Sunday, June 07, 2009

Derby Day dissections...

The media, desperately searching for a new superstar, had their wish granted when Sea The Stars became the first horse since Nashwan twenty years ago to win the 2000 Guineas and the Derby. Immediately after the race, commentator Jim McGrath gave a conservative estimate of the colt's value - £40 million.

Nijinsky was the last horse to complete the Triple Crown in 1970 but the St. Leger doesn't seem to feature in John Oxx's plans for his winner; the Irish Derby most certainly does.

Jockeys in this year's Derby all wore black armbands in memory of Vincent O'Brien who died on Monday, aged 92. There have been many tributes to a man whose training feats are unlikely to be surpassed. He was probably the greatest trainer of all time.

Aidan O'Brien's six runners in the Derby each incurred a fine of £140 for arriving late in the paddock - that was half the field! The race itself started seven minutes late. I've lost count of the number of times I've been racing, wanting to see a fancied horse in the paddock, and failing to do so as connections try to ensure their charge is mounted and on his way to post in the shortest time possible. I know the owners pay the bills, the stakes can be high and nobody wants to lose a race before the start, but this practice really isn't fair on the paying public - it certainly doesn't do the game any favours. You go racing to actually see the horses, yet it can seem interested parties are doing their bit to prevent that happening. Rant over.

I know we're in the middle of a recession and the weather wasn't really helping but, from the TV coverage, the atmosphere on course seemed flat. Hayley Turner has been employed as the 'Face of the Derby' - I didn't come across any of that pre-race publicity.

Freud On Course: The Racing Lives of Clement Freud was published on Friday, with excerpts appearing in some newspapers. River Captain, a 16/1 shot, won Epsom's first race on Derby Day, the Investec Sir Clement Freud Memorial Heitage Handicap run over ten furlongs.

While Sea The Stars was winning the Derby, England's 4-0 victory over Kazakhstan was being covered live on Setanta. That firm is currently experiencing financial difficulties after defaulting on a payment of £3 million to the Scottish Premier League. Should the worst come to pass, what will happen to the contracted coverage of England's football matches? I'm not certain if Racing UK's coverage is arranged through Setanta as well...

Finally Coventry University hosts the 2009 Play The Game conference next week. On Tuesday evening at 8.00pm in Coventy Cathedral there's a debate on match-fixing which is open to the general public. The panel includes Mark Davies, MD of Betfair, Declan Hill, author of The Fix, and Michael Franzese, a former New York mob boss and match-fixer. I'm going along but intend to be on my very best behaviour...

3 comments:

Noel Bell said...

I agree: the Derby day seemed flat. Mind you it was downhill all the time following the switch to Saturdays imo. p.s That 'Play The Game' conference looks like it will be an interesting evening......

GeeDee said...

Hi Noel,

Yes, looking forward to this evening's debate; if I get a chance, I'll write a post. Not sure if this evening's debate will be streamed live, but some of the daytime presentations are...

http://www.playthegame.org/2009live

GeeDee said...

"Match-fixing - A blow to the core of sport", Tuesday 9th June 2009, Coventry Cathedral.

On demand streaming...

http://tinyurl.com/mxynkw [Part One]

http://tinyurl.com/lyw8me [part Two]