The old ones are still the best

We didn't have much to shout about at Uttoxeter yesterday (and many congratulations, by the way, to Charlie Moore and his team for putting the meeting on, because without a great deal of hard work on their part it would have fallen victim to the elements) but happily I still found cause for joy because while I was there I watched the Grade One Ascot Chase on the television - which, of course, was won by the splendid Monet's Garden (pictured). It's been a source of joy to catch regularly glimpses of him at exercise on the Heath over the past six weeks, and also to pay him the odd visit in his stable in Abington Place, so I was more than delighted to see him cap his stay in town with this splendid victory. It was just so good: he was like Desert Orchid re-born, and praise doesn't come any higher than that. So congratulations to the horse, to his trainer and to all involved with his success, particularly Joey Richards. And, of course, what a lovely piece of symmetry is it that two Ascot Gr1 winners at completely different ends of the spectrum have now come out of the same visitors' stable - and here's the photograph to prove it: same door, different head (King's Stand Stakes winner Takeover Target). The icing on the cake, of course, yesterday would have been if another of my favourite horses, Our Vic, could have made it a 12-year-olds' double by defying top-weight in the big race at Haydock Park, the Blue Square Gold Cup Chase (which I'm sure must be what we'd still think of as the Greenall Whitley), but he had to settle for a highly honourable second place, giving 12lb to the winner (and 12lb on bottomless ground over three and a half miles is a massive weight differential). Even so, yesterday was truly a day for the true equine heroes.

No racing today, of course, with all three meetings in the UK and Eire falling victim to snow (including the AW Flat fixture at Southwell, where the track was usable but inaccessible). Even so, today's Racing Post is still very good, and not just for its reports and results of yesterday's action: as usual, the Sunday Racing Post has some good reading in it, with today's highlights being Willie Mullins' very moving tribute to Ronan Lawlor and Steve Dennis' homage to Dick Francis. Both are very much worth reading. Dick Francis' books played as big a part in my schooling as they did in Steve's and I'd say that we were reading, loving and being inspired by the same novels at the same age. I've read all of his books bar the most recent, and I trust that I will put that omission right soon enough. I'm currently on the most recent novel of another of my favourite authors, Wilbur Smith ('Assegai') and it's very good. If anyone hasn't had their lives enriched by the work of Wilbur Smith, the best tip I can give you would be to read 'When the lion feeds'; if you do, I suspect that you will then do what I did after I'd read it, which was to read the subsequent Courtney novels straight through, one after the other. Great stuff!

Mention of Takeover Target, of course, turns the mind to thinking about which Aussie horses might come over for Royal Ascot this year. It seems that Starspangledbanner, winner yesterday of the Oakleigh Plate, is Europe-bound, but that he will be doing his Royal Ascot training at Ballydoyle rather than in Newmarket. Other than that, it's hard to know who will make the trip. I suppose that things will become clearer after the Newmarket Handicap in a couple of weeks' time. It's hard to believe that there have already been four Group One weight-for-age races in Melbourne at 1400m or less this year: such a glut, I suppose, inevitably could be said to provide too many clues (particularly as this year three of the four have been won in photo-finishes, two of which were three-way photo-finishes) and so it is rather hard to identify the best of the best with any certainty. I had heard the suggestion that Lightning Stakes winner Nicconi might be coming, but I don't know what's happening there, and it could be the case that it would decided that there would be more to be gained than lost by having a crack with Wanted, narrow runner-up in two Group One sprints already this year, before he retires to Widden Stud later this year. I'll have to try to marshall my thoughts on the subject because I ought to be able to say something constructive come Tuesday, when I'll be on the ATR international review show. I'm looking forward to that and am very pleased to have been given the call-up. It'll also be nice to review yesterday's other Group One race, the Blue Diamond, not least because it brings back happy memories of our holiday in Australia in January of last year: when we visited Arrowfield, two stallions were paraded for our inspection (the massive chestnut Starcraft and the even bulkier bay Redoute's Choice) and so I was very pleased to see them come up with the Blue Diamond trifecta between them. That was a nice reward for Arrowfield's sponsorship of the race, and for their hospitality.