Check out the latest thoughts of Mike Cattermole in this week's column
Check out the latest thoughts of Mike Cattermole in this week's column

Mike Cattermole is predicting a golden autumn for John Gosden


John Gosden enjoyed a fine week at the Welcome To Yorkshire Ebor Festival and Mike Cattermole feels a golden autumn awaits the champion trainer.

GOSDEN SET FOR GOLDEN AUTUMN

John Gosden has had a magnificent season already and at a vintage Ebor meeting at York last week, three of his stars shone very brightly - in different but very effective ways.

Roaring Lion put up a career best in the Juddmonte and has developed into an exceptional racehorse. Stradivarius showed how tough he was when battling hard to take the Lonsdale - and the £1m bonus - and Lah Ti Dar’s comeback was just sensational in the Galtres.

And all that while Enable and Cracksman are waiting in the wings at home!

Roaring Lion seems so much more mature now and kept very straight as he galloped clear from Poet’s Word.

Even if he did suffer a modest run, I am not sure we saw the best of Poet’s Word last week and a rematch with Roaring Lion should be well worth waiting for, whether that comes in the Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown next month or the Champion Stakes at Ascot in October.

Cracksman is likely to be involved too and I hear there are some good vibes about him right now.

Meanwhile, will Stradivarius turn up at Ascot? The feeling is that he may have done enough for the season but the great thing is that he will stay in training.

With Lah Ti Dar though, it is all about making up for lost time. It looks as though it is going to be the Prix Vermeille and the Arc for her rather than the St Leger. She would surely have taken some beating at Doncaster.

There is certainly some unfinished business when it comes to the Vermeille for Lord and Lady Lloyd Webber, the owners and breeders of Lah Ti Dar. The filly’s dam, Dar Re Mi, won the race in 2009 only to be disqualified in controversial circumstances.

It was fascinating to compare the winning time in the Galtres with Sea Of Class who, in a sublime display, ran around three quarters of a second faster in the Yorkshire Oaks half an hour earlier. Lah Ti Dar was carrying 4lb more, though, which puts them pretty close together.

Lah Ti Dar eases to victory at York
Lah Ti Dar is away and clear in the Galtres Stakes

Having spoken to William Haggas, it looks like Sea Of Class will be seen next in the Arc so the big match up against the Gosden golden girls could be on, assuming that Enable comes through her comeback satisfactorily at Kempton on Saturday week.

Ironically, it is another Gosden-trained filly Coronet who can provide us with a form line between Enable and Sea Of Class, as both beat her well in the last two runnings of the Yorkshire Oaks.

Enable slammed Coronet by five lengths last year whereas last week’s distance was just over two lengths.

The fascinating thing to work out is how much more Sea Of Class had in the tank.

All said and done, the male horses are going to be up against it on the first Sunday in October!

JOHNSTON FAR FROM FINISHED YET

Bravo Mark Johnston, who looks set to be Britain’s winning-most trainer for a long time to come!

The Middleham maestro, who has passed the 100 mark in a season 25 times, turns 59 in October and looks a short price to saddle 5,000 winners and, at the current rate, that could happen at sometime around 2022.

Yes, if anything, Johnston’s winning rate has increased over the past few years. When Star Of The East won at Newmarket last Saturday, it was the Scot’s 1000th winner since the start of 2014. Indeed, he has averaged over 200 winners a year over the past decade.

Previous record holder Richard Hannon retired at the age of 68 at the end of his championship-winning 2013 season. So, if Johnston - who like Hannon also has a son (Charlie) waiting to take over the reigns - follows suit, he could be looking at not far off 6,000 career winners, which is simply staggering.

However, he is still some way off the numbers set in the United States. Current record holder over there is the late Dale Baird, who clocked up 9445 wins, mostly in claiming races at his local track Mountaineer in West Virginia. He owned most of them himself and never won a Classic or a Grade 1.

Steve Asmussen is closing him down, though, and earlier this year saddled his 8,000th winner when Lookin At Lee won at Churchill Downs in May.

Meanwhile, you would imagine that Aidan O’Brien is putting together quite a tally when his Irish and British wins are added up. By my calculations he has trained a combined total of over 3,200 winners on both sides of the Irish Sea.

Mark Johnston - record-breaking trainer

DONCASTER A HOME FOR FUTURE CHAMPIONS

GOFFS UK have been working hard to improve the quality of bloodstock passing though the ring at the company’s Premier Yearling Sale at Doncaster.

Knowing that the likes of Harry Angel, Laurens and Advertise have all been bought there in the past few years, it seems to be working.

This week’s sale got off to a sensational start when Lot 20, a Gleneagles colt out of the winning mare Lady Eclair, set a new record price when he was bought by agents Sackville/Donald for £380,000.

The colt was consigned by Newsells Park Stud in Newmarket and arrived with a lofty reputation because of his good looks and the way he moved. Everybody wanted to see him before he went through the ring.

The colt will carry the blue and white colours of King Power Racing who have quickly established itself as a force to be reckoned with on the track with the likes of Beat The Bank and Well Done Fox for example who both won top races at Goodwood and York last week.

The man behind King Power is Vichai Srivadhanaprabha, owner of Leicester City, but he is notoriously publicity shy which seems a shame.

At the moment, his horses are doing the talking for him.

GEORGIA KING NAME FOR THE FUTURE

I was at Epsom on Monday helping out with a fund-raising day for the Bob Champion Cancer Trust, of which I am a trustee, and Hannah’s Willberry Wonder Pony Charity, which raises funds for bone cancer research.

The day ended with a charity race over the full Derby course and distance which presented 11 enthusiastic amateur riders from all over the land with a tremendous “bucket list” opportunity. As well as raising thousands of pounds, all had spent months on their fitness and technique and had to be judged competent enough to be given the green light.

For various reasons, one or two jockeys were sadly unable to take up the engagement and among the last-minute substitutes was Georgia King, the 16-year-old daughter of trainer Alan and his wife Rachel.

While many riders could hardly hide their excitement and nerves in the build-up, Georgia was totally unflustered by her upcoming challenge (unlike her famous father!) and she delivered an ice cool and stylish performance on Sula Island to come from way back and win comfortably.

Georgia, an eventer, is mad keen to become a jockey and will take out an amateur licence next year. Bob Champion himself was most impressed.


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