The turf
Loyalty stakes
Robin Oakley
Talking of joy unconfined (well, we almost did) I have not seen many better examples yet than the cheery chappie I accompanied down in the lift at Kempton on Bank Holiday Monday with his retinue. Berets are replacing baseball caps as the in- thing, I had read that morning. In a fetch- ing little black number marked with the Wentworth logo, a gent who turned out to be His Royal Highness Sultan Ahmad Shah, a man presumably more accustomed to coronets, was repeating 'Ten to One, Ten to One' in tones which rose from the thoughtful to the ecstatic. He had every right to do so, as he was on the way to greet his horse Pulau Tioman, a worthy winner of the day's big race, the Coral Rosebery Stakes. HRH, who had explained to us that the horse was named after an island in his patch out East, didn't even lose his smile when one fellow-scribe asked if he came from Nepal, which in my atlas looks rather short of a seaboard. So long as it stays soft, Pulau Tioman can be expected to win again. But watch the track. His canny trainer reckons the miler is a much better horse on the turn when he can be tucked in behind the others and come late.
Another horse who should surely win again while he has the soft ground is David Arbuthnot's sprinter Monkston Point, who dominated his field in the kickon.com Con- ditions Stakes. His trainer says that Monkston Point, now gelded, has enjoyed the move from Compton to his new Lam- bourn base as much as any in his stable. Five and six furlongs come alike to him and he looks like one of those cases of a good sprinting two-year-old who misses out at three only to become a stalwart over the next few seasons.
The third soft-ground specialist who seems worth following while conditions are his way is John Dunlop's Right Wing. Pat Eddery, whose treble showed all his old determination, had him waiting to pounce inside the final furlong and he made the victory in the Magnolia Stakes look easy. The trainer was especially perky after- wards: trainer-son Ed filled the third and fourth places in the race and younger son Harry was there to saddle Awuz Pasha for his boss Henry Cecil. 'I like to see them,' he said, `. . down that end of the unsad- dling enclosure.'
I was there partly to see the good young jockey Neil Pollard, who now faces the cru- cial test. Kempton victories on that old character Ivor's Flutter and on Hill Magic had been stepping stones in his career.
I'm going to walk around the school — keep me under constant surveillance.' Plenty of trainers had been willing to put him up over the past couple of seasons while he had his apprentice allowances to accompany his natural flair. But he rode out his claim before the end of last season and now faces the competition for rides on equal terms with the likes of Kieren Fallon, Richard Quinn and Pat Eddery.
Many a good ex-apprentice has fallen into the black hole at this point. I do not believe Neil Pollard will. First, he has real talent. Horses run sweetly for him and he has a calm tactical sense. Second, he is level-headed. Despite his string of success- es, like the victory on Barry Hills's Show- boat in the Royal Hunt Cup at Ascot last year, he says, 'I am still very much on a learning curve. There is confidence there but not a trace of bumptiousness. And finally he is still riding out every day for David Elsworth, the man who helped to make his career after earlier spells with Jack Berry and Mark Johnston.
Loyalty has been an Elsworth hallmark and Neil will not be sidelined in his home yard for some flavour of the month new prospect. 'He's been brilliant, he's helped all along,' says the 21-year-old. There is no formal arrangement, but it is likely Neil will get the rides for the 100-horsepower stable which Fallon and Quinn are not free to take and he says they have a great set of two-year-olds.
Fresh from a successful winter season ill Dubai riding for Paddy Rudkin, Neil is ready for his big test. He grins and acknowledges, 'What I need is a couple of good Saturday TV winners.' Trainers who put him up will know they are getting a man on his mettle and we are talking about a rider who scored 52 wins last season. If racing lets him become a fashion victim as the new generation of apprentices kicks on, then the sport will be the poorer.
Robin Oakley is political editor of the BBC.
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