A MILLIONAIRE Aidan O’Brien horse has been labelled a ‘sorry sight’ – with the Classic-winning superstar reduced to being just a pacemaker at massive odds.
Continuous looked to have the world at his hooves when he claimed the St Leger at Doncaster in September 2023.
Ryan Moore was awesome on Continuous in the St Leger in 2023 – but less than two years on his role in races has been reduced to making the run at massive odds[/caption]
Ridden by Ryan Moore and watched by King Charles in the crowd, Continuous surged home by just under three lengths to claim the £421,000 first-place prize.
He then finished a very creditable fifth in the Arc de Triomphe on his next run, going down just over three lengths to unbeaten superstar Ace Impact.
There was another Group 3 win for Continuous in the 2024 season but, on his most recent three starts, he has been sent off 50-1, 66-1 and 100-1.
Continuous was never ridden to seriously contend the Tattersalls Gold Cup at the Curragh last month.
Wayne Lordan rousted him along to the front at a mad pace after he was slowly away – paving the way for eventual winner and stablemate Los Angeles.
Continuous was again sent on to do all the running under Derby hero Lordan in the Coronation Cup at Epsom earlier this month.
He eventually finished fourth, losing two places in the final furlong, in a race won by stablemate Jan Brueghel.
Continuous hit triple-digit odds for his most recent run in the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot last week.
Los Angeles was sent off 13-8 fav for that blockbuster Group 1 but, for once, O’Brien, Moore and the Coolmore team got their tactics wrong.
Both Ballydoyle horses flopped in the race won by John & Thady Gosden’s 7-1 Ombudsman.
Los Angeles is now set to miss all the big races over the summer due to the ‘balls up’.
But while he will be back with the aim of winning the Arc in October, Continuous’ odds for upcoming contests suggest victory of any kind would be a miracle, despite the five-year-old gelding’s multiple entries.
He is in the Princess Of Wales’s Stakes at Newmarket’s July meeting in a fortnight’s time but is 20-1.
He could run nine days later in the Curragh Cup – and does have an entry in the King George at Ascot but is 100-1 for that the following week.
While O’Brien did include him in the Goodwood Cup at the end of July he is also 100-1 there and would surely be used as a pacemaker again for Gold Cup second and 7-4 ante-post favourite Illinois.
One punter who watched Continuous at Ascot wrote on X: “Something very disappointing seeing a horse like Continuous being used as a pacemaker this season!
“With his pedigree and fine race record he really could have been a fine horse to stand at stud. Crazy what he’s being used for nowadays.”
Respected racing journalist Alistair Jones was another to notice the tactics and in the Racing Post wrote how Continuous was now a ‘sorry sight’ on the racecourse.
He wrote: “He has sacrificed his last three races for the benefit of others in the yard and it was a sorry sight to see such a talented individual trail home tailed off in the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes.”
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