YEATS WINS 3RD GOLD CUP!!!

You beat me to it!!

Now there is a true stayer! he knocked the fight out of geordieland and CP. true stamina!
 
though have to say seeing the Duke win yesterday was the icing on the cake for me as looked after his dam a few years ago and him as a yearling for a bit.
 
Brilliant - I was arguing with my dad towards the end - he thought Geordieland had won it but I was convinced Yeats could do it
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Im absolutely delighted for JM too, hes a fabulous jockey and well deserving of the chance to join up with Ballydoyle. Was always a big fan of Mick Kinane and Kieran Fallon but have been hoping for the last 2years or so that Johnny would get the chance he deserves and now he has. A class jockey
 
Totally awesome...I love this horse...he's one of the most beautiful horses I've ever seen. I had a tear in my eye as he won, and then burst out laughing as he still had the energy to double barrel Frankie! LOL!
 
WOW,what a superstar,am sooo peeved i missed the race
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!!
He is 1 stunning looking tb!!!Stud for him i hope
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He won very well indeed. Still has his flashy tendancies though as he was tail swishing and jig jogging a little before the start. He didn't sweat up as bad as I have seen him do before though which was nice to see as I don't like to see horse's getting too sweaty before a race.
In all honesty I think it was his best ever performance when he won it for the third time yesterday.
Geordieland for me though is a horse I would never have backed ( have done in the past though) as he is a horse that has no resolution. If if he gets to the front or a horse battles he just chucks the towel in and says no I ain't doing a tap more. Think he was referred to as a 'bridesmaid' horse a while back and judging on yesterday's run I can see a leopard doesn't change his spots.
But take nothing away from Yeats he was a true star.
I loved Double Trigger to bits ( have a soft spot for the stayers) but Yeats for me is a true star. It is so hard to think back now that he was once a favourite for the Derby over a trip of a mile less as a three year old. You would never have guessed it as he does seem to show so much stamina in these long distance races.
He was blowing hard after the race again. He is so bloody genuine that horse and gives his absolute all.
I would like to see him retire to stud as well as I fear with his true athleticism that if they go to the well too often he may lose his fertility especially as he is now 7 and still racing as a stallion. I think another year may just be his undoing as stallion material and I for one would much rather see him retire now with not just his reputation intact.
 
Totally agree!

And poor Shane Kelly on Geordieland copping abuse from the hairy bloater...if he'd hung onto him he's still have been beaten, and slagged off for waiting too long!
Geordieland is a very good horse, he's just unlucky to have met the god that is Yeats. It was interesting to hear A O'B say that Yeats has the biggest heart and lungs (measured, not waxing lyrical) of any horse he's ever trained.
He's being talked about by the pundits as a NH stallion, but I'd say he's more class than just that..........
 
Geordieland is a decent horse but just doesnt appear to have quite the staying power of Yeats. Remember as a 3 and 4yo Yeats wasnt the cream of the crop - hes developed with age.
GtF- as regards the pundits saying he'l be a NH stallion. They are quite right. The majority of National Hunt stallions are flat stayers - think Alderbrook (though he also hurdled), Vinnie Roe, Westerner(2nd in the ascot Gold Cup 04 and winner of York GC 05). None of Coolmore's flat stallions have won over gretaer than 12furlongs.

Most stallions who have stayed more than 1m4f on the track have gone on to sire NH horses. Add to that that Yeats is a very big, strong build of TB, it wouldnt be surprising if he goes that route. That said, he does also have quite a bit of speed and can act over a mile less (roughly irish St Leger distance which he won last yr) so perhaps he may be considered for flat breeding.
Should be able to find out...
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Agree on the NH stallion front - Silver Patriarch, Double Trigger etc... Even winning a Derby can lead to a more NH book of mares - Teenoso, Generous...

That said, it was a remarkable performance. My boss saw him on a recent trip to Ireland and was warned not to get too close, as he'd have him. He saw him go for his groom!! Feisty monkey! I thought him kickout after crossing the line was hilarious - sense of humour?
 
Glenruby, I'm not disagreeing he'll be a great NH sire! His physique and, as you said, stamina, and because he's a Coolmore horse, he'll likely be marketed that way. They have an embarrassment of riches to go to stud this year. I just think there's more to him than that. There's speed in the damline, and I can't remember why he only ran twice early at three, and he won his two starts over 10f......but because his 3yo season was cut short, he didn't really get a crack at the flat races that usually determine the stallion future. I think in a less prolific yard he'd have campaigned at lesser distances. But hey, that's the way.......I do think he is classier than the stayers you've mentioned.
He's one of the most beautiful horses I have ever seen.........I went to Paris just to see him ( and Dylan Thomas) last year!
He's also tough, a factor seemingly overlooked these days in the quest for pace....wouldn't it be great for the industry if he bucked the trend.........
 
What an awesome animal, and an awesome performance.

I watched with my heart in my mouth towards the end, as I thought he might not do it, but I believe the challenge from Geordieland actually spurred him on.

Aiden O'Brien said after the race, that Yeats has a huge heart and lungs [talking anatomically rather than emotionally btw], and his heartbeat is barely raised after a mile and a half, so I can't begin to imagine how potentially fantastic his offspring could be...
 
GtF- I do think though that if there is one to buck the trend ( of stayer's becoming NH stallions) that Yeats might just be the one.
As regards having a large heart/lungs (you probably know this...)- other great horses to have had unusually large hearts inc Phar lap, Man O'War, Secretariat, War Admiral, Roberto and Northern Dancer. It is said their speed and brilliance is due in no small part to the size of their heart - its easy to see why when you understand the physiology of it.
Unfortunately, the "X-factor gene" is transmitted on the x chromosome - so a mare with a large heart is of far more value for breeding than a stallion with a heart of similar properties. therefore a mare with a "normal" sized heart crossed with a stallion with a large eart such as Yeats may produce a normal or large hearted filly but any colts produced will only have a normal sized heart. this isbecause colts(xy) get their X chromosome from their dam while fillies (xx) get one X from each parent.
Pochahontas(1837) is the most important mare to have had this trait. Having a quick trail through his great great grandams - one stands out as having pochahontas crop up no less than 4 times - its a pity the statistics from the years in between would never have been recorded to see if Yeats got his heart size from this route.

Oh yeah, the Ascot Gold Cup is 2 and a half miles so to see the horse still full of beans after that is amazaing alright!

I appologise for my spelling/typing - my computer has a fair few dodgey buttons.
 
Good post GR! Wish to goodness I could remember the name
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but in the states there is an agent who measures the heart of yearlings for potential purchase at the sales. It was even done on some broodmares/broodmare prospects. This is gonna drive me mda now, I just CANNOT remember the name - AARGGHHH!!!
 
_SN_ - I cant remember the name either though i remember the agents coming to measure the hearts of all the yearlings in the stud i worked in. A 3yo grey filly(Lady Aquitaine) now with Brian Meehan had the largest heart of all the yearlings - despite being the smallest horse there.
Da Tara- the Belmont stakes winer was also in the barn but the little filly had a larger heart than him too. She is a bit difficult though and hasnt quite lived up to it on the track.
 
Fascinating post, GR, thanks for that, I didn't know about the 'x-factor' (story of my life...lol!)...it would be an amazing study if each horse's heart/lung size was public record..........how do they measure the heart, btw, I thought they did it by pm on the greats of the past, so I'm a bit confused how they do the living ones!
I'd expect the likes of Ouija Board as a racemare to have one, but are there any statisitics on the really good broodmares such as Doff the Derby, Height of Fashion, Reprocolour etc, and Urban Sea, the rarity of being a brilliant racehorse and broodmare.......
As an aside, JM just gave Macarthur a peach of a ride to win the Hardwicke........
 
They measure heart size by Electrocardiograph. If memory serves me correctly wave amplitude is the indictaor for heart size( i may be wrong)...used to correlate cariac output, aerobic power,stroke volume, heart weight to give an idea of heart size.
Yes, it would make bloodstock purhase a bit easier for the average Joe Bloggs. Ive found some good links from a recent study in the US (mostly Kentucky region) if you are interested.
Looks like Yeats might be a broodmare sire to look out for in the future or maybe a sire of racing fillie - will be interesting to see how his other traits fare out with his colts.
 
I'd be really curious to see the studies.
This x-factor thing has also really caught my imagination. I know the mare is all important, I didn't realise why.........is there anywhere I can find out more about that? Are there speciific traits carried in the x that are not in the y?
Sorry.....send me to a link so you don't have to indulge me!!
 
Some very interesting posts and certainly food for thought on here. Thanks for your very enlightening and interesting posts Glenruby.
The subject also interests me also as I like to study pedigrees of racehorses especially when horses are being stepped up in distance for the first time, be it flat or jumps.
I also agree with the comments made about Yeats as him being a bit more classier than some recent staying types who have since become decent national hunt sires and dam sires.
I can still foresee him becoming a leading national hunt sire of the future though and I would love to see some pairings with some decent national hunt race mares that have actually raced and won in recent times rather than mostly racecourse failures or pairings just because the dam was bred in the purple.
I suppose my views are based on the fact that I prefer jumps racing to flat. I do miss a lot of the old true national hunt chasing types of the past and many of the sires who produced such types ( even in recent times) have since passed on.
I know that national hunt racing is going to change even though flat racing pedigrees have been seen in the makeup of many of the national greats of recent years. However I do fear that we may completely lose the old type, heavily built and deep girthed chaser forever as more and more lightly built flat bred sires fill the voids left by some of the greatest sires of recent times.
I would like to see Yeats become a dual purpose sire ( as I am sure he will). He is a lovely built individual and while he doesn't tick all my boxes of my standard of a horse to become a national hunt sire he is very close and what he will pass on to his progeny is anyone's guess.
What a mouth watering question it is to be answered though and I know I will be very excited to see exactly how his progeny are campaigned, code, trip and class wise.
He certainly looks to have one hell of a lot to pass on to his youngsters based on his stamina, resolution and sheer athleticism.
 
SO72, I am looking forward to seeing his progeny, and like you my preference is for the NH game. I remember about 20 years ago NH breeders were talking about putting speed into the pedigrees of the old NH families, but to me that didn't particularly pay off as it seems to have only served to produce a lighter boned more fragile horse.
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One of my all time favourite horses is 'See More Business', and when PN was interviewed about him and asked what made him special, and why he won so much, he said 'He was a very sound horse'.
That speaks volumes, I think, and it would be fantastic if the success of the monster that is Denman could perhaps turn the trend back to breeding sound tough classy horses that can carry weight and step up out of handicaps successfully as he did.
I'd love to see Pomme Tiepy sent to him at the end of her career......she's tough, very talented and has had some runs for a 5yo....

Oh for the finances to indulge my thoughts........
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