Yeats (and The Gold Cup)

Get your passport out DO! See you there. :)

And yes, Crazy did say last year that The Arc was not out of the question for him. I guess they want to enhance his stud value, but also why not? Aidan has said his timing in gallop prior to Gold Cup was quick, and we know he will do his best. Got to enjoy it while you can. :<3:
 
Nice shot of Yeats from the Irish Times website:

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I like how they share the same expression :)
 
These people must be the most ungrateful owners towards their horses in the whole business. The horse has put them in the horse racing history books for life. I don´t care how sound he is, surely an eight-year-old, who has achieved as much as Yeats has, deserves to be retired. One would think they got the message after GW´s lost... and I know the horse could be killed in his stall or strike by lightning in his paddock, but surely, they are squeezing the lemon too much with this horse if they keep racing with him.
 
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I couldn't disagree more.

Considering how many horses they have had in training over the past (say) 10 years, it is amazing how few have died in training or on the racecourse.

The horse clearly looked brilliant on Thursday, and is thriving on racing. The people who got him to Ascot in that shape are obviously the people who know the horse best.

They have often been criticised for sending stallions off to stud too soon; now you are criticising them for delaying it. As far as I am concerned, they know far more about horses than me, and they have got a limited record of fuck-ups in this regard.
 
Listen, (as Aidan O'Brien would say) They know Yeats so much better than we do and they love him. If he had not shown he still liked racing they would have retired him already.

I'm totally nuts about the horse and admit if he were mine I'd probably have retired him, only to wake up the next morning and regret it when I looked out the window and saw him leaping and bouncing about his paddock. Or bored standing at the gate.

There is always a risk with any horse when you race them, turn them out or hell - even leave them standing in their box. He's lightly raced, especially this season, and has just come to hand. I can fully understand why they would want to give him a couple of more races.

It's a tough decision when to retire a horse like this one. He's one in a million and even large owners like Coolmore can wait a lifetime for one of these horses. He had most of his 3 year old career off and if you look at him he still looks a very young horse, quite youthful. He has massive presence and enjoys attention and battling, I don't think he minds his races at all.

They are not mean owners, and they do care for this horse, very much.
 
The horse is relatively lightly raced for his age and his form shows no sign of being on the slide. O'Brien has been at pains to explain the size and function of the horse's heart as the reason for his ability to run so fast so long. It may be that in terms of physical development, the horse is the equivalent of a six or seven year old.

Much in the same way I'd pass for 40...
 
Magnier is quoted about the Arc being a possible, but heard this evening that if he is going to drop down in trip it will be for the King George. In fact it is very much on the table depending on what happens at The Curragh on Sunday.
 
Well he does love Ascot...

As DO and myself alluded to earlier, if Yeats only really gets going at the mile and a half point, maybe they should start him early from the Gold Cup stalls and let the others out as he comes past :p
 
It’d be great to think he could run an Arc, after all he is a Coronation Cup winner. It’s tempting to think the horse can walk on water now. He may well be able to run at consistent 11.5 second furlongs in top gear. He’ll have to in the Arc. They should have tried this with Septimus last year rather than buggering him up in the Melbourne Cup.
On balance the King George seems a much more sensible plan given his ability at Ascot.
 
SteveM said:
It’d be great to think he could run an Arc, after all he is a Coronation Cup winner. It’s tempting to think the horse can walk on water now. He may well be able to run at consistent 11.5 second furlongs in top gear. He’ll have to in the Arc. They should have tried this with Septimus last year rather than buggering him up in the Melbourne Cup.
On balance the King George seems a much more sensible plan given his ability at Ascot.
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It is very unlikely that he will run in the Arc given the other options they have for that particular race.

The King George on the other hand not only gives him a decent shot in the race, it also avoids them having to run their three year old sons by Montjeu and Galileo on likely fast going in the middle of the summer.
 
That's a very good point Galileo re the KG. Personally I would think the KG ground wise is more a feasible option. They can always wait and see what the weather/other results bring before October.
 
Galileo said:
It is very unlikely that he will run in the Arc given the other options they have for that particular race.

The King George on the other hand not only gives him a decent shot in the race, it also avoids them having to run their three year old sons by Montjeu and Galileo on likely fast going in the middle of the summer.
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...I would have thought it unlikely he'll run in either, but I suppose if the ground is on his side in the KG they'll be tempted.
 
Good interview with Aidan on attheraces this morning. Usual humble self crediting everyone else with training of Yeats but himself. When pressed to say whether he goes for a 5th Gold Cup he basically said that the main worry would be the loss to breeding - and the loss of the horse who the public cares so much about should anything happen. He even says he thinks Yeats can breed a classic contender, and I see no reason why not given the right mares.

No surprise, I figured we were blessed to get this far with him and Aidan says the same.

So, better catch him while we can! :)
 
this is how sportinglife puts it:

Aidan O'Brien is confident Yeats would have more than enough class to hold his own in some of this season's premier middle-distance events.
The eight-year-old made history at Royal Ascot last week when becoming the first horse to win the Gold Cup four times.
Such was the manner of his success that connections have spoken about possible tilts at the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes and the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp later this year.
"Obviously it's up to the boss (part-owner John Magnier) but all the options are open to him and I suppose the first one that would be open to him is the King George," said O'Brien.
"Then there is the Irish Leger, the Arc, the Prix du Cadran and all those races so we'll just have to see what happens. After this weekend we'll probably all sit down and have a good chat about it.
"If you go back and look at the way he travels through his races and when Johnny (Murtagh) says go, you see the way he accelerates.
"He was a very impressive winner of a Coronation Cup and at this time of year when he's up into full speed he's a very, very classy horse."
Asked whether he would like to see Yeats head back to Royal Ascot in 12 months time to bid for an unprecedented fifth Gold Cup, O'Brien was non-committal but he feels it may be better to call time on his racing career in order to preserve his legacy.
"It would be a real fairytale and a dream but I think maybe a time comes when enough is enough and you just have to be grateful for what you have," O'Brien told At The Races.
"He is only flesh and blood and my biggest nightmare would be if we lost any of the genes that he is made of.
"If he was a half-bred horse you could store his sperm and it could be used later on but as he is a thoroughbred, that can't happen.
"If anything happened to him I think it would be a great loss to the thoroughbred industry, as if there was a horse going to stud who was going to be breed real classy horses, it would be this fellow.
"At the end of the day it won't be my decision, but I'm really looking forward to the time when his foals arrive."
 
If Yeats were to run in the King George he would get creamed. He is an 8 year old out and out stayer nowadays. He wouldn't win a Coronation Cup nowadays. I think they will re-think this one.

Worth remembering DRUM TAPS. A real classy dual Gold Cup winner in the early nineties he also had a bit of toe for a gold cup winner, capable of winning at two miles and shorter distances, but when tried in the king george he could only manage a fair 5th. 'only' is harsh of course, its a good effort from any horse to be 5th in a race like that but you get my drift.
 
uncle goober said:
If Yeats were to run in the King George he would get creamed. He is an 8 year old out and out stayer nowadays. He wouldn't win a Coronation Cup nowadays. I think they will re-think this one.
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I can see what you are saying, but I hope (and think) they will find out at home if he is up to such a level as at least not to disgrace himself...they wouldn't want that. So by him turning up I would think they will at least be confident enough (from his home work) that he is up to at least competing.
 
uncle goober said:
If Yeats were to run in the King George he would get creamed. He is an 8 year old out and out stayer nowadays. He wouldn't win a Coronation Cup nowadays. I think they will re-think this one.
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I don't think that there is much in the older brigade to stop him placing. It really depends on the three-year olds. Memories of the 2005 Arc. Happy days.
 
If memory serves the four that finished ahead of Drum Taps in the King George were champion older horse Opera House, Derby winner Commander In Chief, serial Arc loser White Muzzle and wonder filly User Friendly, quite a foursome. I think I was there.
 
From a previous quote I think Aidan O'Brien stated that he doesn't get going until a mile and a half, if the KG is a serious option could they 'help' him with a pacemaker? Would a pacemaker help him? Speaking out of plain ignorance here, but could he go a sustained fast gallop and try and grind the others down? The kick in the GC was decisive -is he capable of that over shorter?
 
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