Handicappers' Corner: Wigmore Hall lands a big one for Britain

Handicappers' Corner / Simon Rowlands / 19 September 2011 / 1 Comments

Wigmore Hall: Made his breakthrough at Group 1 level at Woodbine on Sunday

"Wigmore Hall ran to a Timeform rating of 119 (3 below his master rating of 122) in success, underlining what great opportunities there are for raids on foreign prizes by enterprising connections."

In a quiet week for action domestically, the performances of British-based horses abroad proved particularly noteworthy. Simon Rowlands explains how Timeform rated all the top efforts...

By far the biggest British win of the week came from Wigmore Hall in the Grade 1 Northern Dancer Turf at Woodbine in Canada. The Michael Bell-trained gelding got up late on his first attempt at a mile and a half under an inspired ride from Jamie Spencer, beating Simmard and Al Khali narrowly.

Neither of that pair is out of the top drawer, and Wigmore Hall ran to a Timeform rating of 119 (3 below his master rating of 122) in success, underlining what great opportunities there are for raids on foreign prizes by enterprising connections.

Spencer was not so fortunate later on the card, coming a close sixth on Dance And Dance (ran to 112, master rating of 116) in the Woodbine Mile despite getting no sort of run in the closing stages.

It's reasonable to think Dance And Dance would have been bang upsides the winner Turallure (rated 120) and second Courageous Cat (rated 122) - both of whom conceded him weight - otherwise. Side Glance seemed to have every chance in fourth and is now rated 116.

Theyskens' Theory (rated 115) was another transatlantic British raider, and she emerged with credit in finishing second to Winter Memories in the Grade 1 Garden City Stakes at Belmont Park. The winner showed a devastating turn of foot to come from an unpromising position and is now the top rated sophomore filly Stateside on 122.

It was a quiet week on the Home Front where top performances are concerned. Green Destiny marked himself down as a strong contender for a major prize again with success in the Group 3 DDF Arc Trial at Newbury, not quite having to run to his master rating of 124.

Runner-up Al Kazeem (rated 117) paid a belated compliment to Sea Moon, who had trounced him by eight lengths at York, in being beaten only half a length.

Deacon Blues is another destined for bigger things after his easy length success over Masamah in the Group 3 Dubai International World Trophy at Newbury. The four-year-old gelding ran to 124 and now has a master rating of 130+, marginally ahead of Dream Ahead (129) and Hoof It (128).

One who could conceivably cross swords with those good sprinters in future is Our Jonathan, who defied a biggish weight in winning the Ayr Gold Cup (the most valuable sprint handicap in Europe) in authoritative style from 25 rivals. He is now rated 123, which is backed up by the same timefigure.

The sole Group 2 to be run in Britain in the last week was the DDF Mill Reef Stakes, for two-year-olds, at Newbury. This has not been a strong race of its type in recent times - no winner in the previous five years had run to higher than 116 - and Caspar Netscher did not quite have to run to his previous 112 to prevail.

There are big Flat prizes coming up, both in Britain and around the globe, but a reminder that better jumps action is also around the corner came with the running of the Kerry National at a rain-sodden Listowel in Ireland. The prize went to Alfa Beat (rated c154), while Cheltenham Festival winner What A Charm landed a listed race on the Flat on the same card.

Comments (1)

1. Jonathan da Silva | 19 September 2011

   Hi Simon

   At the time I was quite taken with the Wigmore Hall ride but equally some would criticise the Dance and Dance ride. Yet in many respects the 2nd ride did not get a break whereas the first involved losing a pitch and coming from almost last and arguably enjoyed some luck.

   I guess there are a myriad of perspectives but Spencer probably deserves credit for not making a suicidal outside move on Wigmore and waiting. The other one was just unlucky.