Mike Cattermole pays tribute to John Oxx who retires at end of season

JOHN OXX - ONE OF THE BEST

When Sea The Stars crowned his brilliant career by winning the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in 2009, and his stablemate Alandi beat off Kasbah Bliss and Yeats later that afternoon to take the Prix du Cadran, John Oxx could celebrate a superb Group One double.

It’s a sobering thought to acknowledge now that Oxx, who announced his impending retirement this week, would never train another winner at the highest level again. Who, in their right minds, would have bet on that?

In fact it was only four years later that the Aga Khan, owner of Alandi, decided not to send any more yearlings to Oxx, who was going through a quiet period at the time, with Dermot Weld and Mick Halford the main Irish beneficiaries.

Oxx, who had created champions for the Aga in Sinndar, Alamshar and Azamour during the previous decade, was the personification of dignity in his response, when he would have had every right to be both frustrated and disappointed. Perhaps he was in private, but it was a mark of his character that he never showed it.

And those same qualities were demonstrated again - just three years on - when the Tsui family, owners of Sea The Stars, decided to cut their ties with the Currabeg trainer, a decision which still rankles with many of us.

On the face of it, this was the crueller blow as those that were taken away included the promising filly Sea Of Grace who had just won a Group Three and had genuine Classic prospects the following season. (She was sent to William Haggas and ended up running second in the French 1,000 Guineas).

The Aga Khan and the Tsui family emerged with top marks for shabbiness but you have never heard a word of complaint from Oxx who, sadly, was never quite able to recover fully from these two crippling blows to what was overall a brilliant career.

There will be other words of respect and admiration paid to the man this week from those that know him better but, from my own point of view, he has to be one of the classiest human beings I have had the pleasure of meeting and not just in this industry.

His reaction to the setbacks outlined above are a mark of the man and we all know what an outstanding trainer he was – one of the best his country has produced - with success at the highest level right across the board, from sprinters to stayers.

Some of his horses, such as the globe-trotting miler Ridgewood Pearl, Derby and Arc winner Sinndar (a personal favourite) and of course Sea The Stars will go down as all-time greats.

One of the first interviews he gave me (for Attheraces) came after Alamshar had won the King George at Ascot in 2003 and I was struck by his charisma and aura as he spoke quietly, and with supreme modesty, about his latest equine superstar.

I have got to know John Oxx a little better in recent years when he and his lovely wife Caitriona have attended the White Turf meeting in St Moritz. He seemed bemused by the racing on the frozen lake but clearly enjoyed it and talked about having a runner there.

I wish him a long and healthy retirement.

CHAMPIONS DAY AHEAD!

Ascot’s end-of-season showpiece for 2020 will hopefully be a one-off behind closed doors and the six races will almost seem like a half-day compared to what we have all been used to lately.

The consensus is that Stradivarius didn’t have much of a race in the Arc and if that is the case, he could easily kick-start what might be another great day at Ascot for Frankie Dettori and John Gosden who also have another fine chance with the unbeaten Palace Pier in the QEII.

This will be Strad’s fourth appearance in the Long Distance Cup and a year on after being narrowly denied by Kew Gardens, Search For A Song may be the one this time to push him the hardest.

In fact, it might be a decent day for the mares and fillies. One Master, the triple Foret winner, and Wonderful Tonight come to Ascot after winning at Longchamp just under a fortnight ago and the William Haggas-trained mare hardly got the breaks in last year’s Champions Sprint behind Donjuan Triumphant.

When I talked recently to David Menuisier, he scoffed at my suggestion that Wonderful Tonight may be a Cup filly in the making next year. The Sussex-based Frenchman reckons that she has plenty of pace for a mile and a half and the Fillies and Mares will certainly tell us more.

Magical won that event in 2018 but added the Champion Stakes last year and she is back again to tackle the big one as she goes for an eighth Group 1.

Last year’s runner-up Addeyb renews rivalry, Lord North is in there and he was second in the Balmoral Handicap in 2019 but has improved hugely since. Pyledriver drops back in trip, and that could suit him, but the biggest threat may come from Mishriff.

DAVID EGAN – HIS TIME WILL COME

David Egan, retained by Prince Faisal, will not however be riding the prince’s best horse Mishriff at Ascot in the QIPCO Champion Stakes this Saturday.

Egan has missed out on both of Mishriff’s last two starts and it has proved very expensive for him. Egan was a victim of quarantine regulations when John Gosden’s colt won the Prix du Iockey Club under Ioritz Mendizabal and was suspended when Dettori deputised to steer Mishriff home at Deauville.

Mishriff, who has excelled when the mud is flying, will have his conditions again at Ascot and Dettori gets the mount again as he is simply the go-to man for Ascot.

It is hard on Egan, sure, but I understand that he will be compensated for any percentages on Saturday.

Tom Marquand suffered what seemed a big setback when jocked off English King in the Derby but it turned out to be a blessing and he has really kicked on since.

As the son of John, nephew of Richard Hughes and grandson of Dessie, Egan is bred to be a rather good jockey and he will be keen to put this behind him and kick on.

Note that it was Egan that Joseph O’Brien turned to when Traisha took Bath’s featured Listed event on Wednesday.

LEICESTER JUST DOING ITS JOB

I was on commentating duties at Leicester on Tuesday when once again, as they have been everywhere, the bio-security measures were faultless.

The racing was fairly ordinary, to be honest, but you can’t produce top class stuff every day of the week and the Midlands track is used by many leading trainers to introduce some nice horses.

Top Of The Pops, a half-brother to Poets Word, won on his debut on Tuesday for Mark Johnston, while the grey Spangler, a half-brother to Kipps, made a nice winning introduction for Hughie Morrison.

Leicester is one of those tracks that can keep ticking over during the Covid crisis as it doesn’t rely on massive crowds for its business model.

David Maykels, the general manager who returned to the course earlier this year, is delighted to be back following a first stint in the position from 2006-14.

He said: “Some tracks need crowds and hospitality more than others and it can account for around 50% of their income. With us, it would be more like 20% and we are lucky that we can get by without them for now.

“This set-up at the moment suits us for the time being and even if small crowds were permitted, it would tighten our margins as we would have to open up more facilities and employ more people to look after them."