{"id":235752,"date":"2025-10-31T10:47:09","date_gmt":"2025-10-31T10:47:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/235752\/"},"modified":"2025-10-31T10:47:09","modified_gmt":"2025-10-31T10:47:09","slug":"racings-own-ryder-cup-can-escape-the-worst-flag-waving-excesses-of-golf-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/235752\/","title":{"rendered":"Racing\u2019s own Ryder Cup can escape the worst flag-waving excesses of golf \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

After all that unpleasantness at Bethpage, Friday night\u2019s start to the 42nd Breeders\u2019 Cup<\/a> is racing\u2019s chance to pull off its own Ryder Cup<\/a> without underlining how it\u2019s a rare problem that can\u2019t be made even worse by waving flags at it. <\/p>\n

US racing\u2019s grandiosely titled \u201cWorld Championships\u201d has on the whole escaped the worst jingoistic excesses of golf\u2019s biennial diversion into a team format fundamentally at odds with its natural state.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s partly due to how this is a resolutely US show. The 14 Grade One races worth more than $34 million (\u20ac29 million) are essentially about selling the sport to a domestic audience. European runners add a certain credence to the \u201cWorld Title\u201d stuff, but are basically an exotic diversion.<\/p>\n

In the age of Donald Trump, however, there\u2019s always a scoundrel percentage in wrapping Old Glory around any sort of competition with foreigners. The US president has normalised insult to a once-unimaginable extent. <\/p>\n

The Ryder Cup\u2019s central appeal in this part of the world comes from sticking it to ugly American stereotypes. The particularly raucous European celebrations in New York last month were rooted in just how unprepossessing so much of the US can seem these days.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Aidan O\u2019Brien touches down at Del Mar to oversee Breeders\u2019 Cup squad<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Fan behaviour at Bethpage was dreadful, so presumptions that the racing game doesn\u2019t have its own percentage of Maga merchants are deluded. In any rush to take sides, only a very thin veneer needs removing for some good ol\u2019 boy prejudices about effete \u201cYer-peens\u201d to emerge. <\/p>\n

Perhaps the saving grace will prove to be the stick that\u2019s often used to beat racing\u2019s sporting credentials: for most punters, where the winner comes from is immaterial compared to having enough dough on it. Wrapping a flag around any losing docket is a bitter kind of patriotism. <\/p>\n

So, Aidan O\u2019Brien<\/a> is unlikely to have to resort to any Rory McIlroy-style \u201cShut the f**k up\u201d exclamations over the coming two days. But it will still be interesting to see if the broader context manages to elbow its way to the running rail at Del Mar in California.<\/p>\n

\"AidanAidan O’Brien will have high hopes for Minnie Hauk at Del Mar. Photograph: Alan Crowhurst\/Getty <\/p>\n

Perhaps the most famous flag-waving moment in Breeders\u2019 Cup history came 24 years ago when Tiznow repelled Sakhee in a memorable finish to the Classic, prompting announcer Tom Durkin to declare \u201cTiznow wins it for America!\u201d<\/p>\n

Considering it was less than seven weeks since 9\/11 and Belmont was just 20km or so from Ground Zero, it wasn\u2019t hard to understand the sentiment. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0Jockey Christophe Soumillon aiming to bridge 20-year gap at Breeders\u2019 Cup in Del Mar<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Racing\u2019s capacity to generate national sentiment around its central players transcends borders. It\u2019s 99 years since Phar Lap was born and he\u2019s still an Australian icon. Arkle\u2019s skeleton remains a tourist attraction at the Irish National Stud.<\/p>\n

Back in the day, the commentator Peter O\u2019Sullevan routinely framed close finishes up the Cheltenham hill in terms of nationality. Arkle was for Ireland and Mill House for England in the most famous Gold Cup of all in 1964. That\u2019s despite the latter being born and bred here and ridden by an Irishman. <\/p>\n

It reflects how where any horse is trained defines its supposed nationality. Nijinsky was bred in Canada, owned by an American, ridden to his greatest victories by an Englishman and spent decades in Kentucky as a sire. But the fact he was trained in Ballydoyle for two seasons still makes him \u201cone of ours\u201d.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s all fine and a bit of fun, until it isn\u2019t. The unfortunate habit of connections of Irish-trained winners at Cheltenham returning to the enclosure waving Tricolours was colourful at first, then tiresome and ultimately carried an edge of rubbing the hosts\u2019 noses in it.<\/p>\n

Much wider history meant a lot was going on in such gestures. However, arguing it was harmless rings hollow. It will mean nothing when the cyclical nature of Anglo-Irish racing dominance turns in Britain\u2019s favour again and Union Jacks getting waved at Punchestown are regarded as just a bit of fun, too.<\/p>\n

\"Breeders'Breeders’ Cup action begins on Friday at Del Mar. Photograph: Sean M Haffey\/Getty <\/p>\n

The Ryder Cup element to US racing\u2019s biggest show can work both ways. Home feelings got particularly bruised when a brief interlude of swapping dirt for an artificial surface saw European horses get too competitive for comfort. The swap back to dirt was quick and unceremonious. <\/p>\n

But it\u2019s an annual Breeders\u2019 Cup curio how British visitors suddenly get very Europhile when totting up victories. Or how part of Blighty is Sheikh Mohammed\u2019s Godolphin operation when it suits. Plenty on the backstretch will tell you how some cross-channel stalwarts have got up a lot of noses over the years with some very haughty behaviour. <\/p>\n

Perhaps the greatest guarantee of decorum being maintained though is how not a single European runner competes on dirt this time. If the home team dominates on its own surface, there\u2019s usually resignation rather than resentment at the visitors doing well on the lawn.<\/p>\n

If peace is kept it will leave minds everywhere to concentrate on the universal urge to back a winner. Who knows, the prim polo-shirt brigade might even get to take notes on decorum from some coarse punters in the cheap seats.<\/p>\n

SOMETHING FOR THE WEEKEND<\/p>\n

Betting value at this Breeders\u2019 Cup can revolve around the French star GOLIATH (9.41) in Saturday night\u2019s Turf. The last time Francis Graffard\u2019s gelding encountered fast ground he beat no less than Bluestocking and Rebel\u2019s Romance in last year\u2019s King George. A quiet run up to this included a German Group One victory last time. Minnie Hauk looks the one to beat, but she had a hard race in the Arc. A general 8-1 about Goliath looks generous. <\/p>\n

There could also be value about JONQUIL (11.05) in the Mile on Saturday. Drawn widest of all on his last start in Keeneland, he lost all chance by blowing the start. Colin Keane is back on now and if getting away cleanly, the Balding runner could make a mockery of big odds.<\/p>\n

The first Grade One of the National Hunt season is at Down Royal on Saturday and with an inch of rain forecast before the BetVictor Champion Chase, an emphasis on stamina could see STELLAR STORY (2.40) emerge on top.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After all that unpleasantness at Bethpage, Friday night\u2019s start to the 42nd Breeders\u2019 Cup is racing\u2019s chance to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":235753,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[6552,5904,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-235752","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golf","8":"tag-del-mar","9":"tag-golf","10":"tag-sports","11":"tag-uk","12":"tag-united-kingdom","13":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235752","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=235752"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235752\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/235753"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=235752"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=235752"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=235752"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}