Mike Cattermole on John Gosden, Rab Havlin and tributes to Stan Mellor and Sceptical

GERMAN OAKS A BIG PRIZE SNARED BY GOSDEN

The John Gosden-trained Miss Yoda and Frankie Dettori enjoyed a rich pay-day on Sunday when landing the German Oaks at Dusseldorf.

I did a double take when I saw that she had earned over £254,000 compared to Love’s winning purse of just under £142,000 for winning the re-staged Epsom equivalent last month.

For Gosden, this was an excellent piece of placing in so many ways as Miss Yoda is also German-owned and bred. “Wunderbar!” all round.

But, of course, on both ability on the track and value as a broodmare, the daughter of Sea The Stars wouldn’t be anywhere near Love. The English Classics, although devalued this year from the prize money point of view, clearly remain the Classics to win.

However, you have to congratulate the Germans and its racing authority Deutscher Galopp on keeping the prize money at a very healthy level for their own Group One Classics (both of their Guineas are Group Two these days) during these torrid times.

Bookmakers play a small role over there and all bets are directed into the Tote pool, which apparently has seen a big increase in recent months.

Also the Henkel-Preis der Diana, to give the German Oaks its proper name, has been backed for a long time by Henkel, the massive chemical and consumer goods company which is the biggest company based in Dusseldorf.

Incidentally, to confirm my late arrival to this Anglo-German prize money story, the Deutsches Derby, won by the Francis Graffard-trained In Swoop in Hamburg last month, was worth a cool £330,000 to the winner, compared to the £283,000 taken home after THE Derby by the owners of Serpentine.

CHELMSFORD FRUSTRATION

Speaking of the scarcity of good prize money over here, the Betfred team behind Chelmsford City are incandescent after apparently being denied the chance to stage six self-funding fixtures offering over a third of a million pounds in prize money.

Phil Siers, the racecourse’s chief executive and Betfred’s chief commercial officer, has been expressing his disgust on social media and tweeted last week: “What is wrong with this industry? We are being stopped by the TRI party guardians of racing - £350k of prize money for owners and trainers going unclaimed.

“I have an empty racecourse, no fixtures.”

In a later tweet, posted four days ago, Siers had an update: “Well after another week waiting we have been advised that “it is our view that there is not currently any requirement for additional fixtures at this stage.”

“Not much we can do, over to the owners and trainers to advise what they want, £350k going begging, I am dumbfounded.”

You can understand the frustration at Chelmsford, which, because of its layout, would also work very well with social distancing rules.

With Yarmouth now not racing again until much later this month, it would also fill a void, felt especially in nearby Newmarket.

Presently, this resistance to a genuine offer of good prize money in troubled times makes no sense. What issues are there about this at the Racecourse Association? In other words, what is the problem?

Perhaps the ROA (Racehorse Owners Association) could also step in and get involved?

HAVLIN APPEAL WIN CAME AS A SHOCK

I didn’t think Rab Havlin had any chance of reversing his 10-day ban for careless riding at Yarmouth on July 22 but he and his solicitor Roy MacNeice clearly thought differently and the independent panel duly upheld his appeal.

Rab didn’t even just get his ban reduced. It was totally wiped out. He was totally exonerated when many felt his ban might have been increased.

Let me be straight here. I am big fan of Rab Havlin’s work and enjoy interviewing him or hearing him interviewed, especially about the star horses he rides both at home and on the track. He is a good guy.

But two horses and jockeys nearly came down at Yarmouth. They stumbled and all but fell. It was touch and go and looked awful.

For the interference caused by Rab’s mount Swift Verdict not to have been caused by any riding offence, as ruled by the panel, is a joke.

It shouldn’t have happened and Rab could have done more to prevent it. He should have been aware of what was happening up his inside and at least tried to pull his whip through.

It was an embarrassing conclusion and what a frightening precedent it sets.

I am all for independent panels being used in such incidences, as it wasn’t comfortable before to see BHA employees judging their own colleagues’ work.

But the success of these appeals being upheld or partially upheld by the independent panel, in operation now for two years, already lies at a staggering 74%, according to Lee Mottershead of the Racing Post.

I think it’s high time for this system to be looked at again, because if we are going to get more decisions like the Yarmouth one going forward, we will be in serious trouble and a laughing stock across the racing world.

It’s very simple - safety has to be paramount.

STAN MELLOR – JUMPING LEGEND

Stan Mellor, who passed away this week at the age of 83, was a giant in the jumping game.

Stan will always be known as the first man to ride 1,000 winners over the jumps (achieved in 1972) and, in those very different days, that was a massive achievement.

And his canny ride on Stalbridge Colonist to defeat Arkle in the 1966 Hennessy Gold Cup has also passed into legend.

He did a huge amount to improve the safety and public relations of his profession and he was constantly active in supporting the Injured Jockeys Fund.

Stan’s glory days in the saddle were well before my time – in fact, he was champion jockey when I was born – but I knew him as a trainer.

He trained the top-class Pollardstown, one of the best around during a vintage era of hurdlers and winner of the 1979 Triumph Hurdle. But for Sea Pigeon, he would have added the Champion Hurdle two years later.

Lean Ar Aghaidh, who won the Whitbread and was also third in the Grand National, was another of his jumping stars. But he also enjoyed success on the Flat and trained Al Trui to land the Stewards’ Cup in 1985.

When I first had the honour of meeting him, I was immediately struck by what a humble character he was. Quiet and unassuming, he had such a calm aura about him and it didn’t take much to imagine him excelling as the thinking man’s jockey.

Stan was acknowledged with an MBE for his services to the sport, which although of merit, seems to massively underestimate his influence and reputation.

Then again, as has been alluded to before in these columns, our honours system has left much to be desired for quite some time.

Indeed, with the latest list of life peerages including the name of the prime minister’s own brother, the reputation of the way that we officially acknowledge the nation’s “special people” has taken a steep dive.

SO SAD ABOUT SCEPTICAL

There was something so romantic about Sceptical, the riches to rags to riches sprinter who cost just £2,800 at the sales - just a year ago - as a Godolphin throwout and was turned into one of the best sprinters in Europe by Denis Hogan.

He had been placed in two Group Ones this summer and we all felt, or at least hoped, that it was just a matter of time before he managed to win one.

His was already a special story and there was so much more to come. How sad that it was cut short in such devastating fashion.

I was gutted when I heard the news about his fatal injury on Tuesday and feel for all those involved closely with him.