Workforce very good but no Sea The Stars

By Rory King

No one could fail to be very impressed by Workforce in the Derby on Saturday. Not only did he win by seven lengths – a feat matched in the last seventy five years by only Troy and Slip Anchor and bettered solely by the mighty Shergar– but he beat Lammtarra’s 15-year-old course record by almost a whole second with the next best time nearly another second behind that. And all this on the back of just one run at two and one at three when second in the Dante behind Cape Blanco, stablemate of the Epsom fourth and fifth Jan Vermeer and Midas Touch, and widely regarded as being inferior to at least the former of those two.

Although I didn’t have a penny on Workforce I have to confess to being very excited watching Sir Michael Stoute’s horse powering clear since such a performance and the ensuing comparison with Sea The Stars through the rest of the season can only be good for racing. I went out on Saturday night willing to tell all my friends that racing had a new superstar on its hands. Yet now, looking back over the race I can’t help but feel his performance has been overrated.

His official rating of 128 immediately after the race is four pounds higher than that awarded to Sea The Stars last year, although Sea The Stars did go on to better that, achieving an official rating of 136 in the International at York. But, what did Workforce really beat in the Derby? Sea The Stars had some very good horses in behind 12 months ago, including two top class Ballydoyle colts, who after Fame and Glory’s Coronation Cup victory on Friday, have now won five Group 1s between them since the Derby. In reality, this year’s Derby was probably a much weaker race than last year. St Nicholas Abbey, the horse Ballydoyle claim to be their best three-year-old, was sadly missing from the line-up. Jan Vermeer, who many considered a more than able deputy was most likely running too soon after his promising seasonal debut in the Gallinule at the Curragh on Irish 1000 Guineas day and was not helped by losing both his front shoes in the Derby. Midas Touch’s previous run when winning the Derrinstown suggested him to be a strong stayer and his lack of tactical speed caught him out at Epsom when stablemate At First Sight kicked on round Tattenham Corner, and he was hanging all the way down the straight. He had previously beaten At First Sight by a similar margin at Leopardstown to Workforce’s victory here when there were just four runners, and At First Sight’s turnaround of that form here owed largely to a fine ride from Seamie Heffernan. Rewilding came here on the back of an impressive win in the Predominate at Goodwood, but no winner of that had won the Derby since Troy in 1979 and the word from Godolphin is that he would prefer further too. He too looked uncomfortable down the gradients of Epsom. Another Godolphin horse Al Zir ran well but faltered in the last quarter mile and was described afterwards by trainer Saeed Bin Suroor as a big baby and a horse for the future. The rest of the field were seemingly not good enough, although Bullet Train may have had something amiss.

I’m not saying that Workforce is a below par Derby winner, I am simply urging people not to get too carried away with his performance. There were a lot of quick times over the two days at Epsom, and in all likelihood the track was riding a bit quicker on Saturday than Friday, hence the reason for Workforce’s time being some 2 seconds faster than Fame And Glory’s Coronation Cup win. A pure comparison of Workforce and Sea The Stars in terms of their winning distances is completely pointless as it was well documented last season how Sea The Stars, in the manner of a true champion, rarely won by much more than was required. This enabled him to win six Group 1s through the season, including four over 10 furlongs. While no one is saying Workforce will get close to that number of top class wins, I predict he will struggle to even win a single Group 1 over 10f as he is a half-brother to a winner over hurdles and his dam is a sister to the Leger winner Brian Boru. As I see it, Workforce is a very good 12f performer who was trained to the minute for the Derby by his master trainer who has an outstanding recent record in the race. Sir Michael Stoute’s recent Derby winners though have failed to fire after Epsom and Workforce has to prove that he is capable of backing up this success on the big stage again. Of course, I am willing to be proved wrong and see Workforce clean up in the big middle-distance races through the rest of the season!

By Rory King