Iris De Balme not such a shock with Huxley on board

By Ian Carnaby

As a dedicated follower of the late Richmond Charters Sturdy, I sometimes found myself writing about the 1970 Ebor Handicap winner Tintagel II, who scored very easily at York in the hands of Lester Piggott.

The interesting thing was that Tintagel II had run at Brighton the time before, with Piggott up again, and started favourite before dropping away quite tamely. All the pundits expected Lester to ride something else on the Knavesmire but he said nothing at all (surprise, surprise….) and maintained the partnership, winning very easily indeed. I used to think that Sturdy and Piggott were so wonderfully and instinctively in tune that neither of them needed to say anything at all, and probably didn’t.

But you would soon run out of cash if waiting for Brighton runners to show a profit at York. It just doesn’t happen, just as an easy Folkestone jumps winner would never be expected to turn up in one of the most valuable handicaps of the year at Ayr. But Iris De Balme did, of course, in the Coral Scottish Grand National, and won very easily indeed.

There will be no irritating burst of hindsight in this space, even if I did draw attention to Charlie Huxley’s ability in the last column. But I did think 66 to 1 was too big, even for a horse 26lb out of the handicap proper. That was only 19lb when he claimed his 7lb allowance and, if you think the official ratings have taken a pasting, it’s worth remembering that only three of the 24 runners were in the handicap anyway and the top-weights Halcon Genelardais and Miko de Beauchene were racing on ground which had dried out from officially heavy in midweek to good on the Saturday. I doubt that the quicker ground beat them; rather, I believe that when the going changes quickly like that it will not be genuinely good ground but possibly dead or tacky. Under the circumstances, Halcon Genelardais ran a mighty race in second and I still think those who backed him at 50 to 1 each-way in the Gold Cup would have been paid out on the soft. He was unfortunate in fourth that day.

But I digress. At Folkestone recently, Iris De Balme broke his duck very easily indeed, jumping perfectly and staying three miles and seven furlongs with no difficulty at all. Maybe Mattie Batchelor should have kicked on at Wincanton next time, where the horse was reeled in and finished third, though even there he was staying on .

I am a weights and measures man, and if you give me a handicap on the Flat or a competitive two mile hurdle or chase I will sit down and try to puzzle it out, down to the last neck or half a length. But I doubt that you can do that in marathon chases on ‘iffy’ ground. Sometimes it’s enough to jump well and go round at your own pace. Iris De Balme, very well ridden, did exactly that and found that the others were struggling. To cut to the chase, I think 66 to 1 was a very big price indeed.

How close would Old Benny have gone with 7lb less on his back?

There were bits and pieces of irony and coincidence all over the place at Ayr on the afternoon in question. Iris De Balme had missed the cut in the Eider Chase at Newcastle, a race his trainer, Sean Curran, won as a jockey on Killeshin 18 years ago. On top of that, Huxley had won the 4m National Hunt Chase for his boss, Alan King, on Old Benny, who was backed down to 4 to 1 favourite in the Scottish National in the hands of Richard Johnson. Not a bad choice, for sure. Indeed, I am close to being Johnson’s number one fan. But he couldn’t claim, of course, and deciding to book him meant that King effectively ‘freed up’ Huxley to ride for someone else.

King has enjoyed another superb season and he was able to smile after seeing his runners finish second and fourth. But he is also an inch professional, and my guess is that he will have turned things over in his mind, wondering just how close Old Benny would have gone with 7lb less to carry. Incidentally, who would have partnered Iris De Balme? Timmy Murphy, who could win Mastermind, Wimbledon and the London Marathon, given the form he’s in, told Curran that the horse needed a claimer on top. Would Curran have gone for someone else, or stayed with Batchelor, or used the best available at ten stones? We shall never know, but my guess is that Huxley made the difference.

Racing is such an easy game, isn’t it. In the previous race, Nick Scholfield rode a 40 to 1 chance and beat his employer Paul Nicholls’ Takeroc into second. Someone up there is trying to tell us something all the time, I feel. It’s just that we all cock a deaf ‘un. And it doesn’t half hurt.