Raceday LIVE – Rockstar Icon
Windsor,
Mon 14 Oct 2024 16:50
Related horse(s):
Rockstar Icon
Rockstar Icon runs at Windsor this afternoon as he drops into Class 5 Handicap company for the first time in the 16:50 over a mile.
Read our Raceday LIVE Preview below and join us ahead of the race for all the build-up and live updates from the track with the team and Rockstar Icon's lucky owners for the day across our social channels on X (@coral) and Instagram (@coralofficial).
Raceday LIVE Preview
Rockstar Icon returns to the racecourse in which he made his first ever start as a two-year-old this afternoon, and whilst doing so he also enters a Class 5 handicap contest for the first time following a couple of difficult runs since making his promising seasonal reappearance back in May. Today will also mark only the second time Rockstar Icon races over a mile in his career, with his last run over this distance coming after an 89-day break at Glorious Goodwood at the beginning of August earlier this year.
That run at Goodwood kicked off a relatively busy few weeks for our Paul and Oliver Cole-trained three-year-old gelding, as he ran again less than two weeks later, and once more in September just under a month ago. Unfortunately he finished last of the thirteen runners that day, with jockey and Coral Racing Ambassador, Jim Crowley, along with trainer Oliver Cole, claiming that Rockstar Icon wasn't suited by the Good-to-Firm ground and that it was a little too sharp for him.
WATCH: Rockstar Icon's Raceday Highlights from Glorious Goodwood
With those thoughts in mind, it wasn't long before Paul and Oliver found a race that they believed would be more suitable for him, over the course and distance that he won over on New Year's Eve last year, a seven furlong contest at Lingfield. Our gelding came home in fourth that day, three and a half lengths behind the winner, Serene Seraph, who kicked clear with second place finisher Ahlain inside the final furlong. Oliver told us in his post-race review that he believed that seven furlongs was the correct trip for the time being, and that he may have finished a position better had he not had to use up some energy in the opening stages of the race to get a favourable position.
His next appearance was a month later at Newmarket over the same distance, where he finished eighth of 11 runners in what looked to be a very promising run up until the final furlong. He ran in midfield for most of the contest, tracking the leaders, before joining them with around a furlong to go and appearing to have plenty left in the tank. However, when Rockstar Icon hit the famous dip on the Rowley Mile, he didn't respond to jockey Hector Crouch's urges and was subsequently eased down once the chances had clearly gone of him being able to finish in the places.
Immediately following that race, Oliver told us he heard some irregularities with Rockstar Icon's breathing whilst standing with him, so the decision was made to scope our three-year-old on the gallops at home, to ensure that there were no serious issues with his breathing and that he didn't require any procedures or time off to recover. Thankfully the vet, Alastair Welch, tested Rockstar Icon's breathing and after analysing the results he confirmed that there was nothing to worry about and that no further action would need to be taken.
WATCH: Rockstar Icon gets assessed by the vet on the gallops
Subsequently, Oliver decided that he wanted to give Rockstar Icon another go over the mile trip, which came as no surprise given his pedigree has plenty of stamina with the dam (Shadows Ofthenight) and sire (Sixties Icon) only ever campaigning over 1m2f or further.
It's a packed 14-runner field this afternoon, and despite it being a Class 5 contest, there looks to be competition all over the place with the likes of Albus Anne who comes here seeking a hat-trick of wins, and Turn Up The Heat who represents the formidable and recent Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winning duo of Ralph Beckett and Rossa Ryan.
The ground is currently Heavy, and with more rain forecast in the area, it does leave a question mark for Rockstar Icon having only ever ran on good ground or better and the all-weather, but interestingly his sire won his only ever race on soft ground at the very same track, so hopefully that can be a sign of what's to come this afternoon.
Raceday message from Oliver Cole
"As you know we got Rockstar Icon scoped after his last run, and that all came back clear so we're good to go again with him today. We are putting a tongue tie on him, if his breathing was being compromised during his races then this should prevent that, and could bring out some improvement in his performance.
After that last run at Newmarket the jockey suggested he would prefer an easier surface as well, which he'll certainly get here. Whether or not it's gone too soft only time will tell, but his breeding suggests he will enjoy this mile trip, and should get further in time, so a stamina test may be in his favour.
A slight negative is his draw, 14 of 14. He made his debut at Windsor, and was drawn widest of all that day. This is over further and Jack Mitchell rides the track well, so hopefully he can get a good early position and not be left out wide.
He's in good form at home, and if the tongue tie and easier ground suit as we hope they will, it will be exciting to see how he goes."
Trainer and Jockey Statistics
Paul & Oliver Cole have been rattling the crossbar in the last fortnight, having had three second place finishers and two third place finishers in their last eight runs, without landing a winner. Their season has been quite impressive however, with 22 winners from their 141 runners (16% strike-rate) and a further 31 placed horses, taking home almost £360,000 in prize money. The father and son duo have had 14 winners from 67 runners at Windsor, with two of those winners coming this season from their ten runners at the course.
Jack Mitchell has been in good form recently, landing seven winners from his 43 rides (16% strike-rate), a slightly higher return than his seasonal average of 13%, with 67 winners from 499 rides and total earnings of over £1m. Mitchell has had 30 winners in his career at Windsor, with only one coming from 21 rides at the course this summer.
Rockstar Icon's 10 Owners for the Day
As winners of the recent Owner for the Day competition, 10 lucky Coral Racing Club members have been given the chance to enjoy an exclusive owners experience for Rockstar Icon's run at Windsor this afternoon.
Each winner, along with a guest of their choosing, will receive free entry to Windsor Racecourse, including exclusive access to Owners & Trainers areas. They'll have the opportunity to meet Rockstar Icon and the Paul & Oliver Cole team, plus get to head into the parade ring before the race begins to be amongst all the other owners, trainers and jockeys. And last but by no means least, each winner will get to take home an equal 10% split of any prize money won by Rockstar Icon.
Prize Money
Today's Class 5 Handicap contest is worth £8,400 in total, with the winner set to scoop £4,397 for their lucky owners.
2nd: £2,063 | 3rd: £1,030 | 4th: £515 | 5th: £257
Chris Dixon, Racing TV Analyst, previews Rockstar Icon's chances this afternoon and which rivals are likely to challenge him.
Rockstar Icon faces a different type of test as he tackles testing ground for the first time in his career on this return to 1m. He’s only had one try at this trip in the past and that was in a competitive Goodwood handicap following a 3 month break so it’s difficult to judge whether or not the trip suited. Based on his pedigree - by Sixties Icon out of a mare who won over 2m - there’s a good chance that this far and potentially further will suit and it remains the case that he’s still a lightly-raced and potentially well-handicapped horse on the pick of his form. Last time was a bit of a disappointing effort given the minor promise of his previous effort at Lingfield but that was a fair looking race for the grade, though the form so far hasn’t worked out. Today’s race is a slight drop in class but is once again fairly competitive for the grade with a big field and a few in-form horses so those factors coupled with the unknown quantity of the ground makes it fairly difficult to be confident, though as mentioned last time, there’s every chance he could have a decent winter on the AW, irrespective of how he runs today.
It’s not difficult to find horses with an obvious chance among the opposition, with perhaps Desperate Dan chief among them as he carries a 6lbs penalty for his wide-margin win at Nottingham last week. Testing ground is important to him and he’s a strong stayer at the trip - he should go well and looks the one to beat. Conditions will also suit the hat-trick seeking Albus Anne who is 2/2 since wearing a hood and won with a bit to spare at Bath last time. A 5lbs rise looks fair, but this is a higher grade of race so improvement will be required. The Amazon won here earlier in the year and was a good second at Carlisle last time under testing conditions so also makes some appeal, while Dreamrocker is unproven in the conditions but does look potentially well-treated on some of her form and pedigree so could be a bit of a dark horse in this, especially as her slightly lazy style of racing could see her be effective on this ground.
We hope you enjoyed reading today's Raceday LIVE Preview. Don't forget to tune in just before 16:50 to watch Rockstar Icon's next run for the club live on the Coral Sports app.
Read our Raceday LIVE Preview below and join us ahead of the race for all the build-up and live updates from the track with the team and Rockstar Icon's lucky owners for the day across our social channels on X (@coral) and Instagram (@coralofficial).
Raceday LIVE Preview
Rockstar Icon returns to the racecourse in which he made his first ever start as a two-year-old this afternoon, and whilst doing so he also enters a Class 5 handicap contest for the first time following a couple of difficult runs since making his promising seasonal reappearance back in May. Today will also mark only the second time Rockstar Icon races over a mile in his career, with his last run over this distance coming after an 89-day break at Glorious Goodwood at the beginning of August earlier this year.
That run at Goodwood kicked off a relatively busy few weeks for our Paul and Oliver Cole-trained three-year-old gelding, as he ran again less than two weeks later, and once more in September just under a month ago. Unfortunately he finished last of the thirteen runners that day, with jockey and Coral Racing Ambassador, Jim Crowley, along with trainer Oliver Cole, claiming that Rockstar Icon wasn't suited by the Good-to-Firm ground and that it was a little too sharp for him.
WATCH: Rockstar Icon's Raceday Highlights from Glorious Goodwood
With those thoughts in mind, it wasn't long before Paul and Oliver found a race that they believed would be more suitable for him, over the course and distance that he won over on New Year's Eve last year, a seven furlong contest at Lingfield. Our gelding came home in fourth that day, three and a half lengths behind the winner, Serene Seraph, who kicked clear with second place finisher Ahlain inside the final furlong. Oliver told us in his post-race review that he believed that seven furlongs was the correct trip for the time being, and that he may have finished a position better had he not had to use up some energy in the opening stages of the race to get a favourable position.
His next appearance was a month later at Newmarket over the same distance, where he finished eighth of 11 runners in what looked to be a very promising run up until the final furlong. He ran in midfield for most of the contest, tracking the leaders, before joining them with around a furlong to go and appearing to have plenty left in the tank. However, when Rockstar Icon hit the famous dip on the Rowley Mile, he didn't respond to jockey Hector Crouch's urges and was subsequently eased down once the chances had clearly gone of him being able to finish in the places.
Immediately following that race, Oliver told us he heard some irregularities with Rockstar Icon's breathing whilst standing with him, so the decision was made to scope our three-year-old on the gallops at home, to ensure that there were no serious issues with his breathing and that he didn't require any procedures or time off to recover. Thankfully the vet, Alastair Welch, tested Rockstar Icon's breathing and after analysing the results he confirmed that there was nothing to worry about and that no further action would need to be taken.
WATCH: Rockstar Icon gets assessed by the vet on the gallops
Subsequently, Oliver decided that he wanted to give Rockstar Icon another go over the mile trip, which came as no surprise given his pedigree has plenty of stamina with the dam (Shadows Ofthenight) and sire (Sixties Icon) only ever campaigning over 1m2f or further.
It's a packed 14-runner field this afternoon, and despite it being a Class 5 contest, there looks to be competition all over the place with the likes of Albus Anne who comes here seeking a hat-trick of wins, and Turn Up The Heat who represents the formidable and recent Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winning duo of Ralph Beckett and Rossa Ryan.
The ground is currently Heavy, and with more rain forecast in the area, it does leave a question mark for Rockstar Icon having only ever ran on good ground or better and the all-weather, but interestingly his sire won his only ever race on soft ground at the very same track, so hopefully that can be a sign of what's to come this afternoon.
Raceday message from Oliver Cole
"As you know we got Rockstar Icon scoped after his last run, and that all came back clear so we're good to go again with him today. We are putting a tongue tie on him, if his breathing was being compromised during his races then this should prevent that, and could bring out some improvement in his performance.
After that last run at Newmarket the jockey suggested he would prefer an easier surface as well, which he'll certainly get here. Whether or not it's gone too soft only time will tell, but his breeding suggests he will enjoy this mile trip, and should get further in time, so a stamina test may be in his favour.
A slight negative is his draw, 14 of 14. He made his debut at Windsor, and was drawn widest of all that day. This is over further and Jack Mitchell rides the track well, so hopefully he can get a good early position and not be left out wide.
He's in good form at home, and if the tongue tie and easier ground suit as we hope they will, it will be exciting to see how he goes."
Trainer and Jockey Statistics
Paul & Oliver Cole have been rattling the crossbar in the last fortnight, having had three second place finishers and two third place finishers in their last eight runs, without landing a winner. Their season has been quite impressive however, with 22 winners from their 141 runners (16% strike-rate) and a further 31 placed horses, taking home almost £360,000 in prize money. The father and son duo have had 14 winners from 67 runners at Windsor, with two of those winners coming this season from their ten runners at the course.
Jack Mitchell has been in good form recently, landing seven winners from his 43 rides (16% strike-rate), a slightly higher return than his seasonal average of 13%, with 67 winners from 499 rides and total earnings of over £1m. Mitchell has had 30 winners in his career at Windsor, with only one coming from 21 rides at the course this summer.
Rockstar Icon's 10 Owners for the Day
As winners of the recent Owner for the Day competition, 10 lucky Coral Racing Club members have been given the chance to enjoy an exclusive owners experience for Rockstar Icon's run at Windsor this afternoon.
Each winner, along with a guest of their choosing, will receive free entry to Windsor Racecourse, including exclusive access to Owners & Trainers areas. They'll have the opportunity to meet Rockstar Icon and the Paul & Oliver Cole team, plus get to head into the parade ring before the race begins to be amongst all the other owners, trainers and jockeys. And last but by no means least, each winner will get to take home an equal 10% split of any prize money won by Rockstar Icon.
Prize Money
Today's Class 5 Handicap contest is worth £8,400 in total, with the winner set to scoop £4,397 for their lucky owners.
2nd: £2,063 | 3rd: £1,030 | 4th: £515 | 5th: £257
Chris Dixon, Racing TV Analyst, previews Rockstar Icon's chances this afternoon and which rivals are likely to challenge him.
Rockstar Icon faces a different type of test as he tackles testing ground for the first time in his career on this return to 1m. He’s only had one try at this trip in the past and that was in a competitive Goodwood handicap following a 3 month break so it’s difficult to judge whether or not the trip suited. Based on his pedigree - by Sixties Icon out of a mare who won over 2m - there’s a good chance that this far and potentially further will suit and it remains the case that he’s still a lightly-raced and potentially well-handicapped horse on the pick of his form. Last time was a bit of a disappointing effort given the minor promise of his previous effort at Lingfield but that was a fair looking race for the grade, though the form so far hasn’t worked out. Today’s race is a slight drop in class but is once again fairly competitive for the grade with a big field and a few in-form horses so those factors coupled with the unknown quantity of the ground makes it fairly difficult to be confident, though as mentioned last time, there’s every chance he could have a decent winter on the AW, irrespective of how he runs today.
It’s not difficult to find horses with an obvious chance among the opposition, with perhaps Desperate Dan chief among them as he carries a 6lbs penalty for his wide-margin win at Nottingham last week. Testing ground is important to him and he’s a strong stayer at the trip - he should go well and looks the one to beat. Conditions will also suit the hat-trick seeking Albus Anne who is 2/2 since wearing a hood and won with a bit to spare at Bath last time. A 5lbs rise looks fair, but this is a higher grade of race so improvement will be required. The Amazon won here earlier in the year and was a good second at Carlisle last time under testing conditions so also makes some appeal, while Dreamrocker is unproven in the conditions but does look potentially well-treated on some of her form and pedigree so could be a bit of a dark horse in this, especially as her slightly lazy style of racing could see her be effective on this ground.
We hope you enjoyed reading today's Raceday LIVE Preview. Don't forget to tune in just before 16:50 to watch Rockstar Icon's next run for the club live on the Coral Sports app.
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