Thursday, May 03, 2007

Guineas week thoughts

The agonizing is over for Jim Bolger. He has decided not to declare Teofilo for the 2,000 Guineas. That's disappointing but also a huge relief. As discussed in a previous chapter, I wouldn't have wanted to be in Jim Bolger's shoes over the past couple of weeks. We know from experience that little problems disappear with rest but become big problems if work is continued. Although I have not had a chance to assess Teofilo myself, it seemed plain to me right from the outset that his problem was one for which the required rest would be considerably more than one week with a swift re-introduction to work. I'm sure Jim Bolger would have surmised that that would almost certainly be the case - but when the chance of the Holy Grail, aka Triple Crown, was within his grasp, he had to give himself every chance of snatching it. But it would have been an agonising period, because the downside to getting it wrong by under-estimating the problem was potentially so much worse than the downside to over-estimating it. And he would have known that. He has handled the situation with typically faultless aplomb and correctness- and not just in the superb feature and interview with Nick Luck, who must have broken the record for verbosity in questioning, on Racing UK - but now he can just breathe a sigh of relief, knowing that the dilemma is over, that he has given the horse every chance to run in the race, that he has now definitely taken the right decision not to run him, and that he has done so without, we hope, causing irreparable damage to the horse. If there is any justice, he'll now saddle Finsceal Beo to win the 1,000 Guineas and saddle Teofilo to win numerous Group One races later in the year and then throughout 2008 (and perhaps 2009 too).

Even without Teofilo it looks like a very exciting race. I think Adagio and Kerrin McEvoy will win, and the Pedigree Club will be rooting for the mighty horse to win for Grand Lodge, just as Hot Weld has done for another Plantation Stud protege, Weld, on the past two Saturdays. But Alix Choppin has done a pretty good job of convincing me that US Ranger is very, very good. And Largesse's paternal half-brother Major Cadeaux is very good too. And wouldn't it be nice to see a big run from Cockney Rebel. And Drayton winning would be a memorable result; we passed his jockey Weichong Marwing standing on the Heath yesterday outside Geoff Wragg's yard, presumably waiting for the horse to appear ready to be worked, and I'd certainly be happy to see him riding into the winner's enclosure on Saturday. And Tobosa would be a nice winner for a lovely stallion Tobougg ...

However, excited though I am about the Classics, I'm even more excited about Monday's racing, when, God willing, Brief Goodbye will go to Windsor and Jill Dawson to Warwick. Both are in very good form. Kirsty came in again this morning to ride Jill Dawson, who looked to work well and pull up very well from it. Brief has only had one gallop (on his own) since he ran, but he's very fit and well, and can have another gentle gallop tomorrow. I will go to Warwick on Monday, but in spirit I'll be in two places at once. And in the early hours of Sunday morning my mind will be at the Sunshine Coast when Somewhere Safer, the horse I share with Michael and Sarah Tidmarsh, will carry bottom weight and jump from barrier one in a 1600m maiden. She needs to lift, but she could well do so. Daniel Griffin, who has saluted on a previous occasion for the Tidmarsh/Berry combination, takes the ride, so we'll hope for the best.

One of the happiest events of the week for me took place two days ago, when Roy Fowler appeared in the yard. Roy is one of my longest-standing friends, and was travelling head lad for my first employer, Andy Turnell, for most of the time I worked there. We've had some very good times together. I wasn't aware that Roy had started work in January as travelling head lad for Marcus Tregonning, but I know now. He'd brought a horse to Newmarket to the vet, had some time to spare and so wandered round the yard to say G'day. It was really good to see him. One of the best outings which Roy and I have enjoyed together was when we went to Oslo in 1986 when I rode my horse Black Rod in the Norwegian Grand National (on the same day that Dancing Brave won the Arc), and coincidentally we had two Norwegian visitors yesterday. Norwegian horseman Anton Granhus has introduced himself to us since becoming a reader of this site, and we were delighted to welcome him and his fiancee Annette here yesterday morning as they passed through Newmarket en route to Badminton, which event he regularly attends. It was good to spend some time with them and to show them around. One horse I particularly enjoyed showing them was Milton's Keen, who is a full-brother to last year's champion Norwegian juvenile Not Secret, winner of the Norsk Criterium. Let's hope that Milton's Keen can soon start to add to the family's record - he seems in very good shape, physically and mentally. We'll know a bit more about him after tomorrow, when Kirsty is coming in to give him his first gallop of the year.

2 comments:

Fiddling The Facts said...

Happily J Bolger was rewarded with the majestic win of Finsceal Beo on Sunday. What a gentleman he is and how right he was to take issue with McCririck's idiotic tirade against him. The welfare of the horse must always come first and of course they would have tried everything to get Teofilo there fit and well. Stuff the punters.The magic of the Classics transcends a few torn up antepost vouchers.

babybop said...

Well done on your winner today, what a smashing little mare.