly to the Vermeille next month.
Gosden runs the second-favourite
in today’s big race, the Juddmonte
International, in King Of Comedy,
last seen running on well into second
over a shorter distance at Royal Ascot.
“You can fi nd easier races than this,
taking on Crystal Ocean, but he’s a
talented young horse and he deserves
the opportunity. He was still quite
immature at Ascot. He’s come on a lot
since the race. I’ve been very happy
with his work, I think he’s more
professional now.”
On Friday, the trainer runs
Stradivarius in the Lonsdale, in which
the chestnut could trigger a £1m bonus
from Weatherbys Hamilton for the
second year running if he wins. “I’m
just sitting here looking at the fi eld, it’s
pretty hot,” Gosden said.
Bath 1.45 Red Tycoon 2.15 Tommy Rock 2.50 Gallatin
3.25 Line Of Reason 4.05 Tavus (nb) 4.40 Cuttin’ Edge
5.15 La Fortuna
York 1.55 Final Venture 2.25 Persuasion 3.00 Logician
3.35 King Of Comedy (nap) 4.15 Blue Laureate
4.50 Buhturi
Carlisle 2.05 Leapers Wood 2.35 Ainsdale
3.10 Ugo Gregory 3.45 Manshood 4.25 Beechwood Jude
4.55 Firewater 5.25 My Ukelele 5.55 Lucky Icon
Worcester 5.00 Skinflint 5.30 Attest 6.00 Full Bore
6.30 West Coast Flyer 7.00 North Star Oscar
7.30 Pogo I Am 8.00 Cottonvale
Kempton
5.45 Restless Endeavour 6.15 Mojave
6.45 To The Moon 7.15 Alfurat River 7.45 Highland Sky
8.15 Travel On 8.45 Indian Viceroy
Chris Cook’s tips
▲ Enable will face only three
opponents in the Yorkshire Oaks
County Championship roundup
Essex win after
knocking Kent
over for 40
Tanya Aldred
A ridiculous match at Canterbury
fi nished with Essex winning by
three wickets to extend their lead at
the top of Division One. Twenty -six
wickets fell in the day as fi rst Essex
lost nine for 82, then Kent were
bowled out for 40, their lowest total
at the St Lawrence ground.
Sam Cook grabbed seven for 23 –
and 12 for 65 in the match. No Kent
batsman could reach double fi gures.
Chasing 153 to win, Essex made it
by the skin of their teeth. The pitch
liaison offi cer said “no blame” could
be attached to the pitch.
Somerset , top of the chasing pack,
have an outside chance of a win
at Edgbaston after Warwickshire
subsided to 146 all out. Tom Abell
pocketed a career -best four for
- Earlier Somerset had avoided
the follow-on thanks to 109 from
Steve Davies.
Lancashire cruised to an innings
and 150-run victory over Glamorgan
at Colwyn Bay to rest at the top
of Division Two, a whopping 43
points above Northamptonshire.
Glamorgan were dismissed by mid-
afternoon, Danny Lamb dismissing
both openers, and Tom Bailey and
Saqib Mahmood picking up three
wickets each.
Nottinghamshire are in danger of
slipping further into the relegation
mire at Scarborough. Chasing 387
to win, they lost four wickets in the
fi nal session to fi nish on 135 for four.
Ollie Pope fl ew a fl ag to the
England selectors with 176 not out
at the Oval in his fi rst championship
game back since a shoulder
operation. Scott Borthwick also
made a century, his fi rst for two
years. Leicestershire followed onat the Riverside after Bydon Carse
fi nished with a career -best six for 63.
Northamptonshire smoothed the
paper on the fi le marked Division
One, after their 10-wicket defeat of
Worcestershire left them in second
place. Moeen Ali had looked in
vintage fl ow while making 40 before
he was run out going for a third.
Rikki Wessels threw the bat for 84,
ensuring Northants had to bat again.
Sussex snatched a seven-wicket
victory at Hove after a fi ghtback
from Middlesex ’s batsmen had left
them chasing 145 to win.RELEASED BY "What's News" VK.COM/WSNWS TELEGRAM: t.me/whatsnws