Sandown Park boosted by pulling power of brilliant Sea The Stars July 1st, 2009
These days, racecourses are seldom filled purely by quality of horses but Sandown is hoping to be an exception on Saturday. Sea The Stars, hero of the 2,000 Guineas and Derby, is a rare drawcard and the Esher track is reassured that his arrival, for the Coral-Eclipse Stakes, is not jeopardised by the decision to start watering yesterday.
Andrew Cooper, the director of racing, spoke at length to John Oxx, trainer of Sea The Stars, after instructing his team to apply, initially, up to 5mm of water. It was a potentially tricky call, given that this established fast-ground colt was withdrawn from the Irish Derby last weekend amid accusations of over-watering, but Cooper evidently made his case well.
We had a long conversation and John didnt raise any issues based on what I was telling him, Cooper said. We are faced with a series of dry, hot days and if I did nothing, we would very soon have firm ground. Were not having to water heavily, just enough to replace the moisture you lose through hot sun.
Cooper, while delighted with the likely field for the first serious clash of the generations, is disappointed by one aspect. Its been hard to crack the French angle, he said. Weve not had a French runner in the Eclipse since 2005 and we didnt have a single entry in 2007. After that, I knew we had to promote it and weve gone out there each spring to talk to the trainers. I feel the royal meeting holds a special lure to them but well keep trying.
David Mackinnon, managing director at Sandown, reports that ticket sales for Eclipse day peaked on Monday after confirmation that Sea The Stars will meet the Derby fourth, Rip Van Winkle, who will be ridden for Aidan OBrien by Jimmy Fortune, in the absence of the suspended Johnny Murtagh.
Key components are in our favour – a superstar horse and fine weather, Mackinnon said. We would expect to sell about 75 per cent of tickets in advance and we are already 8 per cent ahead of the total advance sale last year.
That crowd amounted to 14,000 and Mackinnon doubts if the 18,000 capacity will be reached. The irony is that Sandowns gates will be closed for an incomparably inferior card later this month, the difference being that post-race entertainment will be provided by Simply Red.
Even at Ascot, music is being used increasingly to bolster attendances. The next appearance of Sea The Stars could be in the King George VI Queen Elizabeth Stakes, which for the first time is selling as much on a concert by Supergrass as on its traditional racing excellence. Nick Smith, director of communications, said yesterday: Advance sales for King George day are up 25 per cent, so its clearly the right thing to have done.
Smith is now turning his attentions to the Shergar Cup next month. He revealed yesterday that Hayley Turner will either be captain or selector of the Great Britain team, depending on whether her medical review next week allows her to resume riding.
The format of the team cup could change next year. We will give consideration to an all-girl team, Smith said. This would almost certainly include Clare Lindop, the Australian, who continued her whistle-stop British education with a ride under the blue skies of Brighton yesterday.
Blue skies are all relative to Nicky Henderson as he frets over the imminent announcement of his punishment for a doping offence. Henderson requested a personal hearing for purposes of mitigation and that is to be held tomorrow.