Author: GC

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Redcar

Redcar is a flat type course located in Trees Valley within the county of North Yorkshire, England. It is owned by the Redcar Racing Company and is listed for screening by Racing UK.

History

The course was opened in the first half of the 1870s. A permanent course was laid three years later, and there have been no major closures since then. That included a new grandstand, which replaced a temporary one that had been put up –and was charged by- a Mr. Adamson.

Part of the land was sold in 1981 in order to raise funds for another upgrade under the chairmanship and management of Lord Zetland.

A 2006 upgrade saw the course scoop the Neil Wyatt Groundstaff award, a feat that has seen it grow the number of visiting racegoers in the past decade.

Course

The course is oval shaped, flat from start to finish. It stretches for a distance of 1-mile 4-furlongs, with banked tight bends which call for a sudden deceleration during races. This is made up for by the 1-mile straight stretch; the only ‘straight and flat complete mile’ in the UK.

Prior to the 2017 season, the course received a £200,000 facelift, expected to improve both viewer and racer experience.

Access is easy by rail or road, given the clear signposting from the A1 and the short distance –five-minutes’ walk- from the closest train station. Admission is free for racegoers aged 17 and under, and the prices are varied for age categories from 17 years upward. Redcar say they don’thave a dress code, but ‘encourage’ smart casual and do not admit people in sports clothing or ‘untidy’ dressing.

Races

There are between 17 and 20 meetings in a calendar year, running between early April and mid-October. The Two-Year-Old Trophy, Guisborough Stakes and the Zetland Gold Cup are the headline races at the Redcar.

Under a mile races often descend on Redcar in order to exploit the ‘straight mile.’

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Will Stradivarius Sign Off with Long Distance Cup Win?

Stradivarius has reeled off 10 wins on the bounce to make a claim to be considered one of the great horses of the modern era. John Gosden’s charge has excelled on the track since the start of the 2018 campaign, winning every event he has competed in during the timespan.

Gosden will be desperate for his charge to bow out of the season on a high note with a victory at the British Champions Long Distance Cup. Stradivarius last tasted defeat in the event at the end of 2017, losing to Order of St George.

He atoned for his loss with a brilliant performance in the Long Distance Cup in the last campaign and will not attempt to join an elite company of competitors to win the race for a second time. Gosden’s charge is backed in the horse racing betting odds as the 1/2 favourite for the crown, and he has established himself far and above the rest of the field throughout the term.

It would be a huge surprise to see Stradivarius fail to win for the 11th time in a row. Kew Gardens and Dee Ex Bee will attempt to provide a challenge, but the Irish Thoroughbred has been dominant with Frankie Dettori at the reins.

He began his 2019 campaign at the Yorkshire Cup, and although he did not enjoy the best of starts to the race, the bay colt was still able to claim a comfortable win ahead of Southern France by powering away down the stretch. Next on the agenda as the defence of his Ascot Gold Cup title, and again with Dettori in the saddle, he timed his run to perfection to surge away from the rest of the field. Dee Ex Bee provided the competition, but Stradivarius claimed the win by a length.

The two horses would enjoy a fierce battle at Glorious Goodwood in the Goodwood Cup. On this occasion, Dee Ex Bee appeared to have got the better of Gosden’s charge. However, Stradivarius used the last of his pace down the final furlong to edge out his rival by a neck on the line.

 

The Lonsdale Cup provided an opportunity for revenge for Mark Johnston and his horse. The five-year-old was the favourite, despite the improvement of his rival last time out. Stradivarius made a statement with arguably his strongest performance of the campaign. He powered away from Dee Ex Bee to finish one-and-a-quarter lengths ahead of his opponent, earning yet another berth in the winners’ circle.

Gosden opted to place Stradivarius in the Doncaster Cup in September, and without the presence of his rival, the five-year-old was able to canter to an easy victory over the field after leading from the early stages of the race. The Long Distance Cup is on the agenda, although Gosden has claimed that he has concerns about soft ground ahead of the event.

It would be a surprise to see him withdraw Stradivarius from the race given his imperious form and record at Ascot. His future beyond that could be up for debate given the amount of time he has had on the track, although the lure of a third Ascot Gold Cup is tempting for owner Bjorn Nielsen. It would be fitting to see Stradivarius go for one last honour at the Long Distance Cup to enhance his legacy.

 

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Dancing Brave

Until early 2013, Dancing Brave was the highest rated horse in the history of World Thoroughbred Rankings, which were first published in 1977. At that stage, his rating was downgraded from 141 to 138, as the result of a highly controversial ‘historical recalibration’, leaving Frankel, with a rating of 140, as the ‘new benchmark of equine excellence’. Nevertheless, having suffered defeat just twice in his ten-race career – in the Derby at Epsom, when given too much to do, and in the Breeders’ Cup Turf at Santa Anita, when badly dehydrated – Dancing Brave was, unquestionably, one of the finest racehorses in living memory.

Owned, like Frankel, by Khalid Abdullah and trained by Guy Harwood, Dancing Brave won both starts as a juvenile, in 1985, in convincing style and went into winter quarters as favourite for the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket the following May. Indeed, immediately after his debut win in the Dorking Stakes at Sandown, stable jockey Greville Starkey declared – fatefully, as it turned out – that he would ride Dancing Brave in the Derby.

That he did, having already partnered the Lyphard colt to emphatic victories in the Craven Stakes and the 2,000 Guineas on the first two starts of his three-year-old campaign; nevertheless, his injudicious ride at Epsom was to dog Starkey for the rest of his career. Despite stepping up to a mile and a half for the first time, Dancing Brave was sent off 2/1 favourite for the Epsom Classic, but misjudged his waiting tactics and, while his mount made up ground hand-over-fist in the closing stages, failed by half a length to overhaul Dante Stakes winner Shahrastani.

Starkey retained the ride on Dancing Brave in the Coral-Eclipse Stakes at Sandown the following month and resumed winning ways, easily beating by 4 lengths. However, in the

King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot later in July – in which Dancing Brave took revenge on his erstwhile conqueror Shahrastani – Starkey was replaced by Pat Eddery. Indeed, Eddery kept the ride for the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, in which Dancing Brave justified favouritism, swamping his rivals for pace in the closing stages to win by 1½ lengths. Dancing Brave was, justifiably, named European Horse of the Year for 1986.