Wot a super Oss shaq is

impressive again.
lay it at your peril

DINAMITE pom pom tonight

total machine

slow away again carted himself to the front stayed there

Must have some engine to do that. misses it then pulls like stink.
Rossa Ryan letting him go and not fighting him was the right thing to do.

Terrible start, pulled way too hard early, mad, crazy mid-race burn-up move, drifted right across the course in last part of race.

Absolute machine.

So please for the trainer and jockey. Both were overcame with delightful emotion. Habibti?

incredible performance again

Yes, he was impressive (and hopefully the wayward tendencies won't stop him winning when he now goes off at shorter prices), but Little Big Bear just confirmed he is a shadow of last year, and the very weak in the market, Azure Blue, also ran a shocker.

Haydock says Julie.  Expect a call from William Derby.

5f penalises the mb more especially if its g/f

What's he worth?

7 figs

I'm at the stable on Weds, can't wait.

Superstar, train by Obrien it would had been odds on today.

true sonko don't you just love to see a jolly good oss has a bit of something and total class had a couple quid on after last time Oi Oi really pleased for jock and super pleased for stable huge well done

Owners will no doubt have the say but when will Julie have another chance to win a G1 at her local track ?  Likely answer never.

He's worth a shed load of money. In the old days one of the oil sheikhs would come in and offer mega money eg Arazi. Now these sheikhs have more sense. What's happened to Oisin's boss (Roaring Lion)? Is he still splashing his money around?

Let's hope he goes to France and America for more prize money and prestige.

Little Big Bear ought to be retired. The horse was not a 100% fit today.

Sprint division is so soft now, the jockey on Shaquille could have smoked a cigarette in the stalls and still won.

Do not give him ideas. He'd do just that next time to prove your point.

The Nag is a Freek ffs.

Has to be worth Millions.

Could even have some end of season fun with him like the BC Mile.

Decent cards this afternoon, although my bets will be few. In a nutshell i'm laying Shaquille in the July Cup (4.35) with a small win bet on Azure Blue.....I think Andrew In Sweden has had a bad Day.

Just think this horse is amazing and could win over a mile.

Won over 7f, won on soft and a road, won from the front and from way back.

Clearly the start will one day will cost him, but hopefully connections can correct that problem.

If he was trained by one of the popular PR stables he would be compared to the best.

Yes he gained a lot of fans Today I.S me included.

I was at Newbury (didnt back him) when he routed them with so much left in the tank amazed me, james couldnt pull him up at the end.

too much pace for 7f-1m in top company

Acey, you failed to say what Andrew said after his lay of Shaq. ....

There could be a decent 2 year old on the card City Of Troy in the Superlative stakes, i think he will win although i'm not backing him, but interested as i already have a AP bet for the 2000 guineas (16/1).

Nice to see a smaller yard get hold of class horse.

I think the world and his wife new that the two year old was a bit of a beast Glasgow.

... was merely pointing out your selective editing of Andrews thread, how much of the 16/1 did you get on this " Beast " ?? I think we all know.

Why spoil a good Story?

Valuation is interesting as he has a weak page and obviously oddball tendencies. But physically nice and must surely be a modest stallion prospect. But he could run in races with million pound purses in every race in other jurisdictions. Godolphin are short on G1 players right now, so must be tempted as well. There won't be a better time to sell, the owners have had great fun. And you don't know when these hard pullers have had enough, it can happen quickly.

Yes he is a quirky one even the jockey admitted he was not in control for the first couple of Furlongs.

Ikea man also laid the tennis fav @ 1/2 and backed Azure acey,regularly gets long odds on beaten in the "Premiership",time you came back and give him a lesson imo!!

Acey*

Nobody has mentioned another Major Factor in this horse's remarkable race record ...

Shaquille(GB) - is Home-Bred - by one of the Owners...

- and - Shaquille's only siblings are ...

- a Half-Brother is - 0 from 19 runs - and Rated just 48 (although rarely ran to even that lowly rating)

- and - a Once-raced BUMPER horse - who Finished LAST of 10.

The Dam never ran.

'Funny old game, Saint'

Did Julie's father not breed Soviet Song for Elite Racing onlooker? Just popped into my head when you mentioned the owner/breeder,what has happened with Elite Racing btw,does she still have horses for them?

Haven't paid a lot of attention tbh but they seem to have diminished in numbers.

Good question - glen.

Soviet Song is listed as having been Bred by Elite Racing -  But whether Maurice Camacho 'managed' their breeding operation (if that is what you are intimating) I would not know - although, the more I think about it, something in the dim and distant past falls into the where/when have I heard that before.

Soviet Song's Dam - was bred by a John O'Byrne - and trained by Paul Cole as a Juvenile - when Owned by Elite Racing from the Off.

onlooker, yes that's why I noted he has a poor page. it doesn't matter how good he is on the course, he won't be seen as a significant stallion prospect. I assume that's why he has not already been sold.

Luck told the story on RTV yesterday. If I recall correctly the mare was useless and never made it to the track, and rather than sell it on, the owner persisted and tried to breed from her instead. And the offspring to date had also been useless.

If he wasn't prone to missing the start I suspect offers from the likes of Hong Kong would be made,that said it does not seem to be an impediment and marks up his last two wins.Might not get away with it in a Breeders Cup but should he win well at Haydock I would imagine it would be hard to resist.

Haydock,L'abbaye then BC would seem a sensible path?

I agree.  Complete pros but they wouldn;t be human if they weren't very excited by his exploits and all the attention he brings to them.  Good luck to them.

He's won a race without the hood. I would have a go without it.

LoyalHoncho 16 Jul 23 15:03

I agree.  Complete pros but they wouldn;t be human if they weren't very excited by his exploits and all the attention he brings to them.
----------

- and the - £782,469 - Prize-Money (so far) too.

Won a G1 at RA and the premier sprint of the season. Don't think they need to change anything myself.

Agreed.  Pros do it for money.  But inside every one, who unearths/acquires one, which helps them to punch way above their weight, is a little thrill button.  And I'm sure it still works in all of them.   

Seem to remember the mare "Soba" was a home bred. Terrific sprinter in her day as well.

Also think five furlongs more likely to benefit more than seven would.

From memory barstool,I think Soba was originally bought out of a field for £500?

Was Soba grey? She was a phenomenon 5f filly.

You would imagine there is a deal to be done if the horse stayed to race in the UK. ie, stayed at the yard, half ownership, running in blue until retired from racing. But they bought Harry Angel before the G1s. Is the page so poor that the big breeding operations aren't interested, no matter what he does on the track. Possibly.

I meant she was a "phenomenal" 5f filly.

Maurice Camacho and daughter Julie are still very much involved with Elite.
Also with Owners Group, an offshoot of Elite in which I have shares in horses.
I am going to the yard on Wed with Owners Group so can say well done to Shaquille.

Enjoy that CG,I hadn't realised the Owners Group was an offshoot,just as successful then?

Oss ffs

How much is he worth? By an unfashionable sire, out of a mare with a thin page...

Can't knock the horse on what he's done, but when he locks horns with the American's in the BC, or worse the Aussies, then his poor racing technique will let him down.

Cannot help but think if he was with a "sprint trainer" they would sort out his kinks and then he would be a monster.

Intriguing thought: who rides next time?

Trainer's only won 7/8 races with the horse.
People whinge about the big yards having all the best horses but
when a smaller yard get's hold of 1,they want it with another trainer.

why would you "sort out his kinks" ??

seems to enjoy being slowly away and having something to run at. 

if it ain't broke, don't fix it.  doesn't appear to be broke.

Intriguing thought: who rides next time?....Would it matter Ryan could not ride one side of him and he still Won as he liked.

Based on the post-race RTV interview yesterday, Oisin, imo.

Sounded like Steve wasn't entirely happy with Rossa making up the lost ground so quickly, though not sure he had any option once Shaquille took off

Jul 16, 2023 -- 9:49PM, hulk23 wrote:

why would you "sort out his kinks" ??seems to enjoy being slowly away and having something to run at.

Memory not so good now but I do remember very well how Soba went through the grades into Group class like a well oiled machine.
My question is:  Did she end up winning at Longchamps on Arc day?

Join the club for fading memory Honcho,I believe she was second in the L'abbeye to Habibti who beat her every time I think?

I think you'll be right.  Many thanks.  What a filly/mare she was on the racetrack.

SOBA, the extraordinary sprinting filly who rose from rags to riches to be crowned 'Queen of the North' in the 1980s, has died at the age of 25 at the Yorkshire farm where she was foaled.

The winner of 13 races, most memorable among them the 1982 Stewards' Cup, was put down after becoming ill at owner-breeder Muriel Hills's Lane Side Farm, near Bram-ham in West Yorkshire, the place where Soba's remarkable story began.

'She was born here and she died here,' said Hills. 'She had become a bit of a creaky old lady, but she had been in good health until last weekend when she wasn't quite herself. At first we thought it might be colic, but the vet said it was worse than that, so we had to put her down.

'She was a wonderful mare who had a great life and gave us so many wonderful memories, which we will always cherish.'

Despite her modest background and a particular dislike of a saddle, Soba was skilfully produced by trainer David Chapman to become one of Europe's top sprinters and, but for the presence of the outstanding Habibti, would have been an outright champion.

Her career took off aged three when, with blinkers applied in an effort to atone for some disappointing efforts at two, she got off the mark at Thirsk at 33-1 under the man who was to become her regular partner, David 'Dandy' Nicholls.

It was the first of 11 wins in 1982, a year during which she rose up the handicap by more than 4st.

The high point came undoubtedly at Glorious Goodwood, where her victory was achieved against all odds.

Just 17 days earlier, her run of six straight wins - the first five in five-and-half weeks - had come to an end when she was beaten at odds-on at Ayr and walked away slightly lame.

The bookmakers' ante-post favourite was removed from the Stewards' Cup lists, but a back problem was successfully treated by physiotherapy and she made every yard of the running from the supposedly unfancied number one stall to win at 18-1 and, in the process, smashed the six-furlong course record at the Sussex track.

Recalling that triumph and her career yesterday, Chapman said: 'That was a very big day because she'd been favourite for such a long time. Drawn one, people thought she had no chance and that let the pressure off a bit.

'She wasn't easy to train. She could bronk [buck] for England. You couldn't get a saddle or a roller or anything on her. Anything around the ribs she didn't like and she detested bikes. If she saw a bike she just went mad, but David [Nicholls] managed her all right.

'If it hadn't been for Habibti she would have been champion sprinter. But she trounced us every time we met, although Soba wasn't beaten far in the Prix de l'Abbaye, when she raced with stitches in a joint after a turbulent flight. I didn't see much of it because of the bad viewing at Longchamp and I never got a video of the race.

'Habibti didn't train on and I half wish we'd kept Soba in training, but we had agreed a foal-sharing arrangement with Robert Sangster and retired her. I trained one or two of her offspring, including Soaked, a grandson, who has done well for me but shows the same traits.'

Soba's final season featured two more wins, including the Group 2 King George Stakes at Goodwood, and no fewer than four seconds to Habibti - in the July Cup, Vernons Sprint Cup at Haydock, York's William Hill Sprint Championship and the Abbaye, in which she was beaten a length.

Nicholls said: 'She gave me many happy days. She put me on the map at a time when I was scratching around for a living. Winning the Stewards' Cup was a great day, but, for me, the highlight came at Longchamp. Habibti kept beating us, but Soba so nearly got her that day.

'She was quite a difficult ride and a tough bugger. Twenty five is a good old age.'

What makes this horse so very very special is undoubtedly has got loads of speed and class and has some constitution and guts.