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Senior moment

Robin Oakley

Wednesday, 5th March 2008

Robin Oakley surveys The Turf

I used to be quite keen on jogging, working on the theory that you add a minute to your life for every mile run. My enthusiasm weakened after a TV colleague pointed out that the net result of my endeavours would be an extra six months in the nursing home in my eighties at £4,000 a month. But the benefits of continued exercise, at least for those with four legs, were evident soon after 2.45 p.m. last Saturday when six game old boys came to the second last at Newbury virtually in a line, all bursting with vim and vigour and in with a chance of the prize.

Putting together a racecard to attract the punters so close to the Cheltenham Festival isn’t easy with most of the best horses kept at home, wrapped in cotton wool and their trainers’ prayers, and the punters themselves anxious to save up a few bob for their biggest punting week of the year. But a genius at the British Horseracing Authority — I’m told it was handicapper Phil Smith — came up with the idea a little while ago of staging some veterans’ handicaps, confined to horses of ten years old and upwards, rated 0–145. Trainers like Philip Hobbs were consulted and the plan was launched.

The problem is that older chasers who have shown ability don’t come down the handicap ratings quite as quickly as they might as they reach the equivalent of that stage in humans when our knees occasionally buckle and our belts rarely do. It makes it hard for them to go on winning races as they compete against younger legs. But many of them still enjoy the game.

Go-ahead Newbury was one of the courses to see the merit in the idea and the National Britannia Veterans’ Handicap Steeplechase gave us all a thrill. Two fences out, there were six of them in a line battling for the lead. Between the last two it looked to be between three greys, the 12-year-old Tango Royal, Kandjar D’Allier (10) and Ossmoses (11), but then the latter pair faded as Briery Fox and Royal Auclair stayed on strongly to fill the minor places behind the David Pipe- trained grey, who is now almost white.

Tango Royal was running for the 68th time in his career. Since he had not won since December 2006, his owner Brian Kilpatrick was wondering whether to persevere, but retirement will now be postponed after the resolute way he shook off his senior-citizen pursuers. David Pipe declared: ‘These are fantastic opportunities for older horses and the handicapper gave him a chance here. This was the lowest mark he has run off for a long time.’

Rarely have I found a racing experiment greeted with such universal enthusiasm. Before the race I spoke to Emma Lavelle, whose Tana River was one of the participants. Maybe she was prejudiced, she conceded, with a fair few veterans in her yard, ‘But these races are a wonderful idea. Tana River is rated 140, but he isn’t quite as quick as he used to be and he has been beaten twice this season by horses four years younger.’

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