Yeats (and The Gold Cup)

I got almost as much of a thrill seeing Yeats win as I did when Foghorn Leghorn won the Champion, even though I only had a fraction of the amount on at a fraction of what I got for RB.

So, with apologies to Francis Albert...

I have been a punter
I have stood alone
Backed a hundred lightweights
Enough to build the Dome
Still and all I'm happy
The reason is you see
Once in a while
Along the way
The odds looked good to me

There was the grey at Cheltenham
Who up the hill did storm
Oh his heart was questioned
Oh his teeth were worn
But he just blew away his rivals
Won it in a hack
On form like that
You'd fncy him
To humble Istabraq

I have been a punter
I have stood alone
Backed a hundred lightweights
Enough to build the Dome
Still and all I'm happy
The reason is you see
Once in a while
Along the way
The odds looked good to me

Then there was Yeats at Ascot
Who'd three times won the crown
Was he past his sell-by?
Was he on the down?
Then Murtagh rushed him up the outside
Kicked on in the straight
They never saw which way he went
He could have won by eight

I have been a punter
I have stood alone
Backed a hundred lightweights
Enough to build the Dome
Still and all I'm happy
The reason is you see
Once in a while
Along the way
The odds looked good to me
 
:lol:

I can guarantee you that's one breeding that won't be happening!


I am a-hoping and a-praying that CADEAUX GENEREUX is still alive and covering next season, although I think it's unlikely and if the case, she'll probably go back to BAHAMIAN BOUNTY.
 
Question for the history buffs:

Since the advent of the Pattern in 1971, how many horses have won Group 1s in 5 consecutive years?
 
davidjohnson said:
Sorry Hamm, I misinterpreted your post. I thought when you said 'suitably high', it was as if you were inferring that his current rating was too low. Don't think there's much wrong with your untrained eyes anyway. We're all constantly retraining ourselves aren't we? ;-)
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I think many would find it difficult to say my eyes have ever had any training what with how Royal Ascot has gone this week :D
 
At a guess Gareth just Yeats - trying to think of anything in training from 2-6 or 3-7 and racing at the very highest level, tbh I'm totally stuck with the exception of Daylami but he was only at 3, 4 and 5 so he's still someway short of Yeats in that respect.
 
Takeover Target... almost. Based on Aussie seasons rather than years (which seems fair), and if I've got them right, he won a Group 1 in 04/05, 05/06, 06/07 and 08/09... all but 07/08. He did win a "Group 1" in Singapore that season, but I think that's only a Singapore Group 1 rather than an internationally recognised one.
 
Songsheet said:
:lol:

I can guarantee you that's one breeding that won't be happening!


I am a-hoping and a-praying that CADEAUX GENEREUX is still alive and covering next season, although I think it's unlikely and if the case, she'll probably go back to BAHAMIAN BOUNTY.
Click to expand...


sorry to be off-topic, but if not, use Toylsome !!! :<3::<3:
 
....aaand, the Goodwood Cup is on the 30.07.09, Imagine (did u ask)

read elsewhere that he is supposed to run in the Irish St. Leger too and would target that as my farewell to him ! Looks like goodwood is impossible to squeeze in.
 
Thanks Crazyhorse. I am off work Goodwood week but was intending to go home and see the parents who are totally in the opposite direction - haven't been home since last November so probably couldn't get out of it. Could keep my fingers crossed for the Irish Leger I suppose...
 
Not sure Yeats will run anywhere again, Aidan has done a fabulous job to get him to Ascot. Has had a St leger entry for ages, but unlikely he would get his ground there, same as last year and prob a non runner. Goodwood likely if anywhere.

However, Irish fans really want to see him, so you never know. Maybe they can parade him if he does not race. If he does, I'm going! :<3:
 
So his Gold Cup performances are: 122, 122, 124, 125.

He's clearly on an upward curve and should come back for 5 :D
 
He is not done with yet...

The Guardian
"Aidan [O'Brien] has said the horse is back, cantering away, and fine in himself, and his future will revolve around Goodwood, The Curragh, and the Arc weekend in Paris. It will be a mixture of these options," he said.
There has been continuing speculation on whether Yeats, winner of a historic fourth Gold Cup last Thursday, had already made his 'swansong' in front of an overjoyed and supportive crowd. But Magnier pointed out: "One thing we agreed beforehand was that win, lose or draw, we would not be rushing into anything."


Clearly, the Coolmore Stud supremo, who owns the grand stayer in partnership with his wife Sue and close friends David and Diane Nagle, is sticking with that policy, although if Yeats continues to thrive at home, the option to race on becomes ever more attractive. He could still be competing through the autumn.
"He'll be entered for the Arc, but there's no guarantee he'll run. But history tells us that really good stayers have run well in the Arc, horses such as Levmoss and Ardross," Magnier stated. "Listen, if you had said before he ran that you were planning to win the races Yeats has won, you would have been certified," he added.
As the winner of the Derrinstown Derby Trial, Coronation Cup, an Irish St Leger, and four Ascot Gold Cups, Yeats has proved an exceptionally versatile horse, who has kept running season after season. "People sometimes forget he was favourite for the Derby. I remember having to make the phone call to Davy [Nagle], telling him Yeats had pulled a muscle and wouldn't be running at Epsom.
"Christy Grassick (manager of Coolmore Stud) says there has been enormous interest in the horse from breeders, and I can understand that. Yeats must be one of the soundest horses there has been, and you like to see soundness in a stallion.
"He can run extreme distances, yet Aidan tells me he recorded 11.5 secs per furlong in his final piece of work [before Ascot]. People have been very generous in their praise of the horse and it has meant a lot to everybody close to him. The fact that they formed a guard of honour for him in the stables at Ascot, I've never heard of that happening before. We're probably not finished dreaming with this horse, but also we want to do what's right for him," he said.
Not surprisingly, Ascot have weighed in with plans to honour Yeats, but nothing will be done until connections have announced the horse's retirement. "It is considered extremely bad luck to erect a monument or anything else to celebrate the achievements of a horse, while it is currently racing," said Nick Smith, Ascot's head of communications.
"It will be something significant, I can assure you. Obviously, we would love Yeats to come back and try to win a fifth Gold Cup, but we also fully understand that is highly unlikely," Smith added.
Curiously, Ascot have a statue of Derby winner Motivator despite the colt never having raced at the course (though he was owned by the Royal Ascot Racing Club), and there is a temporary monument to Brown Jack. Frankie Dettori is honoured by a statute for his 'Magnificent Seven' in 1996, though not even Dettori can recognise himself.
 
"He'll be entered for the Arc, but there's no guarantee he'll run. But history tells us that really good stayers have run well in the Arc, horses such as Levmoss and Ardross," Magnier stated.
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This.
 
as isinglass knows well, I have been saying this for ages. Westerner ran a cracker in arc, and if they would have sent him last year, he would at least have finished 2nd to zarkava, on a formline to Its Gino who is nothing special and just ran the race of his life. They have nothing to lose and I for one would LOVE it !!!!!!! Jumped up and down when Johnny murtagh said it, and really think yeats would be in with serious shout. he won a cornonation cup and was fav. for derby. on the other hand, if he wouldnt have gone down the route they took him he would already be covering mares, thanks for sure.
 
What have they got to lose by racing him for the rest of this season ? As long as he is fit and well, best thing for him, I reckon. He isn't going to be covering mares now if they retired him, other than possibly a very few high class NH broodmares, so the obvious route is to race on.

It's next year and the plans for his first season at stud that might need to be formulated later this year and I reckon if he could run well in The Arc, he will be some prospect for them as a sire.
 
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