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Sunday’s racing round-up includes news of Plumpton and Chepstow’s weather woes…
It was another barren day for jumps racing in Britain, as both Plumpton and Chepstow were abandoned amidst the cold snap which saw the cancellation of all four National Hunt meetings in the British Isles on Saturday. Chepstow staged two races prior to the meeting being called off on account of safety concerns raised by jockeys, with racing was officially abandoned at 1:15pm.
Plumpton's Premier Sussex National card was called off at 10am. Despite passing an initial inspection at 8:30am, Clerk of the Course Marcus Waters was forced to apologise to participants and racegoers as further rain between inspections rendered conditions unraceable. Inspections are set for Ayr and Ludlow on Monday morning, and Leicester have already postponed their Tuesday meeting.
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Fun Fun Fun was the first home in a Willie Mullins tri-cast in the opening Irish Stallion Farms EBF Mares Beginners Chase at Naas. With champion amateur Patrick Mullins onboard (who bred the mare), the seven-year-old made every yard of the running. Taking a wide route into the home straight, the Simon Munir and Isaac Suede-owned mare jumped the last fence fluently before cruising up the run-in to register a seven-and-a-half length victory. Karia Des Blaises rallied late to finish second under Paul Townend, and Irish Emery paid for a jumping error at the last with a third-place finish partnered by Danny Mullins. The winner was cut to 16/1 (from 25/1) for the Mrs Paddy Power Mares' Chase at Cheltenham in March.
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Dual St Leger winner Eldar Eldarov will join Chapel Stud's ranks for 2025. Based in Worcestershire's Malvern Hills, the regally bred son of Dubawi will join a team of four stallions including Group 1 flat and jumps sire Planteur. Out of three-time listed winner All At Sea, Eldar Eldarov is a close relation of Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe heroine Alpinista.
In a stellar racing career prematurely ended by a neck injury sustained in the stalls prior to the Dubai Gold Cup, the Roger Varian trained six-year-old notched up five victories from ten starts. In addition to his Doncaster St Leger triumph, Eldar Eldarov was one of an exclusive club of horses to have beaten star-stayer Kyprios, which he did in fine style by a three-and-a-half length margin in the Irish equivalent. 2022's Champion European Stayer commands an opening fee of £5,000.
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Oisin Murphy has continued his successful globetrotting winter, registering his first victory in South Africa aboard Justin Snaith's Sail The Seas in the A Case Of You Middle Stakes. Recently seen cruising to Classic glory in India, the champion jockey returned to South Africa after a fruitless tilt at Johannesburg's Summer Cup meeting in November. In the feature race on the Kenilworth card – the Grade 1 L'Ormarins King's Plate – Murphy placed fourth aboard the Snaith-trained Royal Aussie.
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Ascot Racecourse have introduced a new incentive scheme to encourage runners in the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes. With £250,000 already being added onto 2024's prize pot, owners will have their entry fees refunded in full, making the race an essentially 'free to enter'
contest with the exception of late supplementations. The scheme aims to increase competitiveness in the middle-distance division, with the total purse of the race amounting to £1.5 million.
Group 2 races at the Royal meeting - the Ribblesdale, King Edward VII Stakes, Hardwicke Stakes, and Duke of Cambridge Stakes - will no longer be subject to early-closing entries and will run for a total prize money of £10 million. These changes have been welcomed by the National Trainers Federation, who applauded Ascot for the extra flexibility and prize money on offer.
