Our 2000 Guineas hero Chaldean had a hard race at Newmarket so we will take our time and get him ready for Royal Ascot

LAST Saturday was a Classic, in every sense of the word.

Chaldean did the business in the Guineas and there has been a great buzz about the yard all week.

Richard Pelham / The SunSun Racing columnist Andrew Balding has his say on the week’s hot topics[/caption]

PABalding and Frankie Dettori teamed up to win the 2000 Guineas last week with Chaldean[/caption]

It was hugely rewarding, especially when he’s been at the head of the betting for months and you’ve been thinking about the race for so long.

It was an odd feeling after the race, it’s more relief than anything because there was so much expectation going to Newmarket… the ecstasy came a little later.

It’s a huge honour to have a Classic winner for Juddmonte with the first crop of horses they have sent us – those silks are legendary and it’s great to be part of the team.

He definitely had a hard enough race on the ground, he lost 14 kilos which is quite a lot, and I fear that might be a bit of a theme at the moment with the dreadful weather.

So we’ll give him a bit of time and prepare him for the St James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot.

He hasn’t run on fast ground yet but he is a great mover so I don’t think it will be an issue and I’m sure he will meet some of his Guineas rivals again – bring it on.

Mind you, I came back down to Earth with a bit of a bump on Monday when Southampton’s fate was sealed at Forest.

Saints are dead and buried and they couldn’t even do Leicester a favour, which was annoying.

The Foxes are unofficially our second team because of our close relationship with King Power and the Srivaddhanaprabha family – if we both go down it will be a disaster!

Most read in Horse Racing

BAN BYE

Champion jockey gets HUGE 10-month ban for betting offences

FIVER FLUTTER

This 10-1 Chester pick can strike from stall one

TEMPLEGATE’S TIPS

My NAP loves this trip and track and is the one to beat under Ryan Moore

ROYAL FLUSH

King Charles ‘not looking forward’ to huge British sporting event this summer

‘DISGRACE’

Punter fury over ‘shocking’ ride that sees trainer fined & even the HORSE banned

‘FREAK’

Punters floored as jockeys ‘give up with half a mile to go’ in ‘unusual’ race

There are some big clubs in the Championship next season and there are some nice grounds that I’ve never been to before, so I’m looking forward to following them away from home.

You never know, we might actually be able to win a few games!

There has been a bit of unrest among the fans this year, and it appears there is also a bit of unhappiness in the weighing room at the moment.

The whip rules have caused controversy for the last few months and jockeys haven’t been pleased with how the PJA have handled things.

I know there are a lot of whip bans still being handed out, but the jockeys do have a collective responsibility to ride within the new rules.

If you look at the top guys who ride abroad, with varying whip rules in different jurisdictions around the world, they have no problem adapting.

At the end of the day we needed stronger rules around the whip. It’s for the good of the sport and everybody needs to get on board.

And I see our ‘friends’ at Animal Rising have been at it again, this time running onto the track and delaying racing at Doncaster.

animalrising.orgAnimal Rising activists disrupted racing at Doncaster last weekend[/caption]

They have already made it clear that they are planning to target the Derby at Epsom, which is only a few weeks away.

It is obviously a concern. In the Derby itself you are dealing with highly-charged three-year-old colts and Epsom is a wide-open space which is vulnerable to invaders. 

I don’t think that sort of protest is constructive from any point of view and it generates bad feelings towards their cause from people who have paid to come racing and enjoy a day out. 

That type of disruption is pretty selfish and I don’t have any sympathy for them if they do end up in the back of a police wagon! 

Racing is not going to appeal to everybody but I feel we need to do a better job at educating the public because welfare is our top priority.

I wouldn’t do this job if I thought it was cruel and nor would the 90-plus staff I employ, who love and care for the horses 24-7. 

The favourite horse I trained was Highland Knight who had a brilliant career and he was so tough and genuine. 

We retired him to live in a paddock here and within a few days of turning him out we found him with a broken leg. 

We do our absolute best to look after them but you can never fully eliminate the element of risk with these beautiful but fragile animals.

As for today, our lovely filly SANDRINE (2.25) heads to Lingfield today to run in the Group 3 Chartwell Stakes on the all-weather.

She is very classy and has a big chance, but I’m also interested to see how HOLGUIN (3.50) gets on up at Haydock. His form is working out and he gets a nice bit of weight from the older horses.

FREE BETS GET OVER £2,000 IN SIGN UP OFFERS HERE

Commercial content notice: Taking one of the bookmaker offers featured in this article may result in a payment to The Sun. 18+. T&Cs apply. Begambleaware.org

Remember to gamble responsibly

A responsible gambler is someone who:

Establishes time and monetary limits before playing
Only gambles with money they can afford to lose
Never chases their losses
Doesn’t gamble if they’re upset, angry or depressed
Gamcare – www.gamcare.org.uk

Gamble Aware – www.begambleaware.org