Louisa Allen and Richard Farmer with Going Gone

Trainer Jim Boyle to watch Going Gone in Saturday's Cesarewitch from Las Vegas

By Graham Clark

16:00 · THU October 06, 2022

Jim Boyle hopes Going Gone can help get the party started thousands of miles away in Las Vegas on Saturday by securing what he describes would be a real “feather in the cap” moment with victory in the Club Godolphin Cesarewitch Handicap at Newmarket.

The progressive four-year-old, who is already a dual winner this season, will take on 22 rivals in the two and a quarter mile test as he bids to give Boyle the most valuable success of his career in the heritage handicap, which is worth £103,080 to the winner.

However, while hopeful of a big run from the gelded son of Le Havre, the Epsom handler will have to make do with watching the race from a television screen after double booking himself on a trip to Las Vegas, which is eight hours behind Newmarket.

He said: “A friend of mine invited me to the Ryder Cup the other year which was then cancelled but he got the air miles back. He rang me at the start of the year and said ‘do you fancy going to Las Vegas in October?’ I said yes as I didn’t realise this would happen!

"We are out there for four nights and we are going to watch the college football game between Notre Dame and BYU but for the rest of the trip we will play it by ear. Thank God his owners Paul Taylor and Richard O’Dywer have a good nature and they have had a laugh about it!

"They have been fantastic supporters. Richard came down 15 years ago and spent the morning with me after contacting me out of the blue. We got on really well and they have been with me ever since.

"Regarding the race everyone wants to win these heritage handicaps. They are every bit as hard as the pattern races, if not more so. It would be a big feather in our cap if we could pull it off but we are under no illusions of the task."

Going Gone has taken his form to new heights this season with victories in the Great Metropolitan Handicap at Epsom Downs in the Mallard Handicap at Doncaster. However not all has been plain sailing, with Boyle describing him as a “hooligan” in his early days.

The trainer said: “We took him to Salisbury and it was a disaster. We hoped he was our flagship horse. He was big and backwards and we weren’t expecting miracles but we thought he would run well but he was an absolute hooligan.

“He was dripping with sweat and he played up horrendously and they couldn’t get him in the stalls. There was a few long faces but the decision was made then to geld him and we haven’t looked back since.

“It took a while for his brain to unwind last season but after that win at Newmarket last autumn but it was at that point he was starting to realise his potential as he was impressive that day.”

Victory in the Great Metropolitan was a fantastic start to the season for Going Gone, but it was his fourth place finish in the Ascot Stakes at the Royal meeting in June that opened the gateway to staying options.

Boyle added: “We targeted the Great Metropolitan over the winter and it was great win it as we love having winners at Epsom but it was a hell of a run at Ascot.

“We were rolling the dice in terms of the trip. We knew he would gallop and stay well but two and a half miles at Ascot was a big step up but we felt it was within his reach and a nice race to have a go at.

“He had to come from some way back but he made up a lot of ground and ran a really gutsy race and the form is very strong and it vindicated our opinion of him.”

With stamina no issue Boyle hopes he can receive the luck in running that is often required to prevail in the Cesarewitch, but in trusty ally Pat Cosgrave he feels he has the right man aboard for the job.

He added: “Clearly he stays but the Cesarewitch is a bun fight with 20 plus runners and there will be a few well handicapped horses in there no doubt.

“It is a fiendishly difficult race to win but I think he has got a touch of class. We are not going there just to make up the numbers we are going there hopeful of a big run.

“Pat has been with him pretty much every step of the way and guides the way we campaign him.

“It is very useful having someone who knows the horse and can give you go feedback as to way forward. He has been integral to him.”

Not only has Boyle praised The Jockey Club’s investment in upgrading a key Epsom gallop which has enabled him to put the finishing touches on Going Gone, but he has also been thankful for the effort put in by his regular work rider Louisa Allen.

He added: “The updated gallop is about month old and is our day-to-day canter we use for all our routine and conditioning work and most trainers here do that.

“It was a decent enough gallop prior to it being re-done but now it is taken another step forward since it has been upgraded. It is a really nice gallop now and it has been really helpful.

“My head girl Louisa rides him every day and she has had to do some sterling work to get him where he is now.

“He is a lot more malleable than he was 12 to 18 months ago. She has had a few hairy moments on him over the years but has done a supreme job to get his head in a much better place.”

While Boyle will lead the celebrations abroad should Going Gone taste victory closer to home there could be plenty of tears shed from Allen, who together with her partner of more than 15 years Richard Farmer, looks after him.

She said: “As a two year old he was a bit naughty but he always had a bit of quality about him.

“I clocked him and I thought I quite liked him. I rode him once when my partner was away and I’ve stuck with him ever since. It is a good partnership but he takes a bit of working out.

“To have a runner in the Cesarewitch has been kind of the bucket list since I was younger - don’t ask me why. I think as I’m a National Hunt girl in a predominately Flat yard I just think the distance is similar to that of a Jump race.

“I’m super excited more than anything. When they jump off the nerves will start kicking in. I will probably start crying if he wins but I think we all would as it would be a dream come true for a small yard like ours.”

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