County Durham trainer Michael Dods starts a new Flat season today, without his long-standing stable stars Mecca’s Angel and Easton Angel. However, as Chief Sports Writer Scott Wilson discovered when he met him this week, he remains full of optimism for the summer’s campaign


FOR the best part of three years, the stable box closest to the front door at Michael Dods’ Denton Hall home was occupied by one of the best racehorses in the world.

Every time he stepped out of his house, the County Durham trainer could be transported to the world’s greatest racecourses to relive some of the world’s greatest races. Two Group One triumphs in the Nunthorpe at York. Further Group victories at Newbury and the Curragh. A golden afternoon when the apple of his eye demolished the five-furlong track record at Longchamp.

As a trainer operating without the support of the powerful Middle-Eastern sheikhs that tend to dominate British Flat racing, you spend your life waiting for that one horse that can take you to places you always dreamed of visiting. Once that horse moves on though, the void left behind is vast.

Mecca’s Angel doesn’t live at Denton Hall anymore. Retired to stud at the end of last season, she is standing at Ballydoyle’s all-conquering Coolmore Stud in Ireland. Next year, she should be having her first foal to ‘super stallion’ Galileo.

No longer employed on the racetrack, she has moved on to a new stage in her career. In her wake, however, Dods must set about recalibrating ambitions and forging a new path without her. Needless to say, it will not be an easy process.

“We had some great times with Mecca’s Angel,” said Dods, who will saddle his first runner of the new Flat season at Doncaster this afternoon. “But the fact is that she’s gone now. We get the odd text or Email to tell us what she’s up to, but we can’t live our life feeling sorry for ourselves because she’s gone.

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“We had some great days with her, but they’re over. It’s about looking to the future now. If you’re not moving forward then you’ve got no chance in this game. We’ve got some lovely new horses to run this year and they have to be our focus now.

“You’ve got to keep hoping that another Mecca’s Angel comes around. No one would have thought she would have done the things she did, but she turned out to be exceptional. If it’s happened once, there’s no reason why it can’t happen again. Horses like that don’t come around every day, but we’ve done it once so we have to believe we can repeat it.”

This time last year, it looked as though Easton Angel might follow in Mecca’s Angel’s footsteps and dominate the sprinting division.

Running in his three-year-old campaign, Easton Angel claimed Listed victories at York and Sandown, but was never quite able to live up to his billing at Group level.

Will he step up again this year? It’s possible. But if he does, it will be in the silks of Ballydoyle rather than on Dods’ watch as his joint-owners, Al Shaqab Racing and Ritchie Fiddes, opted to sell him for 500,000 guineas at Tattersalls’ February Sales.

“Again, that’s racing,” said Dods. “You’re only the trainer, so sometimes things get taken out of your hands. There’s nothing you can do about it, so it’s no use complaining.

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“It’s a shame Easton Angel’s not here this year because I’ve always thought he’s capable of winning Group Twos or even Group Ones. But what will be, will be.”

Deprived of his star sprinters, Dods’ biggest successes this year could come courtesy of his three-year-olds, who look to form a strong crop.

Chief among them is King’s Gift, a runner-up at Group Three level in his two-year-old campaign who will be targeted at some leading Group-level mile races this season.

“We think a lot of him,” said Dods. “He’s rated 101 so he’ll be going for Group races. He was second in the Horris Hill at Newbury and looked a real prospect. He’s wintered well, and he’ll probably go back to Newbury for a Group race in April.”

Dods has also teamed up with leading Northern owner David Armstrong, who has bred Group One winners from his base at Chorley.

“We’ve been very fortunate that David has brought some really nice horses to us,” he said. “The three-year-olds look especially talented – we’re looking forward to seeing the likes of Thornton, Bamber Bridge, Holmeswood and Chipping out on the track.

“They all showed promise last season, but they should be a lot stronger and sharper this year. We’ve got quite a lot of three-year-olds to run this season, and I think that’s a good position to be in because there are plenty of races for them. Provided they’re up to it, there’s plenty for them to go for.”

The feeling of transition continues in the older ranks, with the likes of Mass Rally and Barney McGrew having retired or departed after delivering sterling service for a number of seasons.

A number of old favourites remain – such as Finn Class, Kiwi Bay, My Name Is Rio and Aprovado, who won on the all-weather at Newcastle last week – and one of Dods’ most talented veterans returns to action this afternoon as Lord Of The Rock attempts to defend his Spring Mile title as part of Doncaster’s Lincoln meeting.

The five-year-old landed odds of 20-1 in the same race last season, but was only able to complete two more runs before an injury prematurely ended his campaign.

“If he runs like he did last year, he’d have to go very close,” said Dods. “He’s a bit higher in the weights, and it’s obviously his first run for quite a while because his season ended in June last summer. He’s ready though. He’s showing us plenty on the gallops – he just needs to prove his wellbeing on the course now.”

Lord Of The Rock will be partnered by Paul Mulrennan, who will continue to perform most of Dods’ riding duties this season. Connor Beasley, recently appointed as stable jockey to Keith Dalgleish, will also be involved, along with Andrew Mullen.

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Dods has also acquired the services of apprentice Callum Rodriguez, and the seven-pound claimer is likely to be an important figure in the next few months.

“A good claimer is worth his weight in gold,” said Dods. “That seven pounds will be vital, and we’ve been really happy with Callum so far. He was an apprentice to Richard Ford, and we’ve had our eye on him for a while.

“He’s keen, he’s a good worker and he knows how to ride. He won on Aprovado for us last week, and I thought he gave him a lovely ride.”

And what of the Mecca name? With the retirement of Mecca’s Angel, will the moniker, coined by Darlington owner David Metcalfe, be consigned to the history books?

“David’s got two new two-year-olds with us,” said Dods. “They haven’t been named yet, but he’s already told us they’ll be called Mecca’s something.

“One is a Poet’s Voice filly, and the other is a Dark Angel, just like Mecca’s Angel. It’s still very early days for them, but they look nice prospects. They’ll both be sprinters, and hopefully we’ll see them in action later this year.”


FIVE TO FOLLOW


LORD OF THE ROCK

“We’ll see how he is this afternoon. He took an injury in his final run of last season, so he hasn’t run a lot. He hasn’t run for a long time, but he looks sharp in training and he obviously likes Doncaster because he won the Spring Mile last season. Whatever he does today, he’ll improve for it, and he should be a good prospect right through the summer. We just need to get started with him.”


KING’S GIFT

“You’d imagine he’ll be our best chance at Group level this season. He ran a cracker at Newbury as a two-year-old to be second in a Group Three, so he’s obviously got a lot of talent. He’s wintered well at Geoff Turnbull’s stud, and he’s come back full of beans. All things being well, he’ll be out in a Group race next month.”

APROVADO

“The owner was keen to get him going in January and February, so he’s had a few spins on the all-weather up at Newcastle. He looked good when he won last week, so he’s obviously sharp and we’ll probably look to keep him fairly busy in the first half of the season. He’s been a good servant for us, and he’s definitely capable of winning more races.”

GET KNOTTED

“He’s rated at 100, so you’d be looking at some of the decent six-furlong races like the Ayr Gold Cup for him. He’s an improving horse and I still don’t think we’re quite sure where he might get to. We always thought he would have to stay at six, but he won nicely over seven furlongs at York last summer so that opens up even more possibilities. He’s never run a bad race for us at York – he seems to like it there.”

WAHOO

“We’ve got some nice-looking two-year-olds, and the furthest forward is probably a horse called Wahoo. He’ll probably run in the first month of the season if we can find a race for him. We don’t like to rush our two-year-olds, but by the same token, if they’re ready, we don’t shy away from running them. We’re still learning about a few of them, but this fella seems fairly straightforward.”