Royal Ascot, part two

We're midway though another interesting afternoon and I'm killing time waiting for the Gold Cup by tapping away on the keyboard. While I'm obviously less keyed up about this race than I would be in advance of a lesser contest in which we had a runner, I'm still really excited, as I presume all racing fans are: can Yeats win? It would be terrific if he could. Geordieland, too, would be a lovely winner, while Veracity is also a horse I very much admire, as is Paktai. The Gold Cup is always one of the season's highlights, and this year is no different.

I was pleased to see Godolphin have a winner earlier on. She's an ordinary-looking little filly, but we've seen time and again that well-bred fillies come in all shapes and sizes, which is a theory which I hope to be able to exploit sooner or later.

Dot, dot, dot ... well, that was wonderful. I've just watched Yeats win and am typing this with tears in my eyes. What a horse! And what a credit to his trainer and stable. I think we're unlikely ever to see a greater feat than four Gold Cups - unless, of course, Yeats can win it again next year. Murtagh's ride was, typically, flawless. Yeats isn't a normal horse and he isn't to be ridden like a normal horse, and Murtagh predictably rode him to make use of his amazing qualities of almost limitless stamina and genuineness. Murtagh earned ride of the day yesterday, and I expect we'll have to give him the same award today. For sure he was on the best horse today (which I don't think was necessarily the case yesterday when he won on Spacious) but, even so, to give a master-class under what must have been as close to a high-pressure situation as one can ever get in sport ('pressure', of course, isn't really a word which should be used in connection with sport - as the late, great Keith Miller put it, "Pressure? Pressure's when you've got a Messerschmidt on your tail") really would be easier said than done. Here's something to discuss: it was put to me in the aftermath of yesterday's racing that "there can be no doubt the best jockey riding is J Murtagh" - do we agree? I'd certainly go along with that. I've long said that Richard Dunwoody is the best jockey (and I'm not differentiating between Flat and National Hunt hoops) I've ever had the pleasure to watch, but I think we can mention Murtagh in the same breath. Anyone agree? Or disagree?

On the subject of antipodean cricketers, which we were a few sentences ago, I saw one sight yesterday which gave me great pleasure. I've been watching the T20 cricket a day late, ie taping the late-night review programme and watching it the next day, and yesterday I was delighted to see a Kiwi batsman called Ross Taylor (not the former NZ Derby-winning trainer, I presume) walk. How often does one see that nowadays? He had been stumped; it didn't look cut and dried to the naked eye so the square leg umpire had asked for the third umpire's verdict, but Taylor didn't wait. He knew that he was out so he walked. That's the way it should be - and clearly is the policy in this splendid team which at first glance one would think I captain. When was the last time an English cricketer walked in an international match? Does anyone know? I always remember in a match against Australia a few years ago, an English batsman sent a ball to Mark Waugh, one of my sporting heroes, which Waugh scooped off the ground. Nobody could see whether it was a clean catch - the TV shots were inconclusive - but Waugh nodded to either the umpire or the batsman (I forget which) to tell him that it was clean. The umpire, as he had not been able to see either way whether it was or wasn't clean and as the various camera shots also proved nothing, understandably did not raise his finger, and so the batsman stood his ground. The commentator said, "That's wrong: he should have walked. If Mark Waugh says it was a clean catch, then it was a clean catch". Mark Waugh looked taken aback by the batsman's stance, but that was that. Sadly, sport now seems to mirror life, and success is generally deemed more important than fair play; so it was a pleasure to discover that Daniel Vettori's team, at least, still plays within the spirit of the game. Good on 'em.