Gosden: 'Staying Races Are So Important'

British trainer John Gosden emphasized the importance of staying races during a Sept. 5 luncheon ahead of the Ladbrokes St. Leger (gr. I), the world's oldest classic run at an extended 1 3/4 miles, Sept. 10 at Doncaster.

Gosden plans to send out Sheikh Hamdan's Muntahaa Saturday in hopes of capturing the race for a fifth time. He previously won in 2011 with Masked Marvel, 2010 with Arctic Cosmos, 2007 with Lucarno, and 1996 with Shantou.

"The staying races are so important—with a 4- or 5-year-old stayer, you dream of Ascot Gold Cups, the race on Champions Day, the Doncaster Cup, the Goodwood Cup, and starting off in the (two-mile) Sagaro (at Ascot)," Gosden said.

 

"What would you think if you went to Royal Ascot and all you had was sprints and a few races on the Old Mile? It is the staying races that capture people's imagination whether it's the Ascot Stakes, the Gold Cup itself, or the Queen Alexandra.

 

"What a lot of people don't realize is how hard and expensive it is to breed the staying horses. Most of them are so slow and not quick enough for the jumps boys. If this breed dies out, we are in big trouble because we would lose a third of our program and we would be left with the American way—homogenous, boring, one-turn racing.

 

"In America these days, a mile and a half is regarded as a marathon. ..."

Muntahaa, a son of Dansili, stamped himself a St. Leger contender with a gritty nose triumph in the Chester Stakes after leading most of the way in the extended 1 5/8-mile event Aug. 20. 

"He is a real Linamix (broodmare sire) stayer and is not like his sire Dansili at all," Gosden said of Muntahaa, the second choice behind odds-on favorite Idaho. "He is a grand horse. The race has come quite soon enough but he has had a good preparation. He has only breezed once since he ran at Chester and (jockey) Paul Hanagan was happy with him. We are off. He is still a frame of a horse and his ears would touch the lights here."

Gosden is well acquainted with American racing. From 1979 he trained 500 winners, including champions Bates Motel and Royal Heroine, during a stint in Southern California before returning to England in 1989. He has trained more than 2,000 winners in England and Europe.

There were 15 runners for the St. Leger when final declarations were made Sept. 8; last year seven runners competed.

The British Horseracing Authority has taken steps to boost the staying division, introducing 14 races for juveniles whose sires had success going 1 1/2 miles or more. Four were to run in late 2015 while 10, with enhanced purse support from the British European Breeders' Fund, were set for the second half of 2016. The European Pattern Committee is reviewing the European staying program to address a downward trend of horses racing a 1 1/2 miles and beyond.