Weekend Review

Tom Queally understandably used his Racing UK blog last week to defend his ride of Frankel at Royal Ascot.

In Tuesday's St James' Palace Stakes, Queally sent the monster Quipco 2,000 Guineas winner for home on the final bend but was almost reeled in by those who had played their cards slightly later. Of course, Frankel's  performance of ruthless strong galloping at Newmarket lent itself to the expectation of a repeat performance  and given the horse's 'free' nature and long raking stride it makes perfect sense not to dissapoint him during the race and allow him travel with speed. He did settle better and that will enable his connections to approach his future targets with slightly more clarity now that they shouldnt have to counteract his hard-pulling tendencies.

Queally explained on his blog page: "Alot has been said about the ride I gave Frankel. I was rng to instructions to kill them off at halfway and thats ultimately what we did."  He continued; "He was idling as he had been infront for a long way, and i think he could have found more if needed."

The critism of Queally's ride did seem a little unfair. The same tactics were deployed here last year when he won the Royal Lodge, sweeping off the final bend and displaying his powers in the straight. However that day he had no pacemaker, in fact, Frankel had pulled himself to the front off a slow pace. On Tuesday like at Newbury and, to a lesser extent Newmarket, he did have a pacemaker. If his Irish jockey should be critised perhaps it is for his apparent panic when realising that he was two or three lengths further back than he wanted on the home turn. His hurried response set Frankel alight. As he had done at Newmarket he did idle when clear, but its just another sign he is growing up and understanding his job better. He was essentially holding a little back for another day.

However, Frankel has had two hard races now and if it hasn't left some mark on the three-year-old yet, it surely soon will. Iam sure Tom Queally recognisies on some level that his ride was a misjudgement of sorts, just as many will argue he sent Midday for home a touch too early when she was clawed back by St Nicolas Abbey at Epsom on Derby day. However, the issue for me in this instance is the use of the pacemaker. The stage when a pacemaker becomes irrelevent is the stage when the rest of the field take no notice of it and set thier own fractions. Those runners who deploy thier turn-of-foot late can still do this off a slower pace after the pacemaker, Rerouted on this ocassion, has come back to the field.

The purpose of the pacemaker is to set equal fractions thoughout the race, allowing the horses with the most ability to display it most effectively. That is when you get a truely run race and the best horse invariably wins. Horse racing is about speed and excellartion. Even-pace behests fast race time.
Despite some countries outlawing the use of them (Australia the most notable) the 'rabbit' as it is called in American racing is a significant tool for getting honest results that are not blinded by muddled fractions. Sir Roger Bannister achieved the fastest mile race using pace-setters to ensure equally run quarters. Sectretariat ran the greatest time figure ever in 1973 using a 'rabbit'. He clocked 12 furlongs at roughly 12 seconds each.

Sir Mark Presscott explained in a fascinating interview on Racing UK the other week, that when determining the ability of his two-year-olds he employs his best jockey on the lead horse - ensuring the fractions are equal. For Micheal Hills on Rerouted it was a nightmare. He failed to encourage the other runners to travel at an honest gallop by going too fast and that forced Frankel, for whom he should have been assisting, to run out of his comfort zone along way from home.

A similar story occured in the Prince Of Wales' Stakes on Wednesday. Jan Vermeer, a markedly better horse than Rerouted, set quick fractions from the front  but so far away from the rest of the field they were pointless. In truth the gallop appeared more honest than in the St James Palace Stakes but it only led Aussie wonderhorse So You Think into the race and he was run down late by Rewilding. Again there is no real blame attached to Ryan Moore because his gameplan was executed.

Aidan O'Brien was the first of the trainers to employ the pacemaker factor into Group races that i can remember (although i do remember Maroof stealing  a Group One prize from the front at Ascot in 1994). Gradually over the years he developed a more economical plan and had perfected the art. Originally the horses he used were regularly not up to it and served little purpose. Sooner or later he deployed better a horses - group-class horses. Jan Vermeer is a Group One winner at Two and although injury has beset his career still retains much of his ability. Not so long ago he would have had a pacemaker in this race not been one.

Compare these displays to that of Mikael Barzalona's ride of Flash Dance, the pace-setter for Goldikova, in the Queen Anne Stakes on Tuesday. The Frenchman's front running tactics had an effect on the rest of the field because he stayed close to them. Barzalona towed Goldikova into the race and regularly looked over his shoulder to chart her progress and position. By doing this she was able to move into the race effortlessly. Barzalona is clearly jockey of wonderful talent and he learns quickly. Only two days earlier he had gone too quick infront when pacemaking in the French Oaks and set the race up for the horses boasting a good turn of foot, as opposed to stablemate Gladikova, who stayed on late for second.

Even fractions remain the key to a well run race and consequently are important when analysing form. Ocassionally they can outrun their percieved ability as Opening Verse did when heading stablemate Indian Skimmer in the 1984 Coral Eclipse at odds of 200/1 and, more recently At First Sight finishing runner-up to Workforce in the 2010 Derby.

Middle-distance races are run at an even pace throughout. However sprint races and long-distance races the pace distribution is more varied. Sprinters run quick early fractions. They have large powerful muscle groups that burn energy quickly meaning that the final quarter of a sprint race is always slower than any other. By contrast longer races are run slowly for the first three quarters and then the pace is picked up. Double Trigger famously produced the fastest final split of the whole Glorious Goodwood meeting when he won his Goodwood Cup over two miles.

It may be that a pacemaker is no longer needed for Frankel and Tom Queally's requirements but for those who do use them, the difference between success and failure may lie in another jockeys hands.