Letter from Ascot: Heroes and Goats

[Wandering Eyes]

When I heard the Ascot track announcer say, “Tony Curtis is heading to the stalls,” it took me a while to put two and two together.

“I thought Tony Curtis was dead,” the guy next to me in the press box muttered. I was sure he was, too. But then I realized the announcer was talking about #16 in Wednesday’s G2 Royal Hunt Cup Handicap.

For those of you who always complain about short fields and favorites with ever blinking low odds, consider the fact that 32 were entered for this race today, and 30 ran. They needed three starting gates for the straight-on one-mile test.

The favorite was 7-1. And it wasn’t Tony Curtis (GB) (Rock of Gibraltar {Ire})–he finished nineteenth at 40-1. Late money poured in on #32 Seniority, making him the tepid public choice.

By the way, one of my favorite films is Six Bridges to Cross, made in 1955, staring Tony Curtis. It has racetrack scenes made in Boston, and tells the story of the Brink’s bank robbery. I could have used that $2.5 million today at the track. I had to find a cash machine after the sixth.

As the final race was approaching, I was looking for a hero or a goat. I found the hero easily. It is Sir Michael Stoute. He won two races on the six-race card, Poet’s Word (Poet’s Voice {GB}) in the G1 Prince of Wales’s S. with Jimmy Doyle. He also tallied with Expert Eye (Acclamation {GB}) in the G3 Jersey S., making him the trainer who has won more races at Royal Ascot (77) than any other conditioner in history! Perhaps his several training victories for The Queen at Royal Ascot earned him that “Sir.”

Sir Michael, 73, was born in Barbados, but has a thick English accent. His father was Chief of Police in Barbados. Michael wanted nothing to do with police work or his homeland and left at age 19 to become assistant trainer for Pat Rohan. He started his Royal Ascot skein in 1977 with Ettienne Gerard taking the Jersey.

In the United States, Stoute has saddled four Breeders’ Cup winners, and is expected in Louisville at Churchill Downs this November.

Goats? There were more than one, unfortunately. Wesley Ward had three losers. Frankie Dettori, the darling from yesterday, finished second on Cracksman (GB) (Frankel {GB}) at odds-on with what most pundits thought was a free square. Ryan Moore did have one winner, but he was a heavy favorite to win the Ritz trophy for top jockey. One winner in a week will not do it.

And, we are still looking for our Yankee Doodle Dandy. Maybe tomorrow.

Editor’s note: Dave Johnson is a racecaller and sportscaster (famous for his signature `And down the stretch they come!’) who is attending his 24th consecutive Royal Ascot meeting this year. He is writing a daily Ascot report for the TDN.

 

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