Snap! The racehorses who turned crocodile on their rivals
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"Keeping on when tried to bite rival," there's a race comment you don't read every day. The culprit on this occasion was Havana Goldrush, who had a go at taking a chunk out of Eye Of The Water as that one went past to score at Bath on Monday evening.
There's a brilliant snap of the moment taken by photographer Francesca Altoft which caught my attention. You see aggression from one horse and bravery from the other, who appears wholly undeterred.
It was the first time in 19 races that Havana Goldrush let himself down in this way and Sara Moore, wife of trainer Stan, urges the Front Runner not to judge him too harshly. "He's a very kind horse in his stable and the yard," she says.
"He does get a little bit claustrophobic, he doesn't like other horses around him. We usually have him at the front of the string."
There is also, of course, a competitive element to this. Havana Goldrush swung his teeth round at his rival because he didn't want to be passed. Moore acknowledges the point.
"Some of them want to be the head of the herd, don't they? He's been gelded and that would normally stop it a bit. We're just hoping it doesn't happen again. Perhaps the other jockeys will give him a wide berth now."
The stewards didn't inquire into the incident but I gather they would have done if Havana Goldrush had passed the post first. They might even have demoted him under the interference rules if persuaded that his gnashing had affected the outcome.
Don't be fooled by the fact that no official action has been taken on this occasion. If Havana Goldrush bares his teeth in midrace again some day, that may result in a report to the BHA, who can decide whether action is necessary. It's not impossible that they could order a repeat offender to be fitted with a muzzle in future races.
That's what happened 31 years ago to Arcadian Heights. You can see him here in the Doncaster Shield, biting at the passing Luchiroverte and mostly connecting with jockey Michael Roberts' leg. Then, at the turn for home in the Gold Cup at Ascot, he took a bite at Drum Taps's bum - not something I can recall seeing any other horse do in a race.
He wore a muzzle in the Goodwood Cup and then, coincidentally or not, raced rather sulkily and gave himself no chance before staying on well in the straight. He was gelded by the following season, which must have helped him settle down because the muzzle appears to have gone before he defied odds of 20-1 in the Gold Cup of 1994, beating Vintage Crop.
There must be footage somewhere of Marinsky, another famous savage, but I can't recall seeing it. He reportedly bit Relkino repeatedly as that rival made a move up his inner in the Diomed Stakes of 1977. A muzzle was then fitted for the July Cup in which he knocked Gentilhombre sideways on his way to winning, only to be demoted for said interference.
Marinsky seems to have been bad to the bone but there have been plenty of other incidents over the years involving horses whose reputations were not quite so black. Moonax had a nibble at Always Earnest in the 1995 Prix du Cadran. Eminent wanted a piece of Decorated Knight in the Eclipse of 2017. Noverre didn't like Keltos going past him in the 2002 Lockinge.
"Things might have been interesting, had he not paused to aim a bite at the winner late on," our analyst wrote of Sir Gerry, pipped by Delegator in a Listed race at Newbury in 2010.
"Every chance when tried to bite rival inside final furlong," was the in-running comment about Bartholomeu Dias when he failed by a neck at Goodwood in 2018. He was gelded ten days later.
That was hardly an option for dealing with the mare Palomba, who was still in with a chance in a Listed race at Maisons-Laffitte in 2019 when she decided it might be more fun to chomp on the elbow of Francois-Xavier Bertras, riding the eventual winner.
In the US, Firenze Fire is an interesting example of how victims of bullying can become bullies themselves. Bitten while winning the Gallant Bob of 2018, he made a determined effort at chewing another horse in the Forego three years later, giving up his winning chance in the process.
These are just the most high-profile cases. There must have been many at lower levels which went unremarked.
It all adds to the gaiety of the racing scene; when you think you've backed a winner at long last, suddenly the horse in question gets distracted by the prospect of a quick meal on the hoof. Before having a bet today, ask yourself whether the risk of biting is built into the odds...
Wednesday's picks
It's the moment of truth for Trueshan, who was so disappointing in failing to go past Rajinsky in the Further Flight three weeks ago. I'd be fairly willing to put a line through the seasonal comeback of any veteran racehorse, except that he was quite impressive in the same race last year and his trainer, Alan King, seeemed so downhearted.
"He's had a lot of very hard battles and it's just a worry about whether it's left its mark on him, mentally," King said. "The next race will tell us a lot."
Blimey! Back him at even money after reading that, if you dare. King's worried he might be gone at the game.
With Coltrane (3.15) readily available at 5-2, I think he's the only way to go in this Longines Sagaro Stakes. He kept on progressing through last year, got the better of Trueshan at Doncaster and might have done the same again on Champions Day with a completely clear run.
I also feel like taking a chance on Cash (4.25), who still has plenty to prove but was all promise in his two turf runs so far. Westover only just held him at bay in the Classic Trial and he looks the type to be better at four. Ascot should suit him.
'He could improve past these' - Graeme Rodway with four wagers on Wednesday
Three things to look out for today . . .
1. There's a significant landmark being reached in the apprentice handicap that opens Ascot's card, when good old Raising Sand will have his 25th race at the royal track. It's six and a half years since Jamie Osborne's veteran first lined up at Ascot, when he scored in a Class 3 contest under George Baker. He has since won four more races there, including a couple of valuable heritage handicaps, and he's also been third in a Royal Hunt Cup and fourth in a Victoria Cup. In hindsight, you'd have to say he was a bit unlucky when third in a handicap there in October 2017 - the two who beat him ended up winning the next two runnings of the Queen Anne Stakes. Can he score again? He's only 2lb higher than when winning on his most recent visit in September but he wouldn't want the ground to dry out.
2. Is Dancing Goddess still an Oaks contender? You'd have to imagine not, from the fact that she's being kept to a mile in a novice race at Ascot today, with the Epsom Classic a month away and plenty of 1m2f trials in the coming weeks. At 33-1, the daughter of Dubawi is the shortest-priced of three fillies that Charlie Appleby has entered in the Oaks just now but he's yet to win the race and perhaps it'll have to wait for another year. The first foal out of a mile winner, she's from the family of Thunder Snow. She scored comfortably on her debut in November and seemed to need her reappearance run when second at Kempton last month. She has the best form of those in today's race but faces some completely unexposed rivals and an interesting debutant in Queen For You, a Kingman half-sister to Group 2 winner Glorious Journey.
3. What an interesting debutant Henry de Bromhead has in a maiden for fillies at Gowran this evening. Empress Of Beauty is a Le Havre half-sister to Wally, who was runner-up in the Prix d'Ispahan last year and whose prize money haul on the Flat comes to almost half a million. This grey fetched €200,000 as a yearling and seems to have spent time with Wally's trainer, Jean-Claude Rouget, but was resold in December for €60,000. De Bromhead has booked Billy Lee for the ride - they have a 16 per cent strike-rate together.
Read these next:
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The Front Runner is our latest email newsletter available exclusively to Members' Club Ultimate subscribers. Chris Cook, a four-time Racing Reporter of the Year award winner, provides his take on the day's biggest stories and tips for the upcoming racing every morning from Monday to Friday. Not a Members' Club Ultimate subscriber? Click here to join today and also receive our Ultimate Daily emails plus our full range of fantastic website and newspaper content.
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