In racing, superstitions are rife. I once saw a trainer remonstrate with an owner for displaying a green handkerchief: green, he insisted, was unlucky (although it doesn’t seem to work that way for owners Simon Munir and Isaac Souede, whose ‘double green’ colours have been carried to success in many top races). Henrietta Knight, who trained Best Mate, is famously superstitious: straw on the way is OK, but if she sees a load of hay en route to the races she’s so sure of bad luck that she’s inclined to turn back. She couldn’t bear to watch Best Mate’s Gold Cups from the stands and hid in a tent behind the weighing room.
Former jockey Sam Thomas, who’s making a name for himself as a trainer by successfully targeting big handicaps, seems to be of the Henrietta school. After he won the Ladbrokes Trophy at Kempton Park last Saturday with Katate Dori, saddling last year’s winner Our Power to be third in the same race, he revealed: ‘I’m a terrible watcher. I can’t be in the stands. I have to be pacing around. I like to have a quiet moment and get closer to the action.’
If one trainer sees a load of hay en route to the races she’s so sure of bad luck that she’s inclined to turn back
The Racing Guru and I had both backed Katate Dori and we knew more than two fences out that no more luck was needed: at that point jockey Charlie Deutsch, who seems to win a big race most Saturdays for Venetia Williams, indulged himself with a super-confident look back between his legs at the opposition toiling behind him.
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