Cracksman
Cracksman

Cracksman being aimed at Prince Of Wales's Stakes at Royal Ascot


To have the good fortune of another top-class horse so soon after magnificent Derby and Arc winner Golden Horn, owner Anthony Oppenheimer must have avoided a lot of ladders in his life.

While to paint him as a 'small' owner would not be quite right given his own breeding and background in the diamond industry, but he does only have around a dozen horses in training.

When that is compared to the hundreds of Godolphin and Coolmore, the fact Cracksmans has come along so soon after Golden Horn shows there is some truth in the old adage that it is better to be born lucky than rich. If you are both, then all the better.

"I still find it hard to believe that so soon after Golden Horn I've been lucky enough to get Cracksman, it's quite incredible," said Oppenheimer.

"I'm very lucky and pleasantly surprised. You really have to enjoy the good times, as there are so many disappointments in this game, and to be able to look forward to the summer with Cracksman means I can't wait for the days to get warmer."

Oppenheimer and his trainer John Gosden had been mooting the possibility of going to Dubai with Cracksman, the devastating winner of the Champion Stakes at Ascot, but the decision was made to keep him closer to home and head for the Prix Ganay at Longchamp instead.

Despite defeats in the Derby at Epsom and the Irish equivalent at the Curragh, Cracksman's demolition job at Ascot assured he was the highest-rated horse in Europe, despite the exploits of multiple Group One-winning stabelmate Enable.

A clash between the two in the second half of the season is one the whole of racing cannot wait to see.

"The Prix Ganay is 10 and a half furlongs and that shouldn't be a problem. He's raced over 10 furlongs twice and won both times, at Epsom (Derby Trial) and then Ascot," explained Oppenheimer.

"I don't think the trip will be a problem, especially first time out. Heading to Ascot last year, I was obviously hoping he'd win, but I didn't think he'd be able to win as easily as he did.

"He really took off. It was sticky ground at Chantilly the time before and he didn't really handle it - although he won by nearly four lengths, he wasn't really pushed. I just felt he was struggling to pick his feet up.

"Up at York on better ground in the Great Voltigeur he was fine. I think he can handle any going as long as it's not firm. He's got a slightly high knee action, so you wouldn't be keen on running him on genuinely fast ground."

Cracksman leaves his rivals floundering in the QIPCO Champion Stakes
Cracksman leaves his rivals floundering in the QIPCO Champion Stakes

Gosden has repeatedly stated that if all goes well his stable stars will meet in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in October, but preferably not before, leaving Cracksman as the one for Royal Ascot given there is no 12-furlong Group One there.

"Royal Ascot is obviously what we are thinking about in the first half of the season, but if it was firm we wouldn't run. On good ground or soft, it wouldn't worry him," said Oppenheimer.

"I don't think the Coronation Cup is the race for him. Maybe if it came up really soft we might consider it, but I don't think Epsom suits him.

"We've seen him twice coming down the hill at Epsom and it is a bit like when a human runs downhill, you keep getting faster and it is quite worrying. 

"He finds doing that, with his action, quite a problem, like he did in the Derby and the race before, so he'll probably have an entry for the Coronation Cup, but I think it would be unlikely if he ran.

"I would think after the Ganay that the Tattersalls Gold Cup would then be a reasonable possibility, before we starting thinking of the Prince of Wales's at Royal Ascot."

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