SUNDAY, 11 APRIL 2021 REMEMBERING ROY ROCKET CLASSIC CLUES IN By Emma Berry ABUNDANCE ON SUNDAY Roy Rocket, the one time co-record holder for the most number of wins at Brighton, has died. He was 11. That's the style in which I would normally start an obituary, for a horse or human who has left their mark on the racing world. I wouldn't normally be writing an obituary for a middle-of-the-road handicapper. And I wouldn't normally be writing at four o'clock in the morning, but Roy wasn't normal, he was special, and he died yesterday. And when something terrible has happened, for days afterwards my brain wakes me at the hour of dread, always at ten to four, and after that it seems pointless to lie in bed fretting. In a few hours Jana, Abbie, Ivona and Vendi will arrive at the yard and the daily routine will begin again. They left yesterday in tears after Roy didn't return from first lot. This morning none of us will want to walk past his empty box but there's no avoiding it. It's the one right next to the tack room and feed room, the one closest to our house, the one which, once the sun is up, I Shale winning last season's G1 Moyglare | racingfotos.com can see from the window next to me as I type. There is no doubt that the Flat is back on Sunday, with the Roy was born in France, 11 years and one week ago. He was action at Leopardstown and ParisLongchamp featuring several bred by John, his trainer, who co-owned him with our dear Classic contenders jostling for position. In the G3 Ballylinch Stud friends Iris and Larry McCarthy. Iris's late husband Joe had been APriory Belle@ 1000 Guineas Trial at the Foxrock venue, like a father to John, and he had been a lucky and loyal owner Coolmore hold a strong hand with last year=s G1 Moyglare Stud for this yard. S. heroine Shale (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) saddled with just a three- Cont. p3 pound penalty despite those exploits. Ryan Moore has picked her over Aidan O=Brien=s promising maiden winners Empress Josephine (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and Joan of Arc (Ire) (Galileo IN TDN AMERICA TODAY {Ire}), with their illustrious pedigrees suggesting there could be SUPER UPSET IN ARKANSAS DERBY plenty to come as 2021 rolls on. Joan Brosnan=s Loch Lein (Ire) Super Stock collared the favorites in the Oaklawn stretch to post (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) was impressive when winning a six- the upset at 12-1 in Saturday's GI Arkansas Derby. Click or tap furlong maiden at Cork in September and represents the Jessie here to go straight to TDN America. Harrington yard. Cont. p2 TDN EUROPE • PAGE 2 OF 9 • THETDN.COM SUNDAY • 11 APRIL 2021 Cont. from p1 Never) while in the 10-furlong G3 P.W. McGrath Memorial Shadwell=s Mehnah (GB) (Frankel {GB}) looked a filly with a Ballysax S. he is on Bolshoi Ballet (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) who was bright future when scoring on her debut over seven furlongs at fifth in the G1 Criterium de Saint-Cloud in October. Another of Dundalk in September. Trainer Rosegreen=s Derby types is the Kevin Prendergast said, "We=ll Dundalk maiden winner Lough find out whether she=s up to Derg (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), while Classic standard or not--that=s the Harrington stable puts the idea. She won a small forward Fiona Carmichael=s maiden in Dundalk and seems to Naas maiden scorer Taipan (Fr) have wintered well and come on (Frankel {GB}). There is also the well. She=s coated out and looks G3 Eyrefield S. first and second well and we=re hoping for the Flying Visit (Ire) (Pride of Dubai best.@ While the Listed Ballylinch {Aus}) and Wuqood (GB) Stud ARed Rocks@ 2000 Guineas (Dubawi {Ire}), with the latter Trial S. lacks the same strength carrying TDN Rising Star status as the fillies= version, there is for Shadwell and Dermot Weld. nevertheless intrigue with a At ParisLongchamp, the 10- clutch of aspiring Classic furlong G2 Prix d=Harcourt protagonists attempting to meet Skalleti | Scoop-Dyga boasts Jean-Claude Seroul=s the form standard of Shadwell=s high-class Skalleti (Fr) G2 Beresford S. runner-up Monaasib (GB) (Bobby=s Kitten) and (Kendargent {Fr}) bidding for a seventh Pattern-race success as Jim Bolger=s G3 Killavullan S. scorer Poetic Flare (Ire) (Dawn he meets Jean-Louis Bouchard=s returning G2 Prix Greffulhe Approach {Ire}). Of the Ballydoyle trio, Ryan Moore has opted to winner and G1 Grand Prix de Paris third and G1 Prix de l=Arc de ride the Mar. 21 Curragh maiden scorer Horoscope (Ire) (No Nay Triomphe fourth Gold Trip (Fr) (Outstrip {GB}). TDN EUROPE • PAGE 3 OF 9 • THETDN.COM SUNDAY • 11 APRIL 2021 The card=s nine-furlong G3 Prix la Force sees G1 Prix du Jockey Club hopefuls go to post including Godolphin=s Erasmo (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}), who captured Chantilly=s seven-furlong Listed Prix Saraca in October, while in the G3 Prix Vanteaux over the same trip the cast of fillies is headed by Miguel Castro Megias=s G1 Prix Marcel Boussac and G3 Prix Francois Boutin winner Tiger Tanaka (Ire) (Clodovil {Ire}). Only second in Saint- Senior Vice President Gary King Cloud=s Listed Prix la Camargo Mar. 21, she faces Juddmonte=s Twitter: @garykingTDN exciting Petricor (GB) (Frankel {GB}) who won her sole start over [email protected] 7 1/2 furlongs at Deauville in August when the Camargo winner + 1.732.320.0975 Sweet Lady (Fr) (Lope de Vega {Ire}) was last. In the G3 Prix Noailles over the Jockey Club trip of 10 1/2 furlongs, Bernard International Editor Giraudon=s progressive Pretty Tiger (Ire) (Sea the Moon {Ger}) Kelsey Riley looks to re-establish his dominance over another Juddmonte Twitter: @kelseynrileyTDN representative in Media Stream (GB) (Frankel {GB}) with the [email protected] pair separated by seven lengths when first and third in the European Editor Listed Prix Francois Mathet at Saint-Cloud Mar. 21. Emma Berry Twitter: @collingsberry [email protected] Associate International Editor Heather Anderson Twitter: @HLAndersonTDN Marketing Manager Alayna Cullen Twitter: @AlaynaCullen [email protected] Contributing Editors Alan Carasso Christina Bossinakis Cafe Racing Sean Cronin Tom Frary [email protected] Roy Rocket, 2010 - 2021 | John Berry Irish Correspondent Cont. from p1 Daithi Harvey Every horse Joe raced in his yellow and navy silks had won, Regular Columnists and after he died in 2006 we were touched that Iris and Larry Chris McGrath | John Berry | Kevin Blake wanted to keep the colours going. With Roy, however, at first it Amy Lynam | Melissa Steele seemed as if the McCarthy luck had run out. Roy started racing in the October of his 2-year-old season but it took him 16 starts IN TDN AUS/NZ TODAY and two and a half years to win. That first one came at Brighton almost six years ago on April 21 and, clearly delighted with CASCADIAN TOPS STUNNING DAY FOR GODOLPHIN himself, he decided to win there again the following week. So Cascadian capped a stellar day for trainer James Cummings and Godolphin when winning the G1 Doncaster Mile at Randwick began a love affair with the quirky seaside track. In return, the Saturday. Click or tap here to go straight to TDN Aus/NZ. Brighton faithful loved him back. He ran there 31 times for nine wins, two seconds and six third-place finishes. TDN EUROPE • PAGE 4 OF 9 • THETDN.COM SUNDAY • 11 APRIL 2021 But those are just the statistics. Roy's trips to Brighton became like high days and holidays. I spend much of my time writing about the top horses, and I fully support the racing and breeding ethos of striving for and rewarding the very best. To be among the best, of course, is to be in rarefied company, meaning that those we regard in that bracket every year number into the low hundreds at most. There are more than 14,000 horses in training in Britain alone. They can't all be great, or even good, and plenty of horses may never even win a race. Roy won nine, once rising to the lofty mark of 74 but more usually plying his trade in the 50s. But to go to the races with him, to Brighton especially, was to remember that racing, as much as it is about deciding who's best, is also about entertainment. Without people enjoying it, and continuing to support the sport or perhaps even becoming an owner or breeder, we would have nothing. In the later years, Roy's arrival at Brighton would start with a cheery call from the road crossing attendant as he was unloaded from the lorry and walked across to the stables. "Here he is, the Brighton legend," he would say without fail. That Roy was almost white by the time he was five made him easy to spot, and plenty of his followers would make a point of finding a place on the parade ring rail to watch him go out and, win or lose, cheer him back in. As he went to post, Iris, now 86 and no more than 5ft tall, would produce from one of her many voluminous handbags a flask of gin and tonic and insist that John That year, Roy's growing status as a bit of a cult hero was took a swig for luck.