Havre De Grace: began her Horse of the Year season in Azeri Stakes

PICTURE: Jessie Holmes/EquiSport Photos

USA: Havre De Grace, the reigning US Horse of the Year, will have her first run of 2012 in the Grade 3 Azeri Stakes at Oaklawn Park next month.

Trained by Larry Jones for owner Rick Porter, Havre De Grace made her return last year in the same race before going to on Grade 1 wins in the Apple Blossom, Beldame Invitational and over the boys in the Woodward Stakes.

Porter, who also plans to run his Grade 2 winner Joyful Victory in the New Orleans Ladies Stakes at Fairgrounds on the same day, said: “Larry and I have mapped out some possible races for the next few months for Havre De Grace and Joyful Victory. We decided that the best choice for Havre De Grace’s first race of the year is the Azeri at Oaklawn on March 17.

“Joyful Victory will run at the Fairgrounds in the New Orleans Ladies Stakes on the same day. We felt these are the best opportunities for our two fillies. Ramon Dominguez will come in to ride Havre De Grace and Robbie Albarado will be aboard Joyful Victory.”

Cheltenham Chasing Greats: relive the drama of the top 25 chasers in festival history in a fantastic free 12-page pullout – only in Saturday’s Racing Post newspaper

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Article source: http://www.racingpost.com/news/horse-racing/usa-havre-de-grace-given-azeri-comeback-target/991214/

Long Run (near) partnered by Tom Symonds who was impressed by his win

PICTURE: Edward Whitaker (racingpost.com/photos)

LONG RUN did not come out of second gear to win at Newbury last week and is merely a more relaxed individual than last season according to Nicky Henderson’s former assistant Tom Symonds.

Trained by Nicky Henderson for Robert Waley-Cohen, Long Run was eased in themarket to defend his Betfred Gold Cup crown after defeating stablemate Burton Port, who was having his first run for 447 days, by half a length in the Grade 2 Betfair Denman Chase.

Symonds, who rode Long Run daily before starting on his own as a trainer in the summer, feels the seven-year-old ran “a very good race” and requires more work to get him ready to run than was previously the case with thehorse having settled down in recent months.

He said: “The storm will fret until Gold Cup day as to whether it was a good performance or not, but from someone who knows the horse it looked clear that he ran a very good race; that’s if he had one at all.

“For me Long Run has become rather idle and was only in second gear at Newbury. He has seemingly relaxed and become more lackadaisical.

Sprinter Sacre: red-hot favourite

PICTURE: Getty Images

“It is notable that his earplugs are no longer needed. When he returned to training last summer, he was a much more relaxed individual who needed more chiding up the gallop. He was idling in front in the Gold Cup last year and was the same at Newbury.

“He is now a relentless galloper who probably takes a bit more work to get the oil into that huge engine. I seem to remember Aidan O’Brien describing Yeats in the same way in his latter years at Ballydoyle.”

Symonds also added that Racing Post Arkle Chase favourite Sprinter Sacre, another trained by Henderson, is a horse that “has it all”.

Writing in his Horse Hound blog, Symonds said: “His ability to jump boldly and cleverly is something that you simply cannot teach a horse – they either have or they don’t. This is a horse who has it all.”

Cheltenham Chasing Greats: relive the drama of the top 25 chasers in festival history in a fantastic free 12-page pullout – only in Saturday’s Racing Post newspaper

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Article source: http://www.racingpost.com/news/horse-racing/sprinter-sacre-tom-symonds-cheltenham-festival-dont-fret-over-long-run-form-symonds/991213/

RECURRING themes emerged on Wednesday as the industry responded to the latest changes to the whip rules, with “common-sense at last being applied” an opinion prevalent among jockeys, while trainers raged at the mess the sport has found itself in.

The BHA announcedon Tuesday that when a jockey over jumps hits his or her mount nine times (one over the limit) and a rider on the Flat uses the whip eight times (again, one over the maximum) it will, in future, trigger a review of the ride by stewards rather than an automatic ban.

Andrew Thornton: more discussion

PICTURE: Martin Lynch

A radical revision of the penalty structure has also been made, with repeat offences at the lower andupper levels not in future resulting in the penalty multipliying.

Gold Cup-winning rider Andrew Thornton said: “Paul [Struthers, PJA chief executive] had a meeting with half a dozen of us about ten days ago, and we’ve all been kept informed throughout the whole process. Those who were at the meeting have made sure all the other riders were informed, too.

“There was much more of a discussion this time. It wasn’t done behind closed doors. We’ve all appreciated that. Kevin [Darley, former PJA chief executive] was a big help in getting everything set up and Paul has taken it forward.

“From our point of view it has been proved a number [maximum times a jockey can hit a horse] doesn’t work. In the heat of a finish you are entirely focused on winning the race.

Timmy Murphy: quite positive

PICTURE: Edward Whitaker

“Thankfully, common sense has prevailed, and it has been resolved now. It was made out to be a welfare issue, but it never was.”

Timmy Murphy said of the changes: “They’re quite positive. All we want is someone to work with us, we don’t expect the whole thing to change and go back to where we were before. Penalties were the big problem as we were not [breaking the rules]on purpose.

“If someone blatantly breaks the rules then they deserve to get suspended, but if it is a minor little thing like just getting a horse running then it should be looked at differently.”

John Gosden, Sir Mark Prescott and Ferdy Murphy were among trainers to express a view on the changes and Prescott said: “The new rules will result in a self-appointed number [of times a horse can be hit] being fragrantly exceeded time and time again, particularly in the bigger, higher-profile events.

“This will further inflame the ‘antis’ – the very people who the rule was designed to placate!”

Professional punter Ken Pitterson, speaking at Kempton on Wednesday night, said: “I think it is a step in the right direction but I still think there is going to be problems with how the stewards interpret the rules. I don’t think you can have a fixed number.”

Don’t miss Thursday’s Racing Post newspaper for more fallout over the latest changes to the whip rules, plus opinion from editor Bruce Millington

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Article source: http://www.racingpost.com/news/horse-racing/bha-riders-common-sense-prevails-at-last-over-whip/991057/