KEEPING REPUTATIONS INTACT

The withdrawal of Masar from the Eclipse followed on by the announcement that the colt's setback was sufficiently serious for him to miss the rest of the season sends out a message that the stumps may be ready to be drawn on his career.

Prior to Masar, there have been four Epsom Derby winners in Maktoum connected family ownership, with only High Rise racing on after three. And when you add to this that only Island Sands from their half a dozen Newmarket 2,000 Guineas winners have raced at four, the omens for seeing Masar next year are far from encouraging, despite the stated intention to keep him in training.

Masar had more races under his belt and suffered more defeats prior to Epsom than most winners of the race but to some, there is a feeling that it had all just clicked into place, that there was plenty more to find out about him over twelve furlongs, and that he could not be considered a complete warts and all case.

Still, he holds a completely opposite profile to the family's Lammtara who is an example of unbeaten records and hype fooling no one. After a single winning start as a juvenile, he raced three more times, winning the three most significant twelve furlong events in Europe. Yes, he was an above average Dery winner but many will go ahead of him who don't have the protected unbeaten record. Even in the last couple of years, Golden Horn would be a Derby winner looked upon as at least his equal.

There exists a belief that the shackles put on animals to protect their value are less tight than forty or fifty years ago. But the figures reveal, at least to the start of this current decade, that there has been no big change in direction by connections of those whose animals triumph in the races that are perceived to matter most to stallion values.

In the four completed decades from 1970 to 2010, the number of Epsom Derby winners remaining in training as four year olds have been, three, three, two and three, while the equivalent for the Newmarket race read, three, one, two, and three.

In the eight years of the present decade prior to Masar and Saxon Warrior, three Derby and three Guineas winners have stayed in training the following year, Camelot figuring in both. Admittedly, Wings of Eagles, being himself by a retired after the race Epsom Derby winner who is now seen as a dual purpose stallion, would probably have raced on too but for his injury after the Irish Derby. Not the most marketable, there was no aura to protect with him.

We cannot be sure that the figures for this present decade are just incidental rather than a sign that attitudes have changed. But it must be noted that in the cases of Workforce and Camelot, they had time and reputations to lose by going on at four.

Workforce being in that elusive clubs of Epsom Derby winners going on to win the Arc, while Camelot, though losing out in his Triple Crown bid and following up with a disappointing run in the Arc, was hardly damaged goods.

Both stayed in training at four without enhancing their reputations. Workforce is away in Japan as stallion but Camelot may just yet make it as a high grade sire. While we normally rejoice in the success stories of the Pivotals, Kodiacs, Acclamations and Dark Angels, the ones who the power bases would turn their noses up at until jumping belatedly on the bandwagons, Camelot becoming a hit at stud could be for the greater good as it would dwindle the belief that running in the St Leger carries a stigma.

Interviewed after US Navy Flags July Cup success, Aiden O'Brien mentioned that breeders nowadays like to see horses fully tested and are not so easily fooled by intact reputations.

This obsession with keeping horses profiles dent free reached its peak in the first part of the 1980's.  It was very much a European thing though. Even in that golden 1970's  period over in the USA,  Secretariat, Seattle Slew and Affirmed suffered defeats.

Secretariat did not stay in training at four but suffered a defeat two races after his incredible Belmont Stakes win, and still raced on. Seattle Slew was in training preparing to race on at four but suffered a setback, while Affirmed raced on at four.

Moving back to the Epsom Derby, 1982, 1983 and 1984 were the most eventful and ironic three years in recent times in relation to the do we race on or don't we dilemma.

Golden Fleece was a monster in physique, so many sure that he wouldn't act around Epsom in 1982. Barney Curley took a sabbatical away from punting after the race after reputedly losing a considerable amount backing the rest of the field so certain was he that this was no Derby winner.

For Golden Fleece, it was his fourth and would be his final racecourse appearance. Pat Eddery rounded Tattenham Corner with the backmarkers but got an incredible response from his mount who rapidly cut through the field, hit the front just before the furlong marker and won in the style of a vastly superior horse.

The visual impression left an overwhelming feeling of brilliance. Tony Stafford, writing in The Racehorse (see image above) who a year previous had announced that Shergar was the best horse he had ever seen, had now had a change of mind. It was now Golden Fleece who was the best he had ever seen !

The first indication that we may have seen the last of the Nijinsky colt came when it was announced that a nasal infection would rule him out of the Eclipse or Irish Derby. We were later told that this virus lasted for three weeks and when they got him back into training, he had a swelling which meant it would have taken another six weeks to get him ready so they decided to call it a day.

With hindsight, they might as well as persevered  with him as the future was a bleak one. The horse died young of cancer and from the progeny that saw a racecourse, it was clear that he would be a profound failure as a stallion.

When the 1983 winner Teenoso was kept in training as a four year old, only those inside the bloodstock world would have been privy to when the decision was made, the reasoning behind it, the figures involved, and the lack of availability of other options.

Certainly, the emphasis on the reports at the time gave the impression that sporting reasons were at the centre of the decision.

It was only by chance that what may have been the biggest influence in the decision came out in the open. And this was connected to the 1984 Derby. The fact that connections of the winner Secreto never allowed their colt onto a racecourse again only confirmed the general consensus that they had got lucky.

In the aftermath of the race, the forecasted 're-match' was priced up with El Gran Senor a warm favourite to attain his revenge. And when the O'Brien colt beat Rainbow Quest over a less testing twelve furlongs at the Curragh, that settled the issue in most minds, though of course, we can never know for sure.

El Gran Senor himself picked up an injury after the Curragh and was never seen again. We are told that the intention was to keep him in training.

In a revealing televised interview with Julian Wilson at an afternoon race meeting, Robert Sangster was asked to comment on the decision to retire El Gran Senor. He reiterated that the intention had been to keep him in training then was highly critical of an article in the Daily Telegraph penned by Lord Oaksey.

Sangster was of the opinion that Oaksey was talking ' rubbish'  by praising the Moller family for being sporting and keeping Teenoso in training. Sangster said the only reason he was in training at four was that after the Mollers sounded out that he was for sale as a stallion, no one was interested enough to match a price anywhere near what they wanted for him , so in the end, they had no choice.

As things turned out Teenoso had a terrific four year old career disproving those who had him marked down as a plodder who needed soft ground. The highlight of his year was beating Sadler's Wells , Tolomeo and Time Charter under an inspirational front running Piggott ride in the King George V1 and Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes.

It would be pleasing to think owners now accept that breeders are not easily fooled anymore by polished records with barely any dents showing, but in the case of those few races that matter that little more, the jury is still deliberating.