Winter Watch: No ITV Racing, No Disaster in Overall Scheme of Things

[Wandering Eyes]

The all-weather action in Britain has had the floor to itself since Friday of last week, with the exception of two races at Chepstow on Sunday, before that card joined the growing list of National Hunt abandonments as a result of the extreme weather conditions which have devastated parts of the country.

Our thoughts are with all of those who have been worst affected, including the team at Whatton Manor Stud, who posted a video to their X feed which showed at least two paddocks on their farm in Nottinghamshire completely engulfed by a few feet of water. Thankfully, they later reported that all of the animals who call Whatton Manor home were unharmed.

I'd love to tell you that the all-weather racing has provided a welcome distraction over the past few days but, in truth, it's been relatively low-key stuff. Ideally, the scheduling would have been such that ITV Racing could have shown the racing from Southwell and/or Wolverhampton on Saturday, following the loss of the original fixtures at Sandown and Wincanton, but then take a look at what those cards actually entailed.

Would a bunch of low-grade handicaps really have moved the dial in any meaningful way with the sort of casual racing fan that typically tunes in to ITV? What about the novice which kicked off Southwell's card where only three runners went to post, one of whom finished tailed off?

I'm sure measures will be taken to try to prevent such a scenario from playing out again, and so they should, but in the meantime I'm finding it hard to lose any sleep over a one-off Saturday without any terrestrial TV coverage. Instead, let's focus on the small handful of notable performances and talking points that last week's all-weather racing did provide…

 

pic.twitter.com/jAda8vIoNy

— Whatton Manor Stud (@whattonmanor) January 6, 2025

 

Familiar Tale with Well-Backed Boatswain

Away from the snow, ice and rain, Simon and Ed Crisford enjoyed a notable win on Friday's card at Meydan when stable stalwart Poker Face (Ire) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) won the G2 Zabeel Mile, with that success coming just 40 minutes after the three-year-old Boatswain (GB) had given the stable its first winner of 2025 in Britain.

That victory came in a 10-furlong novice at Lingfield for which Boatswain was backed off the boards on debut, returning the even-money favourite, having been available at 10-3 earlier in the day. In the event, the contest proved just as one-sided as the market suggested it would as the son of New Bay (GB) ran out an impressive winner by three and a quarter lengths, readily asserting after being produced to lead inside the final furlong.

Rabbah Racing's Boatswain fetched 240,000gns when offered by Longview Stud at Book 2 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale. He is the second foal out of the Lope De Vega (Ire) mare Bay Light (Ire), a full-sister to the G2 Al Rashidiya runner-up Bay Of Poets (Ire) and a half to the Listed-placed Highbank (Ire) (Kingman {GB}). This is also the family of the Deutsches Derby-winning siblings Borgia (Ger) (Acatenango {Ger}) and Boreal (Ger) (Java Gold). Boatswain's third dam, Bougainvillea (Ger), is a winning full-sister to German Horse of the Year Borgia, who also counted the Grosser Preis von Baden and Hong Kong Vase among her three Group 1 victories.

Already gelded, Boatswain looks well capable of defying a penalty in a similar event, should his connections opt to go down that route, before attentions then turn to the turf season. Either way, it's shaping up to be an exciting 2025 for the Crisfords and Rabbah Racing, who have teamed up to good effect with a number of nice three-year-old prospects on the all-weather in recent weeks. In addition to Boatswain, Dixieland Blues (GB) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}), Don Pacifico (Ire) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}), Jolly Roger (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) and Suzette Defoye (Fr) (Sea The Moon {Ger}) have all received positive mentions during our Winter Watch run.

 

Plenty of talent there! Boatswain powers to the line at @LingfieldPark and makes a smart winning debut for @gainsboroughHQ and @Mitchelljack77… pic.twitter.com/ybzPszrNge

— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) January 3, 2025

 

Rebel Foils Another Crisford Gamble

Elsewhere on Friday, another gamble on a three-year-old trained by the Crisfords for Rabbah Racing went awry in the six-furlong novice at Southwell as Macedonian (Ire) (Kodiac {GB})–who returned an SP of 4/1 after opening at 9/1–weakened into fifth after leading for much of the journey.

Instead, it was a one-two for champion sire Dark Angel (Ire) as Rebel's Gamble (Ire) made a successful debut at the expense of Stardancer (Ire), with just three-quarters of a length separating the pair at the line. It wasn't all bad news for the connections of Macedonian, either. Stardancer was filling the runner-up spot for the second start in succession and this effort gave a boost to the form of the aforementioned Don Pacifico, who had beaten him comprehensively, by nearly three lengths, when they met over this course and distance last month.

As for Rebel's Gamble, he looks another promising son of Dark Angel for Karl Burke and Clipper Logistics after Night Raider (Ire), who produced one of the most striking debut performances ever seen at Southwell when winning by nine lengths last winter. The now-four-year-old has since won at Listed level and remains a top-class sprinting prospect for 2025.

Whilst Rebel's Gamble's first appearance on a racecourse didn't have quite the same wow factor, it was a promising start to his career nonetheless, especially as he left the impression the experience would bring him on when edging right in the closing stages. The first two pulled nearly four lengths clear of the rest and the time was marginally quicker than both divisions of the classified stakes contested by older horses later on the card.

Bred by Rossenarra Stud, Rebel's Gamble is the third winner from five runners out of the Redback (GB) mare Charlotte Rua (Ire), with the others including the G2 Duke Of York Stakes runner-up Nahaarr (Ire), also by Dark Angel. Rebel's Gamble initially sold to Yeomanstown Stud for 85,000gns at the Tattersalls December Foal Sale, before being bought for 135,000gns at Book 2 of the October Yearling Sale. He seems sure to progress and win more races.

 

Rebel's Gamble makes a nice winning debut for @karl_burke and @CliffordleexLee as the front pair pull clear at @Southwell_Races… pic.twitter.com/1bXg9obZEQ

— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) January 3, 2025

 

“We're Not At The Sales To Buy Clean X-Rays”

The success of Wootton Bassett (GB) with his first Irish-bred crop of two-year-olds in 2024 was the talk of the town, featuring no fewer than four individual Group/Grade 1 winners.

For others it's taken a bit longer for them to find their feet. Take Mdawi (Ire), for example, who belatedly opened his account in the aforementioned three-runner novice at Southwell on Saturday, looking well suited by the step up to 11 furlongs as he made all to beat the odds-on favourite, Nobleman (GB) (Sir Percy {GB}), by a length and a quarter in comfortable fashion.

Now, it's plain for all to see that Mdawi is never going to emulate his Group 1-winning paternal siblings, but you won't find many three-year-old colts by Wootton Bassett (GB) with a more star-studded pedigree than this chap. He was bred by Coolmore out of their four-time Group 1 winner Peeping Fawn (Danehill), who has now produced six winners from nine runners, with the others including the Listed Chesham Stakes heroine and G1 Fillies' Mile runner-up September (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}).

The fact that it cost a mere 22,000gns to secure Mdawi at the Tattersalls Guineas Breeze-up Sale suggests he perhaps isn't the model you might expect of one with his pedigree, but the Johnston team have never been afraid to overlook a perceived physical flaw if they're being compensated in other areas. As Mark Johnston summed up in this Q&A with TDN colleague Brian Sheerin back in 2022, “We're not at the sales to buy a set of clean X-rays–we're there to buy a racehorse.”

Knowing how the Johnstons like to operate with their racehorses, we can expect to see plenty of Mdawi on the racecourse in 2025 and it will be a surprise if he's not capable of winning a few middle-distance handicaps from an opening mark of just 72.

 

Toughed it out!

Mdawi (Wootton Bassett x Peeping Fawn) sees off Nobleman to take the @Southwell_Races opener for @RKingscote and @Johnston_Racing… pic.twitter.com/MMrJabqPio

— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) January 4, 2025

 

Not Miraculous, But Better Than First Thought

If Mdawi was a relatively cheap buy at 22,000gns, then what do we make of Miraculous (Ire), a son of Too Darn Hot (GB) and the G2 Temple Stakes winner Priceless (GB) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}), who was completely overlooked by potential buyers on the two occasions he was previously offered for sale?

After failing to find a buyer at 50,000gns at Book 2 of the October Yearling Sale, the colt was then bought back by owner-breeder Alan Spence for the measly sum of 1,500gns when he appeared in last year's Tattersalls Online January Sale.

Clearly, Miraculous had been showing a bit more at home before his belated debut in a six-furlong novice at Newcastle on New Year's Day, with his SP of 2-7 (having opened at 8-13) suggesting victory should have been a formality. It proved anything but in the end, with Tsarinas Song (GB) (Sergei Prokofiev) pushing him all the way to the line, but he clung on by a head to pocket the £3,942 on offer to the winner.

Spence would have had bigger dreams than that when he first conceived the plan to send his high-class sprinter Priceless, the dam of two other winners by Dubawi (Ire), to Too Darn Hot, but at least it's a start. The Roger Varian trainee is sure to improve with the experience under his belt and, like Mdawi, his story should serve as a reminder that the racecourse is the ultimate testing ground, rather than the sales ring.

 

Winner in Waiting

War And Love (GB)
Iffraaj (GB)–El Gumryah (Ire), by No Nay Never
Odds-on favourite Jiff's Army (Ire) (Saxon Warrior {Jpn}) put his experience to good use when winning the second division of the one-mile maiden at Lingfield on Friday, but it's likely that the best long-term prospect in the race finished third. A newcomer from the Sir Mark Prescott stable, War And Love looked clueless in the early stages, needing to be rousted along just to keep touch with the main pack, and she still had all eight of her rivals to pass when switched wide entering the straight. Somehow beaten only two lengths at the line, she finished with a rare rattle and ought to prove much sharper for the outing.

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