A tale of two Noseda gambles: Laddies Poker Two and Abe Lincoln remembered

Jeremy Noseda will be remembered for major Royal Ascot gambles as much as for his Classic victories and multiple Group and Grade 1 successes after announcing his retirement. We look at two which shared similarities – but a very different outcome.

Laddies Poker Two
Wokingham Stakes, 2010

Winning on a seasonal reappearance with any runner can be tricky enough, so winning on a seasonal reappearance in a highly competitive, big-field sprint handicap after a 610-day absence rightly deserved tremendous applause.

It was a superb training feat engineered by Noseda for Royal Ascot in 2010, with then five-year-old mare Laddies Poker Two turning up in the Wokingham for her first run since her three-year-old campaign.

She was still freely available at 25-1 at the start of Royal Ascot week, but set off down the six furlongs the 9-2 favourite. Her backers had little to worry about as she travelled well throughout and quickened out of the stands' side group under Johnny Murtagh to win by two and a half lengths, a winning margin unheard of in a race like the Wokingham.

Laddies Poker Two never raced again and was clearly fragile, but she delivered on the day which mattered most.

Abe Lincoln (near side) finished second in a Britannia but did not deliver when backed for the Royal Hunt Cup a year laterCredit: Julian Herbert

Abe Lincoln
Royal Hunt Cup, 2017

Abe Lincoln ran for Noseda and the Roy family as recently as last month, but he disappointed when backed into favouritism for the 2017 Royal Hunt Cup.

Narrowly denied by a short head in the previous season's Britannia Stakes on soft ground, Abe Lincoln shared similarities with Laddies Poker Two in that he was heavily backed for his seasonal return at Royal Ascot after a lengthy absence.

Like Laddies Poker Two, he was also 25-1 at one point, but the similarities end there as despite being sent off the 13-2 favourite, Abe Lincoln, wearing a first-time tongue-tie, did not appear comfortable on the quick ground and faded in the final furlong, finishing 15th.

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