THE spotlight is not Iain Jardine’s most natural habitat. He is quiet man more suited for deeds than words, but he will have no choice if Nakeeta wins the Sky Bet Ebor at York for a second time on Saturday.
The Ebor is one of the imperishable threads that runs through the tapestry of British racing but only Flint Jack (1922-23) has won it twice since its inception in 1843.
It was after Nakeeta won 12 months ago that Jardine decided to take his chance in the Melbourne Cup.
“It was a great experience going there last year,” he said. “It’s a really big thing there and the Aussies make a massive deal out of the whole week.”
That was brought home to him when he attended a Breakfast With The Stars preview in the run-up to the race.
“I wouldn’t be one for being the centre of attention and when I got there it was like stepping into three weddings all going on at the same time.”
Fifth place, having been drawn adjacent to the carpark in stall 19, and over £100,000 in prize-money hardly constituted a financial funeral for the horse’s owners, Alex and Janet Card, who also sold a 50 per cent share in the horse to Australian Thoroughbred Bloodstock for a possible return to Melbourne this November on condition that Nakeeta remained with Jardine.
“We’ll see how he runs in the Ebor which will tell us if he’s going to earn his place for the Melbourne Cup,” Jardine said. “But I’m only thinking about the Ebor for now.”
Not too many punters were thinking about Nakeeta after his first two runs of this season when he finished down the field in both the Chester Cup and Northumberland Plate when, again, the luck of the draw had gone AWOL.
But Jardine knew Nakeeta was slowly returning to his best.
“I let him come back to himself. When he ran in the Chester Cup he wasn’t as good as he is now. You can’t push horses. But that run brought him on. We’ve been patient with him and he’s come right.”
What he came right into at Newbury last month was a Willie Mullins runner who was several pounds ahead of the handicapper when Stratum won by three lengths and Nakeeta was in the four-way scrimmage for the places.
The bookmakers immediately took the scissors to Stratum’s ante-post price for the Ebor to suggest he already has one hoof over the winning line. But the handicapper, not a man who takes kindly to being shown up, had his say too. Stratum has gone up 8lbs for the Ebor while Nakeeta went up by just 1lb for being beaten three and three-quarter lengths.
Stratum still needs another nine to be withdrawn to be assured of a place in the 20-runner field while Nakeeta looks on a decent weight of 9st 7lb. As ever in the Ebor there are factors beyond a trainer’s control such as the draw. And then there is the curse of “trouble in running” in a race that has thrown up more hard-luck stories than the poor house.
“It’s a handicap so you don’t know if anything is lurking about that’s well handicapped but we know what we’ve got,” Jardine said. “He’s 4lb higher in the weights than he was last year but he seems very well within himself and we’re really happy with him. His preparation since Newbury has been good and he’s definitely better than he was then.”
If Nakeeta comes right, Jardine may have to put up with another day in the spotlight.
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