The turf
My flat favourites
Robin Oakley
Pyramus never yearned for Thisbe nor even Bunter for his postal order with quite the ardour with which each year I await my first glimpse of Tirrieform's Racehorses annual. Its comforting, chunky presence on the racing shelf reassures that there are constants in a changing world. Its writers summarise achievement and character with the pithiness of my late headmaster, who once damned my term's efforts with the stinging advice: 'Oakley must learn to give the examiner the cream from the top and not the whole bottle.' Just as well he didn't have to hand the repertoire of Timeform rating symbols to choose from, including the dreaded double squiggle, damning its recipient to equine hellfire as 'so tempera- mentally unsatisfactory as to be not worth a rating'.
This year's volume (available from Time- form in Halifax, Yorkshire at £67) writes the British racing epitaph of Distinctly Lil- lie, for example, as 'poor and untrustwor- thy maiden: often slowly away and refused to race third outing. Sent to Czech Repub- lic'. Prague punters beware. Half the fun though is seeing what the team makes of one's own notebook fancies and in select- ing my Ten for the Flat I have made sure I have Timeform on my side.
When I spoke at Kempton the other day to John Reid he was full of regret at the good horses which had been sold out of Peter Chapple-Hyam's stable by Robert Sangster to go to Godolphin, where he is unlikely to ride many of them. He was especially sorry to have lost Cape Verdi, now the favourite for the 1,000 Guineas. Though she was only fourth in the Cheve- 'The bitch! I bet she's had implants!' ley Park last season to Embassy she beat her in the Stakis Lowther Stakes at York. Bred for the Oaks rather than the Guineas, she has shown surprising speed. She has wintered in Dubai and after a public trial at Nad el Sheba the Godolphin team reckon her their best hope of Classic success this season. She will do for me.
Another Godolphin prospect is Central Park, bought out of Paul Cole's yard, according to Timeform, for a rumoured £1 million. He flopped in the Dewhurst last October, but had earlier impressed both in the Chesham Stakes at Ascot and winning a Haydock maiden by ten lengths. As a Classic prospect I am also keen on Michael Stoute's Greek Dance, convincing winner of the Museum Maiden at the opening Newmarket meeting. Walter Swinburn hardly moved a muscle on him until they were out of the Dip and they won easily from a decent field. The strong-looking Sadler's Wells colt could go to the very top and what a joy it would be to see the old firm of Stoute and Swinbum take a Classic with him.
Michael Stoute has proved he has no equal as a trainer of older horses and one who might with luck begin to take the place of Singspiel is his four-year-old Royal Academy colt Greek Palace.
Henry Cecil has had a bumpy start this season but the work watchers have been very sweet on his Fleetwood, a three-year- old by Groom Dancer. All we have on the racetrack is an eight-lengths win in a Hay- dock maiden last September, but it took Kieren Fallon six furlongs to pull up the colt that day. Fleetwood had his knees cleaned out last back end and is short of racing experience but Fallon says he gave him an unbelievable feel when he won his maiden.
Clive Brittain has already shocked the stars with Castle Cloud's Newmarket win, and I like his Air Express, winner last sea- son of the Italian and German 2,000 Guineas as well as the Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot in September for the top mile events. In two Ascot races last year he beat Guineas winners from France, Ireland and Britain.
I always like a decent sprinter in my portfolio and did not take long to settle on John Dunlop's Elnadim. He took the Dia- dem Stakes at Ascot last season in near record time and John Dunlop says that he has really developed over the winter. My other speed merchant is Mark Johnston's Land of Dreams, winner of the Flying Childers at Doncaster in September. Her trainer says the Cadeaux Genereux filly is so fast he struggles to find anything to work her with.
We need a stayer in the list and I will go for Celeric, the winner in the dying strides last season of an epic Ascot Gold Cup. He should achieve further successes with John Dunlop after the sad death of his former handler David Morley. Remember though that David Morley always said the horse needed a race to set him up. Dunlop's tar- get will be the Gold Cup again and he will probably start the six-year-old at York and then take in one other race first.
Finally, when in the election campaign last year John Major's team visited Luca Cumani in Newmarket they were advised to stick the party funds on Grapeshot, who was second in the Craven and who won the Predominate on his only two runs. Ruled out of the Derby through injury, he had the rest of the season off but is now 100 per cent. Cumani plans to start him over ten furlongs at Sandown and then move up to 12. May they all give us the cream from the top.
Robin Oakley is political editor of the BBC.
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