A day for summersaults and a day for pleasant surprises left one trainer thinking about Royal Ascot and another contemplating a shot at the big time.
Racing at York is always dramatic and that was absolutely the case on one of its most significant afternoons: the sight of Tiber Flow and his jockey Tom Marquand being flung into a cartwheel, at 35 miles per hour, in the Duke Of York Stakes was not a sight than anyone expected to see.
Similarly not expected was the front-running performance of Secret Satire, who belied odds of 22/1 in the Group Three Tattersalls Musidora Stakes – a contest that, historically, has always provided a pointer towards the Betfred Oaks at Epsom and had been expected to go the way of Friendly Soul.
But the favourite, trained by John and Thady Gosden, ran deplorably and never once threatened to justify her 8/11 price. All the while, Oisin Murphy on Secret Satire kept stepping on the gas and nobody ever got near him and his willing partner, who was two lengths clear at the line.
Anna Lisa Balding, representing her husband and winning trainer Ian, could not stop smiling as she walked into the winners’ enclosure. The stable won The Oaks with Casual Look in 2003 – “and wasn’t that a long time ago!” she quipped – and they will try to win it again with Secret Satire.
Secret Satire stormed to victory during the Tattersalls Musidora Stakes at York
Favorite for the race, Friendly Soul, ran deplorably and never once threatened to win
‘Andrew was very hopeful she would come on for her last run but that wasn’t expected,’ she said. ‘The last Friday in May (at Epsom) could now be an option. She is a gorgeous filly and the further she went, the better she went. Just have a look at her – she’s got her ears pricked!’
Behind Balding, Secret Satire was guzzling a bucket of water and, at the same time, bookmakers were slashing her odds for Epsom, from a pre-race 100/1 into 20/1. There is an open look to The Oaks and when high-class fillies start to improve at this time of year, there is no ceiling.
‘I’m so delighted, we are just absolutely thrilled for her owner-breeder Guy Brooks,’ she continued. ‘We love to have runners in those big races and this is the time of year to dream. The dream is still alive at this time of year and you think all your geese are swans.
‘That one will really, really put a smile on Andrew’s face. When I left home this morning, Andrew said to me: “bring back a winner”. He thought she would finish in the first three, because it was going to be tough, but that has thrilled us all.’
Her joy had been mirrored 35 minutes earlier by Jane Chapple-Hyam after Mill Stream pipped Shouldvebeenaring in the Duke Of York, the Group Two contest that is always an early season target for the quickest horses in the land.
Fortunately Tiber Flow and Marquand escaped unscathed from their crashing fall after clipping heels – the afternoon had started, sadly, with sprinter Hispanic, on his first start for trainer Mick Appleby, fatally breaking down in a supporting contest – and it really was quite miraculous that they did.
Mill Stream and his jockey William Buick were unaffected by that drama, though, and they were able to launch a withering challenge that enabled them to pinch the victory in the shadows of the post, the difference between success and failure measured in pixels.
Oisin Murphy (left) stands with Secret Satire after their impressive victory on Wednesday
Chapple-Hyam is an underrated and often underestimated trainer but she knows the time of day and Mill Stream, who runs in the distinctive red, yellow and green silks of former trainer Peter Harris, is now going to be aimed at the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes at the Royal meeting.
‘Peter is enjoying it, he’d been out of racing for 15 years but he comes to see me every Sunday,’ said Chapple-Hyam. ‘I wasn’t sure we had got up but, while I was in the parade ring, Racing TV came up to ask for an interview, so I thought we had half a chance.
‘I know they didn’t show the replay of the race on the big screens because of the faller – it was horrible to see. I’m delighted the horse and Tom are ok. That’s the main thing, isn’t it? But our horse is improving and we’ll go to Ascot now.’
Jockey Buick added of the 4/1 favourite: ‘He’d have been an unlucky loser, you know? I had to wait for my run and I got carried left a bit but he really put his head down and I am delighted we got the call. He’s been knocking on the door quite a few times and hopefully this will be his year.’
And that last sentence showed why this period in the calendar is like no other. These are the months to dream and to think big. Connections of Secret Satire and Mill Stream should certainly be doing that.