Matt Chapman talks all things John Gosden, the Lincoln and another whip debate
Matt Chapman predicts middle-distance domination for John Gosden, previews the Lincoln and offers his view on the latest whip debate.
FOR most of us the Flat season starts today at Doncaster with the Lincoln, and the new campaign is one in which the words Johnny G are likely to be heard over and over again.
There is not much in this game that John Harry Martin Gosden has not achieved.
Two Derbys, two Prix de l’Arc de Triomphes and a Breeders’ Cup Classic - albeit not on dirt - mean that Johnny G, as he is better known, at least by this scribe, has conquered the world in horse racing terms.
That said, I fully expect 2018 to be an exceptional year for Gosden even by his high standards.
Quite simply, Gosden has a chance to dominate Europe’s middle distance championship races with brilliant Arc winner Enable and dominant Champion Stakes hero Cracksman.
And such is his firepower, he could easily give Aidan O’Brien a run for his money in the race to be champion trainer, for which the Irish maestro is looking for a hat-trick. Indeed, I expect Gosden to be the main man this term.
Keeping Enable and Cracksman apart already appears somewhat of a headache, with both being mentioned at different stages for the Prix Ganay at Longchamp on April 29. That race, incidentally, will be shown live on Attheraces and I will be there to cover all the news.
It appears I’ll meet Cracksman that day, and as for Enable, well Lord Grimthorpe, racing manager for Khalid Abdullah who owns the filly, told me: “The plan is the Arc at Longchamp preceded by the Juddmonte International and King George at Ascot.
“How she gets there will be determined by her. If it’s not the Ganay, then the Coronation Cup or Tattersalls Gold Cup over in Ireland are possibles.”
It’s not just Enable, Cracksman and numbers that give Gosden a strong hand. He has quality in depth.
LATEST ON HORSE RACING
Roaring Lion is a leading contender for the Qipco 2000 Guineas after his fine second in the Racing Post Trophy, and he could easily provide Oisin Murphy with a first Classic winner. Stradivarius is likely to be a leading stayer on the back of his St Leger third and the same position behind Order of St George in the Long Distance Cup at Ascot.
I expect Frankie Dettori to play the biggest part he has ever done with Gosden this season. Johnny G and the flying Italian have the chance to light up the Flat in 2018.
Matt Chapman's Lincoln view
AS I mentioned, it’s 32Red Lincoln day at Doncaster, and it’s fair to say the class of this handicap mirrors that of the Grand National in getting higher and higher each season.
The ante-post gamble has been Fire Brigade, the mount of Ryan Moore who loves testing conditions.
But the one who is over priced is top weight Lord Glitters, who is trained by David O’Meara.
He’s a class act in the mud in big fields, and this is such a restricted handicap that 9st 10lb might well not stop him.
There has been much talk about the whip - once again - since Richard Johnson was banned and fined for his ride on Native River in the Timico Cheltenham Gold Cup.
Not for the first time, it’s the rules rather than the ride that has caused the problem.
Most people watched the Gold Cup and thought Johnson was brilliant. But not the rule makers, who cause the controversy rather than the responsible jockeys.
I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again. 99% of the time jockeys ride with the love of the horse in mind, and when they don’t of course they should be held to account for their actions.
But if a horse is responding, in rhythm, to a jockey using his whip - an air cautioned whip designed to inflict no pain - then it’s quite simply madness to suggest eight strikes is fine but nine or ten or fourteen are not.
Every case is different, every horse is different, so to have one rule for all scenarios is in itself a nonsense.
Matt Chapman's TV Tips
1.50 Doncaster - Teruntum Star: 'Likes the mud and will be hard to keep out of the frame'
2.05 Newbury - Shanroe Santos: 'One of the few real stayers and looks an each-way play'
2.25 Doncaster - Sir Roderic: 'Could be chucked in off a mark of 81'
2.40 Newbury - Oistrakh Le Noir: 'Good win last time and could be well in off this mark'
3.00 Doncaster - Zabeel Prince: 'I like him a lot and think he can get back to winning ways here'
3.15 Newbury - Midnight Tune: 'She gets the trip really well and is improving all the time'
3.35 Doncaster - Lord Glitters: 'He's a Group horse in the making'
Incredibly in 2016 and 2017 in the UK, just five whip bans were given to all the winning riders in Group 1 or Grade 1 races. That in itself shows jockeys do not ‘win at all costs’ as some suggest.
Stewards should show much more discretion than they do. It is the rules that cause bad headlines, not the rides. I have done a feature on racing in a country with no whips - and the racing lacked any appeal whatsoever. It was just nonsense.
It would be the end of the sport, for me, if we get to the stage when only horses who run on the bridle are allowed to win. Might Bite would probably be the Gold Cup winner in a world of no whips. How crazy would that be?