Speed limit
Robin Oakley Twill never agree with the video referee 1 in England's World Cup final, even if he produces a certificate signed by every member of the Royal College of Opticians. Though the South Africans deserved their victory, for me Mark Cueto's effort will always be a try. But officials are not always wrong. The Newmarket stewards who the same day gave the Irish jockey Kevin Manning five days' suspension for improper riding on the Darley Dewhurst Stakes winner New Approach were absolutely right.
Yes, it was a thrilling victory from a firstclass field of the horses likely to contest next year's Classics. But I don't like to see success obtained by belting a two-year-old at least 15 times through the last two furlongs and Manning deserved everything he got on the charge of 'using his whip with excessive frequency'.
New Approach's success was much harder earned than anybody had expected from the most talented two-year-old we've seen this season, who is now the winter favourite both for the 2,000 Guineas and the Derby. But trainer Jim Bolger had an intriguing explanation. In preparing New Approach lately they had, he said, concentrated too much on getting him to settle.
'We overdid it because we have had Derbys in mind in the last two weeks. We have been making the running with him and we wanted to get him to settle. It was only ten days ago that we decided to go for the Dewhurst. I decided not to rev him and he's done no fast work except a half speed which was a scintillating bit of work.
'That was the reason for his tardiness. This was only a half speed for him and he was asleep most of the way.'
To which one would have to say that Kevin Manning gave the somnolent colt a pretty rude awakening. And when Jim Bolger says, 'We overdid the settling today and that nearly cost us the race, but we know how to solve that problem for the Guineas,' we can only hope that won't be with a flailing right arm from Kevin Manning.
With next year's Classics in mind, though, we should all take notice of what Jim Bolger says of New Approach, now unbeaten in five races: 'The ground was a bit holding but this feller is a machine. He shouldn't have any difficulty staying a mile and a half.' Asked about future plans for the colt, he reeled off a list including the 2,000 Guineas, the Derby, the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes, the Juddmonte International and the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. So tangible was the air of confidence you were only surprised he didn't include the Boat Race and the Monte Carlo Rally.
But when the trainer was asked if he had taken any of the prices offered for the first of the Classics there was rather more caution. 'Any money I'm throwing away I'll throw it around at Christmas.' Not surprising because Jim Bolger won the 2006 Dewhurst too, with the even more imposing Teofilo, the best horse he has ever trained, and Teofilo never made it to the racecourse again. On top of that the last trainer to win the Dewhurst twice running was another Irishman, the legendary Vincent O'Brien, with Monteverdi and Storm Bird in 1979 and 1980. Neither of them appeared in the next year's Guineas or ever won another race. Let us hope Jim Bolger is luckier this time.
Do not, incidentally, discard the second and third in the Dewhurst. Brian Meehan's Fast Company ran a blinder in second and John Gosden was thrilled with Raven's Pass, who finished third despite hating the ground.
You won't get a better day's racing than Newmarket provided on Champions' Day but all the biggest pots went abroad. Jockey Christophe Lemaire took the Champion Stakes for the second year running, this time on Literato, who provided trainer Jean-Claude Rouget with his first winner in Britain. The winner is not very big but he showed plenty of courage to hold on by a short head from Eagle Mountain. There were exuberant celebrations in the winner's enclosure from the travelling party, including owner Herve Morin, who is France's defence minister. He was very welcome. The last senior politician I can recall in Britain with a horse of any note was Winston Churchill.
As for the Cesarewitch, the marathon handicap over two miles and two furlongs, that was another for Ireland with Tony Martin's Leg Spinner, for whom the ground had just dried up enough, coming home in the hands of Johnny Murtagh. Behind him were Caracciola, last year's winner Fair Along and another Irish horse, Al Eile, trained by John Que ally. So all the first four were hurdlers trained by handlers who specialise in jumpers. Fair Along's trainer is Philip Hobbs, and Nicky Henderson, who trains Caracciola for Piers Pottinger, won the race in 2003 with Landing Light.
Take that as a betting pointer for next year.
Nicky Henderson, who was slightly kicking himself for earning a 41b penalty for Caracciola in winning an earlier race at Bath, consoled himself with the thought that Caracciola had won £35,000 in six weeks. Not long ago he had said to Piers, 'I don't know what we can do with this horse.' He's ten, so he's too old to sell. He's not mad about fences, he's too high in the handicap over hurdles, so what do you do?
What do you do? You trouser the prize money, have another drink, and keep on running him If only every horse gave his connections so much fun.
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