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The complete texts of Random Notes for the 2002 and 2003 seasons are below

....Group 1 honours for the big teams but the Gods of racing have their say......
This first weekend in September had top class racing all around the Northern hemisphere. The big teams had their share of glory.
High Chaparral last years dual Derby winner won the Irish Champion Stakes in a race that had Alamshar, this years Derby and King George winner, Falbrav, the Eclipse and Juddmonte International winner and Islington and Moon Ballad for good measure. It was a great boost for Aiden O'Brien and Coolmore who are having a quiet season. The Gods of racing decided it was not Luca Cumani's day. Falbrav was never off the bridle but still a head second. His jockey lodged an objection to the winner for taking his ground but the Leopardstown Stewards had none of it. Looking at the head on it wasn't a home town decision.
At Belmont Mineshaft won the Woodward for Mr. Ambassador Farish in the race where Hold That Tiger made his US comeback to finish second. Brian Meehan won the Gazelle Handicap with Buy The Sport, the second time that a horse that Brian bought at the Calder 2yo sale has returned to upset the odds in a Group 1 at Belmont.
At Haydock Oasis Dream and his owner Prince Kaled Abdulla were the ones that the Gods decided to put in their place. The rain came, the ground went soft and that was the end of Oasis Dreams chances. He was second to Tim Easterby trained Pivotal gelding Somnus.
Prince Khaled got swift consolation the next day at Longchamp when Nebraska Tornado wore down Japanese trained Lohengrin in the straight to win the Moulin.
Godolphin started on the second 100 Group 1 wins in Baden-Baden where Mamool won the Grosser Bugatti Preis von Baden.
No Group 1 for his Bobness this weekend but he was back on track last weekend with Aldebaran to take his tally to 19 for the year.

.....his Bobness doesn't win a Group 1....
As Bobby Frankel has now won 18 Group 1 races this year it's news when he doesn't and this weekend at Saratoga he didn't twice. Peace Rules got beat into second in the Travers, and Wild Spirit the same in the Personal Ensign. Both went off favourite with Jerry Bailey in the plate. In America although prize money in Stakes races goes down to sixth place the only spot in the winner's circle is for the winner. Second home is the first of the losers is the way they see it.
Despite this lapse we still think that we're right to advise Sheik Mohammed to hire Bobby to spearhead Godolphin's quest for their second 100 Group 1 victories.

.....York Ebor meeting.....
The Group 1 winning performances of Falbrav in the Juddmonte International and Oasis Dream in the Nunthorpe were outstanding and Fasliyev had his sixth Stakes winner.

.....Rock of Gibralter and Hawk Wing still making news.....
The two Ballydoyle horses who got so much ink last year in the great "did the best horse win "soap are still getting in the news. Rock of Gibralter because Sir Alex Ferguson and John Magnier have a different view of what they respectively bought and sold when they became joint owners. Fergie reckons he bought a half share in the breeding rights, worth a great many millions in the years to come. His partner's view is that he didn't. This won't get to court is our guess but don't expect them to be partners in a horse any time soon and if they do Sir Alex will read the Sale Agreement.
Hawk Wing made news by retiring to stud after failing to come back from the injury he picked up in the Queen Anne.

.....Group 1 wins for Ballydoyle and Godolphin.....(and his Bobness)
In recent years these would have been routine events for the two great powers of European racing but this year has been a little slow for them.
So, not quite business as usual when One Cool Cat won the two year old Gr.1 Phoenix Stakes at Leopardstown for Coolmore, although the hype afterwards was vintage, "breath taking at home....gears" you know the stuff.
In Chicago Sulamani was second past the post but was given the race  when Storming Home was demoted to fourth spot, making the Arlington Million Godolphin's long awaited 100th Gr.1 win.
Business as usual though for Bobby Frankel who picked up his 17th (yes that's right 17th) Gr.1 win of the year at Arlington with Heat Haze in the Beverley D.
Bobby has now officially become an uber-Bob joining Dylan and De Niro.

.....Goodwood....
A good week for our two mares Eye Witness and Dixie Eyes Blazing with two impressive Juddmonte bred two year old maiden winning fillies. Tarot Card out of Well Beyond won on Wednesday and Ithaca by Distant View out of Reams of Verse won on Friday. It was a good week for the yearlings we have to sell as well. The Catalogue page for the Bahri filly out of Dixie Eyes Blazing added another impressive maiden winner alongside Tarot Card when Takrice the first foal out of Eye Witness' SP daughter Hasanat won on her debut at Galway. Our Distant View filly out of Nunatak also got a boost from Ithaca and from Tantina the winner of the Listed Oak Tree Stakes.

....Newmarket July week....
An interesting week on the July course. Ballydoyle and Godolphin continue their lack-lustre seasons, while the old owner breeder order continues to assert itself. Khaled Abdullah continued his run and took the July Cup with Oasis Dream, who now has the Champion three year old Sprint title in his sights. Lords Roxburghe and Vestey won the fillies Gr.2 races with homebreds Acclamation and Maccadamia. The retiring Senior Steward took the Princess of Wales Stakes with homebred Milenary.
Coolmore bought Choisir who finished second in the July Cup.
Darley entertained with their customary style at Dalham Hall where they showed 23 stallions. The picks for us on looks were Fantastic Light, Tobougg and Agnes World.

....the Eclipse and the Irish Derby....
Blanks for Godolphin (still waiting for that 100th Gr.1 win) and Ballydoyle. The Aga Khan won the Irish Derby with Alamshar and took second spot with his Frech Derby hero Dalakhani. Falbrav won the Eclipse for Luca Cumani with Nayef second after getting the racing equivalent of his shirt pulled by Jamie Spencer who was riding the pacemaker for the Godolphin entry. Jamie later apologized. Someone pointed out that Sheik Hamdam wasn't too pleased.

....Royal Ascot...
Saturday June 21st. Choisir wins for the second time at the meeting by taking the Gr.1 Golden Jubilee having been a shock winner of the Gr.2 King's Stand on Tuesday, in the process making history as the first horse to achieve the feat in 83 years and the first Australian horse to win a UK Gr.1.
Friday June 20th. Here's something no-one has spotted. All the trainers of today's winners have Christian names beginning with 'M'. Marcus, two Michaels a Mark and a Mick. The odd man out is a Paddy.
Thursday June 19th. Godolphin odds-on Kheleyf (it means "heir" in arabic) in the Norfolk Stakes is turned over by a horse trained by, you guessed it, Smiling Mark Johnston. Frankie Dettori's pre-race prediction was that Kheleyf could only be beaten by jockey error. I wonder what the Arabic for "hubris" is?
Wednesday June 18th. Nayef wins the Gr.1 Prince of Wales for our mate Marcus. Mark Johnston wins the two two year old races; come on Mark, give us a smile.
Tuesday June 17th. Three Valleys wins the Coventry by eight lengths in a course record time (and we've got a yearling out of his half sister !). Zafeen wins the St. James Palace to uphold the 2000 Guineas form (and we've got two Zafonic yearlings to sell this autumn). Dubai Destination wins the Queen Anne Stakes in its first running as a Gr.1. Hawk Wing's was nowhere and afterwards was variously rumoured lame or coughed. The Hawk Wing soap opera will continue to run we think but as a reminder Dubai Destination did beat Rock of Gibralter at two, the same Rock that was the winner of the 200 Guineas in which Hawk Wing was the best horse that didn't win (scroll down this page to see "previously in Hawk Wing, the soap")

....Derby weekend. The two Robertos....
At Epsom Downs Casual Look (Red Ransom) won the Oaks and Kris Kin (Kris S) won the Derby in a Classic double for the Roberto sire-line while at Belmont Park Empire Maker won the Belmont for Robert(o) Frankel.
In the Oaks, Yesterday was the unlucky loser this time after jockey Mick Kinane found more dead ends in the straight at Epsom than you'd find at the Hampton Court maze and the fairy tale of New York didn't have a happy ending when NY bred and trained Funny Cide ,who won the first two legs of the Triple Crown, could only finish third in the last leg.

 ....May 25th. FJS outbreak spreads to Ireland....
Six Perfections was  an unlucky loser again beaten in a second Classic when finishing second in the Irish 1000 Guineas. Partnered this time by Irish jockey, Johnny Murtagh (rather than the retained French jockey Thierry Thulliez who rode her at Newmarket in the 1000 Guineas whilst suffering from FJS) this is a worrying development as it's the first recorded instance of the syndrome crossing nationality. Nonetheless, well done to Richard and Roisin Henry who bred the winner, Yesterday.

.... May 17th. Hawk Wing wins by 11 lengths and Funny Cide by 10 lengths, which means that.....
Last year was Rock of Gibralter's. This year could be Hawk Wing's. He beat a field of top class milers by 10 lengths in the Gr.1 Lockinge Stakes at Newbury on Saturday (May 17th). The field included Domedriver, the horse that beat Rock of Gibralter in the Breeder's Cup Mile last year; and Where or When who beat Hawk Wing in the Gr.1 Queen Elizabeth II last September. Hawk Wing only met the Rock once last year and was beaten a short head in the 2000 Guineas when the field split and they came up on opposite sides of the track. Can this mean that the Hawk is lengths better than the Rock? Nope. But it does give a twist to the "did the best horse win" stories that both were involved in last year (click here for our Random Notes on the subject last year) and puts to rest the idea that Hawk Wing was dogging it last year (as if second in the 2000 Guineas ,third in the Derby and a win in the Eclipse wasn't up to the mark). This is the first year that Ballydoyle have kept top class older horses in training, something that Godolphin have done for a number of years and has arguably enabled them to sustain a challenge to Ballydoyle's international supremacy. What will Godolphin do after seeing this performance?
Meanwhile in Baltimore Funny Cide destroyed his rivals in the Preakness and will now go to Belmont Park with a chance of being the only gelding and the only New York bred to win the Triple Crown. Will Bobby Frankel take him on with Empire Maker after seeing Peace Rules blown away at the top of the stretch? Will Christophe Clement spoil the party with Dynever?

....Kentucky Derby and the Newmarket Guineas......
Empire Maker got beat into second place by Funny Cide in the Kentucky Derby although Bobby Frankel reckons that his horse was the best in the race and according to Pascal Bary the best horse didn't win the 1000 Guineas either after Six Perfections was stuck down by FJS*.
Ballydoyle had a blank weekend, Hold That Tiger ran a stinker in the 2000 Guineas and none of their four runners were in the frame in the Newmarket Classics; maybe an overhang of the virus that hit them last year. Godolphin didn't make the winners enclosure in the Classics although they did win the Pretty Polly Stakes.
We'll hold off calling Bobby Frankel for a while to ask about Nunatall but he didn't have such a bad first Saturday in May, winning a Gr.1 and a Gr.3 on the Derby undercard with Heat Haze and Sightseek, both homebreds from Juddmonte, who also had the third in the 1000 Guineas with Intercontinental. In his unassuming way Prince Khaled Abdulla must be chuffed that year in year out his breeding operation keeps producing winners of the highest calibre.
History was made by Funny Cide, the first New York bred to win the Kentucky Derby. He cost $27,000 as a yearling and is the first gelding to win the race since 1929, mind you last years winner War Emblem wont do much more than him to invigorate the gene pool, a low libido means he has only managed to cover 8 mares since retiring to stud at Shadai Farm. History repeated itself when Sadler's Wells had his third winner of the 2000 Guineas with Refuse to Bend.
(* French Jockey Syndrome)

...... the best horse didn't again. What goes around comes around.
......the question at the beginning of the flat season and the running of the 2000 Guineas (and near the beginning of these Random Notes) was; did the best horse win? Same question, same horse involved after the running of the Breeders Cup Mile. Different jockeys though. Jamie Spencer in May and Mick Kinane in October. And a different reason. In May the question was whether Rock of Gibralter was better than Hawk Wing. In November the question was whether he is better than Domedriver (who he?).

.....the new order ?
.....at the beginning of October what price would you have been given that the winners of the Gr.1 Cheveley Park, Gr.1 Fillies Mile and Gr.1 Dewhurst Stakes would have been won by juveniles bought for less than Gns20,000 each, not owned by Godolphin or Ballydoyle or trained by Saeed Bib Suroor, Aiden O'Brien, Sir Michael Stoute or Mark Johnston and not a Storm Cat, Danehill or Sadler's Wells amongst them. And just to underline the fact that money isn't the only thing needed to own a good horse the winner of the Middle Park was a homebred. (OK bred by Prince Khaled Abdulla who wont be short of a few quid, but not a man to splash it out on million $ yearlings). Cheers all round for Airwave and Henry Candy, Soviet Song, James Fanshawe and Elite Racing and Tout Seul, Fulke Johnson-Houghton and Eden Racing.

.....Where or When, Rock of Gibralter or Keltos?
.....so Where or When beats Hawk Wing in the QEII and now he is 1lb behind Rock of Gibralter who remains 1lb behind Keltos. At least one thing is clear the best horse did win the 2000 Guineas. Stand by for hours of guff from pundits and gallons of purple prose in the Racing Post when the International Classifications are published.

.....Hawk Wing or Rock of Gibralter?
....when we wrote about the 2000 Guineas our headline was - did the best horse win? This weekend Rock of Gibralter won his seventh Group 1 contest in succession at Longchamp in the Prix Jacques Le Marois, beating the previous record held by Mill Reef. At Leopardstown Hawk Wing was beaten a nose by Grandera in the Group 1 Irish Champion Stakes. But the official Handicapper still has Rock of Gibralter as equal top-rated miler because his style of running means he only does enough to win. I don't suppose this bothers the owners one bit but it gives the pundits something to talk about.

....the Ebor meeting
....some really high quality entertainment for the three days with James Given and Jamie Spencer confirming themselves in the top league with victories in the Ebor for James and on Kyllachy in the Nunthorpe for Jamie...

....Deauville.
....the first of the European yearling sales of 2002 and the first in Euros was down 29% on the average following the pattern already established in the American market. There was competition for the good quality middle market horse (75,000 to 150,000 euros) with agents and trainers getting involved but the vendors were in denial and the buy-back rate was over 30%, more like an American than a European sale....
....Banks Hill swept aside the field in the Jacques Le Marois and her full sister won the maiden in the first race of the afternoon. I wonder how that feels?...
....We went to see Billy Holiday at David Powell's farm. She's in foal to Sendawar and looked a picture as you can see on the right.

....Glorious Goodwood. The best horse wins again in the Sussex Stakes...
....remember the 2000 Guineas (click here for our editorial on it) when Rock of Gibralter beat Hawk Wing? Well the first impression won't be the lasting impression. Rock of Gibralter is now the winner of six Group 1s on the trot, has equalled Mill Reef's record, one which he looks like he could go on and beat it and is spoken of as a Champion (although the handicapper has him 1 lb inferior to Keltos?!) Hawk Wing meanwhile is virtually accused of "dogging it" because he's a son of Woodman and "still has it to prove" after finishing second in the Derby and going on to win the Eclipse.

....Ascot watering....
....in the usual after the event / want it our way, Frankie Dettori blamed over-watering for Grandera's poor showing in the King George and Queen Elizabeth II Stakes. The reason they watered was to get Sakhee there - owned by Godolphin! Long memory department recalls the Haydock Sprint Cup when they watered to get Diktat there ridden by....yes! Frankie... who duly won. Flying dismounts all round and a word of thanks from Saeed bin Suroor on the telly to the Haydock executive. Tough on Arkadian Hero and Bold Edge both of whom would have preferred the fast ground that was promised. Can anyone explain how it works? Fast ground horses are denied their ground by race-courses when push comes to shove in the lead-up to the high summer Group 1s. The taps are left on because the connections (plumbing pun not intended) say they will run if there's rain and the forecast says there isn't going to be any. Whilst soft ground horses can only ever be denied their ground by the weather.

....Newmarket July meeting....
....In The Wings was our pick for value out of all the stallions at the Darley parade and lobster-fest on Thursday. Fantastic Light was the pick for looks.
....a lesson in restraint for me standing next to John Dunlop as he watched Pat Eddery on Bonecrusher. First furlong, "hmmm...nearer last than first a Pat" he mused. Silence followed, as Pat went for a run up the rail and wove through the traffic to hit the front 50 yards out. As he drove Bonecrusher to the line JD made his second comment in a conversational tone "go on Pat give him one for me". Binoculars down he turned to Sue Dunlop "do you think he got up?".
....the old one two. Richard Hannon gets first and second in the July Stakes on Wednesday and Dandy Nicholls trumps that with a one two in the July Cup with a 5 year old and a 7 year old, both geldings.

....Royal Ascot....
....First day. Best looking two year old colt on the first day was Statue of Liberty and we also thought Landseer was a better looking horse than Rock of Gibralter, but there can't now be any debate about whether the best horse won the 2000 Guineas.
...Second day. Presto Vento was the best looking filly in the Queen Mary and Grandera still looks a little tricky to us despite his facile victory in the Prince of Wales Stakes. Nayef may have had his moment in Dubai.
...Third Day. We really liked the looks of Fraulein, a strong, handsome filly but of the two year old colts we couldn't like Marino Marini at all. Burning Sun was the winner we wanted, Henry and Prince Khaled Abdulla, two proper people. We bumped into Mr and Mrs Tracy Farmer over from Kentucky on a European trip, they saw French Flag at Criquette Head's last weekend and say she's doing well.
...Fourth Day. The pick of the Group 1 fillies for our mate, farrier Jerry Baker, was Red Liason ("a 16 inch overstride and a well-muscled inner thigh" he reckoned). Bustan ran well in the Prince of Wales Stakes on only his third lifetime start.
...Fifth Day. Five days is one too many. We stayed home and watched it on the tv.

....we know how Aiden does it!...
...he's obviously a graduate of Hogwarts Academy. Has no-one else spotted the remarkable likeness to Harry Potter. He's not a genius he's a wizard.

....attheraces, sexual chemistry; no thanks....
...we like having a dedicated racing channel but an early change that we would appreciate would be for McCririck to drop the smirking references to Alice Plunkett as a "saucy minx". We know that sexual chemistry between presenters is one of the ingredients that TV people think is important to the viewers (remember Johnny Vaughan and Denise Van Outen) but Mac and Alice in chemistry mode is as attractive as watching Chewbbacca making up to Princess Leia.
....arise Sir James....
...meanwhile on the BBC Jimmy Lindley was going for a gong. "let's be honest" he said during his paddock commentary at Epsom  "there's no greater judge of horseflesh than her". He was talking about the Queen.

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