Equiano a fascinating contender

By Ian Carnaby

The York Ebor meeting is shaping up into one of the best fixtures of the whole season although, as we all know, a late change of plan here and there can remove some of the gloss. But, whatever happens earlier in the week, let us hope that all the big names stand their ground in the Coolmore Nunthorpe Stakes, scheduled for Friday, August 22.

Last year, the Nunthorpe was won by Kingsgate Native, a juvenile receiving plenty of weight from the older brigade. He is just about favourite to repeat the dose, although his form this year has been patchy, with success in the Golden Jubilee at Royal Ascot coming between unplaced efforts in the King’s Stand at the same meeting and the July Cup at Newmarket.

If Kingsgate Native is to prevail again he will have to reverse King’s Stand form with the most fascinating contender in the Nunthorpe, the French-bred, formerly Spanish-trained Equiano, who is now with Barry Hills at Lambourn. This is a story in itself, with the popular trainer having recently undergone a serious operation. There could be no bigger boost for all at Wetherdown House than to see this underrated three-year old burst clear on the Knavesmire.

For me, Equiano is the most interesting horse to have raced in Britain this year. When trained by M Delcher Sanchez in Spain, he predictably raced in Madrid, then in Italy and France, finishing third in the Group Two Criterium de Maisons-Laffitte for two-year olds in the early days of November. He improved as a three-year old and his outing immediately before the King’s Stand saw him finish runner-up to Marchand d’Or at Chantilly. As things stand, there is no hotter sprint form than that, Freddie Head’s horse having come from a seemingly impossible position to win the July Cup before completing his hat-trick in the Prix Maurice de Gheest at Deauville.

Whether people admit it or not, many markets are influenced by trainers and jockeys as opposed to horses. On the Chantilly running, Equiano could not possibly start at 22 to 1 for the King’s Stand, yet he did. Making just about every yard under the stands’ rails, he was always going too well to be caught and hit the line half a length ahead of the old warhorse Takeover Target, with Fleeting Spirit and Dandy Man right behind. The only one of these to disappoint on a regular basis is Dandy Man, who started favourite for the Nunthorpe last year and looked as magnificent as any sprinter I saw all season, yet could manage no better than third. Why Godolphin imagined they could improve Dandy Man when he left Tracey Collins is hard to fathom; they have certainly not done so.

The Nunthorpe will be even more interesting if Hughie Morrison can get Sakhee’s Secret there in good order. There is no way the small amount of rain which fell at Ascot should have affected him in the Golden Jubilee, where he ran miserably, and Morrison - an excellent trainer in all other respects - sometimes wanders too far down the ‘unlikely excuses’ road. If Sakhee’s Secret couldn’t go on that ground, we might as well say he needs it like a road with no sign of any water, natural or sprinkled, falling for a week beforehand. And if he DOES need it like that, the weather forecast for York probably puts an end to his hopes. The other thing about Sakhee’s Secret, who looked an embryo champion in last year’s July Cup, is that he has never won over five furlongs and has never been thought of as a minimum trip sprinter. Indeed, he only tried it for the first time this year and it is hard to see how he will break fast enough to trouble Equiano, Kingsgate Native or the South African mare National Colour, who is blindingly quick out of the boxes.

Benbaun is not as good as he was and nor is fellow Prix de l’Abbaye winner Desert Lord. Preference is for Michael Jarvis’ Ancien Regime, who is almost certainly capable of further improvement, and rank outsider Moorhouse Lad, not at his best this season but capable on his day of matching early strides with any sprinter in the world.

Come the day, punters and pundits alike will start to doubt EQUIANO, perhaps because of a longish absence, perhaps because Hills himself may not have been able to oversee preparation. But this is an exciting sprinter who can banish any lingering thoughts of a fluke at Royal Ascot. It should be a race to savour.