Master set to takeover ‘iron horse’ mantle
The great Giant’s Causeway, of course, was the original version but, following the St James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot on Tuesday, there is every reason to think Mastercraftsman may well be mark II.
Listened to Willie Carson cackling on about how Ballydoyle got the tactics so right, in contrast to the Epsom Derby, but can’t say I quite saw it like that.
They ran two and Born To Be King was no better than useless, beaten after a couple of hundred yards.
Set Sail did better, but didn’t have the best of draws and took an eternity to hit ‘top’ gear and get to the front.
What it meant was that Johnny Murtagh spent the opening two furlongs waiting for something to give him a lead.
In the end it all worked out fine, but only because Mastercraftsman displayed the type of courage which made Giant’s Causeway so difficult to beat.
Certainly, wherever Mastercraftsman turns up next, if it’s on a quick surface over a mile, you would want horses blazing the trail for him who are a good bit classier than the pair who were entrusted with the job two days ago.
There is always the possibility, though, that the son of Danehill Dancer will show enormous improvement as Aidan O’Brien’s horses have a propensity for such advancement.
There was strong word, leading into Tuesday, that Mastercraftsman was burning up the Ballydoyle gallops, since winning the Irish 2000 Guineas, but this really was far too close for comfort.
Anyway, the conclusion to be drawn is that he will surely be unbeatable over a mile on soft ground, but just might be vulnerable on the type of surface he encountered at Ascot.
Johnny Murtagh got suspended for a day for his use of the whip on Mastercraftsman and that was a hard one to swallow.
What was he supposed to do? Here he was in a Group 1 with defeat starting him in the face as Delegator galloped all over Mastercraftsman facing into the final furlong.
If Murtagh hadn’t thrown the kitchen sink at his partner, the next time he approached the gates at Ballydoyle he would nearly have had them closed in his face!
It was bad enough that an heroic effort like Murtagh’s was penalised, but to then hear McCririck making the case on At The Races for horses to be disqualified in such circumstances was almost sickening.
McCririck is the self-professed champion of the punters, but you’d wonder if he really has any understanding of their mentality.
If you back a winner and then have to wait to see if it keeps the race, due to whip regulations, you are essentially doing a double.
No punter in his right mind would ever play on such a basis. You could never bet on the track again and betting would only be possible off-course, with the double-result merchants.
McCririck has literally beaten this particular drum to death and it’s time someone took the sticks off him, or whatever you use to hit those infernal contraptions, and stuck them where the sun don’t shine.
Getting back to Mastercraftsman, there seems little doubt but that he will be stepped up to ten furlongs at some stage.
Now that very much opens the possibility of a re-match with Epsom Derby hero, Sea The Stars.
John Oxx’s colt beat Mastercraftsman into fifth pace in the 2000 guineas at Newmarket, but a hell of a lot of water has flown under the mythical bridge since then.
Imagine if the pair met in the Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown. It might force many of us to do something which is quite unthinkable in the summer/autumn - actually go to Leopardstown.
At Ascot today, all the attention will be on Yeats and his attempt to create history and become the first horse to win four Gold Cups.
I know this is far from a vintage renewal and he’s head and shoulders over the opposition, but his comeback run at Navan was so bad that, perhaps, a watching brief might be the wisest course of action! Just a thought.
