WHEN a jockey has done just about all there is to do within the sport of kings, chances are he will take everything in his stride, so to speak.
With this in mind, American John Velaz-quez should be coolness personified for his rather important mission at Royal Ascot tomorrow.
Animal Kingdom heads for the Queen Anne Stakes as perhaps the greatest US-trained horse to run in Britain, certainly as good as any since another Kentucky Derby winner, Reigh Count, failed at the royal meeting in 1929.
It will be the stunning chestnut's final start, and victory will make him a considerably more valuable stallion commodity when he starts his stud career in Australia. A son of the Brazilian-bred Leroidesanimaux, Animal Kingdom has a fascinatingly mixed pedigree including German bloodlines and is of such interest that Sheikh Mohammed's Darley Stud has also purchased a big interest in him.
As a winner of the 2011 Derby, as well as second in the Preakness and Breeders' Cup Mile, he has achieved the remarkable by switching to a third surface, Tapeta, with an impressive victory in the Dubai World Cup. "Johnny V" takes over again after a 16-month hiatus and has flown across to Ascot to partner Animal Kingdom. The rider, who has sat on such horses as Da Hoss, Lemon Drop Kid, Kitten's Joy, Rags to Riches and Uncle Mo, was asked if Animal Kingdom was special. "Definitely," he said. "They don't come that often like that.
"For a horse to come and run on different surfaces and have done what he has done, there are aren't that many horses. The only one I know so far to have done so well on Polytrack, dirt and then on grass is Wise Dan, last year's Horse of the Year.
"That's the only one I've seen to have done as well on three different surfaces. It's incredible. The special horses give you a great feel when you're on top of them. You hope they can stay that way by the day of the race."
American-based jockeys have been scoffed at by some traditionalists when they struggled to transfer their clinical timing on the level dirt ovals to the varied British courses. However, this is no Johnny-come-lately, as the 42-year-old rode half a dozen Godolphin horses at the 2000 royal meeting when Frankie Dettori was injured.
He returned nine years later to win several two-year-old races for Wesley Ward and even slipped in another brief visit in 2011.
Speaking slightly accented English, no doubt reduced by spending more than half his life in the US, the like-able Puerto Rican is unfazed by a return. "It's great, it's very exciting to be here again," he said. "They are running the opposite way, which is very different for us, and you've got to get adjusted to it. I've ridden him a couple of times now but to get adjusted right away, I was a little bit in shock, but you walk the course and you watch the races.To win here means a lot, I'm here to do a job and he's a great horse to do it with."
* Treve was a most impressive winner of the Prix de Diane (French Oaks) at Chantilly yesterday for trainer Criquette Head-Maarek. The unbeaten daughter of Motivator had won two minor races before stepping up in class for the classic, while many of her rivals brought top-class form into the race.
None more so than the Poule d'Essai des Pouliches (French 1000 Guineas) heroine Flotilla, who ran well before fading close home. There looked to be no excuses for any of the beaten horses as Treve spreadeagled the field under jockey Thierry Jarnet, beating another outsider Chicquita with Silasol third. Head-Maarek had been without a Group 1 win since Fuisse won the Prix du Moulin in 2010 and has been out of the limelight of late. However, it seems inconceivable that Treve will not be running in all the big races from now on, such was the manner of her success.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article