Racing: Going threat to King George field
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Your support makes all the difference.Twelve runners were declared yesterday for tomorrow's King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes at Ascot but the field could be reduced to nine by tonight. Sakhee and High Pitched are already doubtful and Millenary's participation is also in the balance even though the course is being watered.
"Mr Dunlop [Millenary's handler] will look at the course and see how it rides this afternoon," Marcus Hosgood, the Arundel trainer's stable secretary, said last night. "We had to declare this morning, but he won't make a definite decision until tomorrow. If Millenary misses Ascot, he could go to Cologne on 11 August for the Credit Suisse race or a Group 1 at Baden-Baden on the 17th. He's also in the Irish St Leger on 14 September."
Millenary's intended jockey Pat Eddery also voiced his concern saying: "He won at Newmarket [Princess Of Wales's Stakes] where he was very brave and got up to win. He never runs a bad race, he's a very consistent horse, but I would prefer it if we got some rain." However, the prospect of any rain in the Ascot area appears unlikely. The clerk of the course Nick Cheyne said yesterday: "We are going to put a little bit more water on today. We missed the rain all yesterday and last night. It's safe, fast racing ground."
Josh Gifford, who has held a trainer's licence since 1970 and is one of the best known names in jump racing, announced yesterday that he would be handing over to his son, Nick, at the end of this season. Gifford said: "It wasn't a hard decision once Nick started to grow up and show an interest in it. He's 30 and I am 60 and it is a young man's game – it is all rush and tear, with racing seven days a week and nearly 365 days a year and I have been doing it since I was a teenager. Nick has got to go to Newmarket to pass his exams – they have to do three courses now. But I am sure he will bounce through those and if all goes well and he still wants to do it, he will take over at the start of next jumps season."
Gifford's son has had plenty of success training point-to-pointers and hunter-chasers over the last few years and he could well revive the fortunes of the famous Findon yard, which is now down to around 30 horses and has not been the force of old.
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