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...
Showing posts with label sir clement freud. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sir clement freud. Show all posts
Sunday, June 07, 2009
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Noted in running
What a fine weekend's work for Johnny Murtagh! He wins the Irish 2000 Guineas aboard Mastercraftsman on Saturday and then twenty four hours later collects the Irish 1000 Guineas on the appropriately-named Again.
Last week I wrote a paragraph highlighting Rip Van Winkle's chance in the Derby, provided, of course, you took the view the horse will stay. The rumour-mill has kicked into overdrive over the past couple of days, to such an extent that Rip Van Winkle is now as low as 4/1 (previously 10/1 with several layers) for the Epsom classic. Murtagh is on record as saying he has a 'soft spot' for Rip but he won't let his heart rule his head when he has to choose. Several observers have taken this as an indication Murtagh will ride Rip Van Winkle - I'm not so sure. If you have 10/1 Rip, now may be the time to consider a hedge on Fame And Glory, priced up at 7/2 with Coral.
Amongst other things Epsom racecourse is set to host 'Breakfast With The Stars' this coming Thursday and the Clement Freud Memorial, a £50,000 handicap, on Derby Day; 'Freud On Course' is due to be published by Racing Post books on Friday 5th June.
Talking of Sir Clement Freud - if the great man were still with us, I'm sure he would have had plenty to say on this 'Duck Pond parliament' and in the process would have marked our card on the market for the new House of Commons Speaker. I can't find Robin Oakley on Twitter so instead I've asked Austin Mitchell, Labour MP for Great Grimsby, to point us in the right direction. I recognise it's something of a longshot and I'm not holding my breath; so far I haven't heard a peep from the man, but, rest assured, if he passes on anything of interest, I'll let you know...
I bought the Racing Post on Saturday primarily to read Alistair Down's interview with John Inverdale. Honest. And a jolly interesting read it is too. Mr. Inverdale isn't particularly high on my list of preferred presenters - Alistair Down's line 'I had formed the opinion down the years that Inverdale would always get a game with the "Little Bit Pleased With Himself XI"...' echoed my perception. I've often thought Inverdale more interested in playing for laughs rather than asking questions the viewer wants answered. It turns out the BBC presenter has been an avid racing fan since childhood, has owned parts of several mediocre horses and now owns a part of a rather good one in the shape of Amour Propre. Perhaps time for a re-think on my part, methinks...
This time of year I can never decide whether to concentrate solely on the jumps or focus on the Flat; the result is I end up falling between the two stools. Over the jumps it was good to see Sam Thomas ride a double at Cartmel last night (for trainer Tom George) on his comeback after a crunching fall at Plumpton a fortnight ago. On the Flat, a reminder to those who like to bet the two-year-olds, Jason Coote's H.C.E. Horse Racing Tips is well worth consulting.
Finally, on Friday sports writers had some fun when (David) Horsey set off in front in the PGA Championship at Wentworth. Since then, Horsey has failed to keep up with the pace and has been swamped by his field...
Last week I wrote a paragraph highlighting Rip Van Winkle's chance in the Derby, provided, of course, you took the view the horse will stay. The rumour-mill has kicked into overdrive over the past couple of days, to such an extent that Rip Van Winkle is now as low as 4/1 (previously 10/1 with several layers) for the Epsom classic. Murtagh is on record as saying he has a 'soft spot' for Rip but he won't let his heart rule his head when he has to choose. Several observers have taken this as an indication Murtagh will ride Rip Van Winkle - I'm not so sure. If you have 10/1 Rip, now may be the time to consider a hedge on Fame And Glory, priced up at 7/2 with Coral.
Amongst other things Epsom racecourse is set to host 'Breakfast With The Stars' this coming Thursday and the Clement Freud Memorial, a £50,000 handicap, on Derby Day; 'Freud On Course' is due to be published by Racing Post books on Friday 5th June.
Talking of Sir Clement Freud - if the great man were still with us, I'm sure he would have had plenty to say on this 'Duck Pond parliament' and in the process would have marked our card on the market for the new House of Commons Speaker. I can't find Robin Oakley on Twitter so instead I've asked Austin Mitchell, Labour MP for Great Grimsby, to point us in the right direction. I recognise it's something of a longshot and I'm not holding my breath; so far I haven't heard a peep from the man, but, rest assured, if he passes on anything of interest, I'll let you know...
I bought the Racing Post on Saturday primarily to read Alistair Down's interview with John Inverdale. Honest. And a jolly interesting read it is too. Mr. Inverdale isn't particularly high on my list of preferred presenters - Alistair Down's line 'I had formed the opinion down the years that Inverdale would always get a game with the "Little Bit Pleased With Himself XI"...' echoed my perception. I've often thought Inverdale more interested in playing for laughs rather than asking questions the viewer wants answered. It turns out the BBC presenter has been an avid racing fan since childhood, has owned parts of several mediocre horses and now owns a part of a rather good one in the shape of Amour Propre. Perhaps time for a re-think on my part, methinks...
This time of year I can never decide whether to concentrate solely on the jumps or focus on the Flat; the result is I end up falling between the two stools. Over the jumps it was good to see Sam Thomas ride a double at Cartmel last night (for trainer Tom George) on his comeback after a crunching fall at Plumpton a fortnight ago. On the Flat, a reminder to those who like to bet the two-year-olds, Jason Coote's H.C.E. Horse Racing Tips is well worth consulting.
Finally, on Friday sports writers had some fun when (David) Horsey set off in front in the PGA Championship at Wentworth. Since then, Horsey has failed to keep up with the pace and has been swamped by his field...
Sunday, April 19, 2009
The bottom drawer...
On Saturday the going at Newbury was described as soft while Ayr was on the fast side of good; for a moment I thought the two reports had been inadvertently mixed up! Hello Bud won the Scottish National in some style, managing to successfully make all over four miles. In that race Timmy Murphy was originally booked to ride Merigo, owned by his father-in-law, but the horse was withdrawn on account of the ground. Now I'm sure the thought must have crossed Timmy's mind that perhaps he'd managed to wriggle out of a potentially awkward situation there... None of it. Raymond Green, a big Rangers fan, had Timmy ride another of his runners, King Barry, named after the Rangers midfielder Barry Ferguson. After recent events I'm sure Barry would have appreciated some decent publicity; King Barry did his best to oblige, running up with the pace for much of the race but he faded from five out, finishing a respectable seventh.
A week on the Flat - Fantasia wins the Nell Gwyn impressively, Brian Meehan's Delegator the Craven without breaking sweat. Mr Meehan must have thought he'd bagged the Fred Darling as well with Super Sleuth but Mick Channon's Lahaleeb claimed the spoils in the shadow of the post. Jim Bolger's Vocalised won the Greenham but looks likely to miss the Guineas.
My miserable existence has become that little bit more miserable with the news of the passing of Sir Clement Freud. There have been several tributes in the press. My two favourite Sir Clement stories are his managing to secure payment equal to the Prime Minister's (at that time) for appearing with Henry the basset hound when promoting Minced Morsels in a television advertising campaign, and his placing a bet of £1,000 on himself to win the Isle of Ely by-election in 1973 at the rather rewarding odds of 33/1.
With the Flat about to take centre stage, Mrs Tips has stated that one of my summer jobs is to read Eclipse by Nicholas Clee. I fully intend to do so (and write a comprehensive review to boot) but, as is the case with several married men I know, once my wife has told me to do something, I never quite get around to it...
Finally, it may have escaped your notice that on April 9th Kim Bailey's Max Bygraves won a novices' handicap hurdle at Ludlow. Rumours that the jockey, J M Maguire, dismounted and started his post-race debrief by saying 'I wanna tell ya a little sto-ry' are wide of the mark.
A week on the Flat - Fantasia wins the Nell Gwyn impressively, Brian Meehan's Delegator the Craven without breaking sweat. Mr Meehan must have thought he'd bagged the Fred Darling as well with Super Sleuth but Mick Channon's Lahaleeb claimed the spoils in the shadow of the post. Jim Bolger's Vocalised won the Greenham but looks likely to miss the Guineas.
My miserable existence has become that little bit more miserable with the news of the passing of Sir Clement Freud. There have been several tributes in the press. My two favourite Sir Clement stories are his managing to secure payment equal to the Prime Minister's (at that time) for appearing with Henry the basset hound when promoting Minced Morsels in a television advertising campaign, and his placing a bet of £1,000 on himself to win the Isle of Ely by-election in 1973 at the rather rewarding odds of 33/1.
With the Flat about to take centre stage, Mrs Tips has stated that one of my summer jobs is to read Eclipse by Nicholas Clee. I fully intend to do so (and write a comprehensive review to boot) but, as is the case with several married men I know, once my wife has told me to do something, I never quite get around to it...
Finally, it may have escaped your notice that on April 9th Kim Bailey's Max Bygraves won a novices' handicap hurdle at Ludlow. Rumours that the jockey, J M Maguire, dismounted and started his post-race debrief by saying 'I wanna tell ya a little sto-ry' are wide of the mark.
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