Tag Archive for: Royal Ascot

Martin Dwyer set for more surgery on knee injury

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Martin Dwyer will go undergo surgery again next month in a bid to return to the saddle following a knee injury that has sidelined him for over a year.

The 47-year-old Derby-winning jockey was injured in a fall when riding out for Brian Meehan last March.

Dwyer severely twisted his knee when a leather iron broke and he suffered a torn ACL.

“I’m just waiting for my operation on April 24. The operation is not severe, it is just to take out scar tissue and see what the problem is, because the knee just won’t bend. It keeps flaring up,” said Dwyer.

“I’m in Oaksey House (rehabilitation centre in Lambourn) doing everything I can, but the injury has just plateaued and we just can’t move forward.

“The original injury, the ligaments, have healed nicely, which is the main thing, but I can’t get it to bend and take weight properly.”

Dwyer, who won the 2006 Derby aboard Sir Percy for Marcus Tregoning, missed out on the winning ride aboard the Willie Muir and Chris Grassick-trained Pyledriver in the King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Royal Ascot last summer.

Any thoughts of retirement have been put on the back-burner for the time being, however.

“We will cross that bridge when we come to it. Even if I’m not riding again, even getting back to normal life, I’m going to have to keep going through the same procedure,” he added.

“I’ve just got to throw the kitchen sink at rehab and get my knee right. Once I have my leg right, I will make decisions from there.”

The ardent Everton fan is married to Muir’s daughter, Claire, who recently suffered a broken leg in a fall.

“She was bed-bound for a couple of weeks, because the bone came through the skin and so I’m like Mrs Doubtfire at home, hobbling around. The pair of us, it’s a nightmare,” added Dwyer.

“I’m going to have to get a double scooter. They say bad luck comes in threes, so I’m worried about Everton going down!”

O’Brien shuffling long-distance pack in wake of Kyprios setback

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Aidan O’Brien is considering Plan B for his staying challenge this term, with reigning champion Kyprios a major doubt to defend his Gold Cup title at Royal Ascot.

The five-year-old carried all before him in the marathon division last season, winning each of six starts, including the Ascot showpiece, the Goodwood Cup, Irish St Leger and a tremendous 20-length success in the Prix du Cadran, achieved despite hanging badly across the track.

O’Brien revealed on Sunday Kyprios had suffered a setback, and he expanded on his injury issue when speaking to visiting media at his yard on Monday.

Kyprios (centre left) was the king of the staying division last year
Kyprios (centre left) was the king of the staying division last year (Adam Davy/PA)

He said: “I don’t think Kyprios is going to make the Gold Cup. He got a little bit of a joint and it’s not settling down. We will just have to wait and see. It’s one of those things.

“It happened a month ago and it’s just not settled – sometimes these things can settle very quickly and sometimes they don’t. He got an inner infection inside in the joint and it had to be flushed and then there was more infection, so it had to be flushed a second time.”

If as seems likely Kyprios does miss out, O’Brien has identified some possible deputies, headed by Emily Dickinson – winner of the Loughbrown Stakes when upped to two miles on her final start last term.

Saturday’s Dubai Gold Cup winner Broome is another contender, along with Changingoftheguard, who won the King Edward VII Stakes at Ascot when last seen.

Broome won in Dubai on Saturday
Broome won in Dubai on Saturday (Adam Davy/PA)

He added: “Emily Dickinson, Broome, Changingoftheguard is a possible – even though we probably won’t make a decision (yet).

“We were very impressed with Emily at the Curragh, she grew another leg when she went to two miles. I’m not sure whether Broome will stretch out that far (two and a half miles at Ascot), but you’d imagine he’ll be very happy at Goodwood, Irish Leger, the Melbourne Cup, those type of races.”

At the other end of the scale, Tenebrism will flex her sprinting muscles for the Ballydoyle team after trying her hand up to a mile last term.

O’Brien is eyeing an audacious Royal Ascot double, with the King’s Stand and Platinum Jubilee Stakes in mind.

Tenebrism (left) has a sprinting campaign on her agenda
Tenebrism (left) has a sprinting campaign on her agenda (Tim Goode/PA)

He said: “Tenebrism is going to go sprinting. She’ll probably start in one of the local sprints, she’s nearly ready to go, she was at the Curragh (on Saturday) and worked well.

“She’s a fast filly, I’d say five or six she’d be comfortable at. We’re thinking both with her, the five and the six – we thought she could do the two (at Ascot). We were dallying around her last year, seeing where we were going to go and but the minute we started sprinting, it was very obvious she was a sprinter.

“She’ll be trained differently, last year we were trying to stretch her out and she was still being very competitive at those distances, she’s just a good filly.

O’Brien also outlined some early-season juveniles to monitor, headed by a No Nay Never half-brother to Sioux Nation.

He said: “Alabama is one to watch, Battle Cry is another No Nay Never, Emperor Of Rome, a Ten Sovereigns filly called Brighter, I think they’re the more forward types. You’ll not go far wrong with Alabama, who is a brother to Sioux Nation.

“The Liffey is another one, His Majesty is another No Nay Never, Carnegie Hall, they’re some of the early-type ones.”

Aidan O’Brien raises Kyprios Gold Cup doubts

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Leading stayer Kyprios has met with a setback which could prevent him from defending his Gold Cup crown at Royal Ascot.

Trained by Aidan O’Brien, Kyprios enjoyed the perfect season last year, winning all six of his races.

He progressed from scoring in the Vintage Crop and Saval Beg Stakes to go on to glory in the Gold Cup, Goodwood Cup, Irish St Leger and an amazing 20-length success in the Prix du Cadran, despite veering badly in the closing stages.

However, on a weekend when O’Brien saw another of his inmates, Broome, emerge as a Cup horse with a victory in Dubai, he revealed that the main player in the division could miss the first half of the campaign.

“With Kyprios we won’t rush him, we’ll take our time with him and see where we go. We’re looking at the autumn with him,” O’Brien told Racing TV.

“He got a little bit of a joint about a month ago and we just need that to settle down. If it does we’ll go on for Ascot and if it doesn’t we’ll have him for the autumn.

“Obviously there’s a lot of water to go under the bridge between now and then and we’ll play it by ear and slot them all in somewhere.”

Ascot next for Dubai Gold Cup hero Broome

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Broome will take a direct route to the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot, with trainer Aidan O’Brien setting his sights on a trip to Australia for the Melbourne Cup at the end of the year.

The seven-year-old has shown his best over middle distances over the last four seasons, with a previous foray over two miles ending in a distant last to Trueshan in the 2020 Long Distance Cup at Ascot.

However, Broome roared back to winning form over the staying trip on Saturday, seeing off Siskany by a neck in the Dubai Gold Cup at Meydan – his first victory since last year’s Hardwicke Stakes.

With stablemate Kyprios now a possible doubt for Ascot, Broome could end up being his main contender, with O’Brien also believing he is an ideal candidate to head in Flemington in November.

He said: “We were very happy. Obviously he’s going to go the Cup route and we’ll look at all those races on the way down to the Melbourne Cup. That’s probably what we’re going to do with him.

“He won’t have to run in the two Irish trials, he can go straight to Ascot. After that he can do Goodwood and all those types of races and then finish off down in Australia.

“He’s seven now and he’s the perfect age to be doing all those races, travelling as an older horse.

“He’s an amazing horse, he was very genuine at Meydan. Looking at him, you’d say we should have stepped him up in trip a lot earlier.”

Al Dasim has George Boughey dreaming big

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The Al Quoz Sprint on Dubai World Cup night and an appearance at Royal Ascot are both in George Boughey’s sights for Al Dasim after the exciting sprinter made it three from three at Meydan on Super Saturday.

The Harry Angel colt won a couple of novice events at Wolverhampton in the autumn and has taken his game to another level since arriving in the UAE early in the new year.

Having impressed in a two three-year-old only conditions races, Al Dasim stepped up to comprehensively beat his elders in last weekend’s Nad Al Sheba Turf Sprint and a tilt at Group One glory on the Dubai World Cup undercard now looms large.

Boughey said: “He’s just gone from strength to strength out there really. He was quite a raw, immature horse when he left and they can kind of go one way or the other but he has just improved.

“I’ve never been so relaxed before a high grade race as I was the other day, just because he’s so relaxed and he also stays very well for a sprinter, which is helpful at Meydan and will also be a huge asset for him when he gets back home.

“He’s come out of the race in great shape. Ryan King, who is my head man out there to ride him, has done a great job with him. I actually haven’t seen him since he ran as I was on the night flight out of there, but he’s sent me pictures and videos and he looks better than he’s ever looked really.”

Al Dasim holds a speculative entry in the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket on May 6 – but Boughey views a tilt at Classic honours as “very unlikely”, instead preferring him to keep him to sprint trips and his powder dry for the Royal meeting the following month.

“He’d be very unlikely to run in the Guineas. He’s had a busy enough winter and if he does go to the Al Quoz, he’ll have a good break and probably go first up at Royal Ascot,” Boughey added.

“He could have a prep run, but he’s going to have penalties now and rather than carrying a penalty in a trial it might be worth just going straight to the Royal meeting.

“He’ll get an entry in the Commonwealth Cup and will probably get an entry in the King’s Stand as well because it doesn’t look a very good division this year and a stiff five or six furlongs at Ascot could be right up his street.”

No overseas raids for Rohaan but summer campaign beckons

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David Evans will give crack sprinter Rohaan plenty of time before unleashing him in the summer following a setback.

Bought for 20,000 guineas at the 2020 Tattersalls Autumn horses-in-training sale, the Mayson gelding has proven to be a real money-spinner, winning nine times for Evans.

He has climbed from basement-level handicaps on the all-weather to securing back-to-back success in the Wokingham at Royal Ascot and a Group Two victory at Haydock.

Plans were hatched to head to both Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia, but those had to be shelved by the Monmouthshire handler.

Evans said: “We have had a little setback, so we won’t be going anywhere at the moment.

“Hopefully he’ll be OK. We probably haven’t missed a lot going aboard. It would probably have done him more good staying at home.

“It is just a little setback. It was nothing drastic. It was just enough to stop and we’ll start again.”

Winner of over £400,000 from his 28 starts, Rohaan was almost retired before striking late at Royal Ascot under Ryan Moore, having previously suffered a dip in form.

In the end, the Kieran McCabe-owned gelding had a fruitful campaign last season, adding the Group Three Bengough Stakes at Ascot to his Wokingham triumph.

He was also placed in the Sprint Cup at Haydock and signed off in October with a close-up fourth to Kinross in the British Champions Sprint.

Though starting last term in the 1895 Duke of York Stakes, Evans is keen to swerve the Knavesmire this term.

He said: “He doesn’t like going to York, so he won’t be going there. It is too fast a track for him.

“It would be nice if we can get a run into him and then go to Ascot.

“He won’t qualify for the Wokingham at the moment (too high in the handicap). Let’s see what happens and then play it by ear. We’ve got time with him, that’s the main thing.

“These things happen and it’s best to lay off rather than keep going. It has to be done sometime.”