Alex Hammond: Celebration time!

Sky Sports News HQ’s Alex Hammond looks ahead to Saturday’s feature race and talks herself into a cheeky tenner on the jockeys’ title.

Racing lost an iconic figure this week with the death of leading broadcaster and journalist Tom O’Ryan. What are your memories of him?

It’s been a few years since I frequented the northern racecourse press rooms, but way back when I started at the Racing Channel Tom was a regular fixture at many of the same venues as me. I must have looked like a young clueless girl to some of the guys that had been working on course for many a year, but Tom never let that show and was always incredibly helpful and encouraging.

He was fun and always ready with a quip or two and made you feel at home in an environment which at the time could have seemed quite intimidating. As the years went on I didn’t see as much of him, but always enjoyed reading his work and watching his punditry on TV. He was a down to earth Yorkshireman, something I can relate to and respect. He was much admired and will be very sadly missed.

A cracking four-day Welcome To Yorkshire Ebor Festival last week – what were your highlights?

The four day fixture got off to a bang with the impressive performance of Postponed in the Juddmonte International which emphasised his position as the leading turf horse in Europe. Credit to trainer Roger Varian in light of subsequent comments made by the horse’s owner; there was a man under pressure! Postponed only shook off the virus that has afflicted so many horses in Newmarket a couple of weeks before the Ebor meeting and for Varian to get him ready in time to beat what looked like a high class field was impressive. There is obviously an element of ill-will given the owner removed his horses from former trainer Luca Cumani for allegedly not following plans not long after winning the King George with this horse, but in my mind that only added to his new handler’s responsibility. Controversy aside, it was a great performance, from a great horse and Varian now ‘just’ has to get him ready to go straight to the Arc at Chantilly on 2nd October for which he is now 3/1 favourite with Sky Bet.

On Thursday we had the battle of the Frankel babies in the Sky Bet Lowther Stakes. All eyes were on Fair Eva who was sent off 4/11 favourite to maintain her unbeaten record for trainer Roger Charlton, but there was another Frankel baby in opposition in Queen Kindly and I backed her at the more attractive odds (she returned a 9/2 shot). Richard Fahey isn’t leading trainer at York for nothing and he was gutted when she was beaten in the Albany at Royal Ascot, which it turns out is now her only defeat to date as she galloped majestically clear of Roly Poly with Fair Eva’s bubble burst in third. Queen Kindly will head to the Cheveley Park Stakes at Newmarket next month for which she …

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