Drawn out saga at Santa Anita just too much to take
I watched it on both Friday and Saturday night, but actually skipped the final contest in the early hours of Sunday morning, just had enough of it, and couldn't believe how uninspiring the whole thing was.
There is no doubt that the meeting has been very much diluted by spreading out over two days, rather than sticking to just one.
This was just so repetitive and literally every race was like the one that went before, irrespective of the distance of each contest.
I do think, though, that the actual Santa Anita track had much to do with the fact it was so disappointing. People who have been to Santa Anita tell me it is a beautiful place and one doesn't doubt that for a second.
But the course over which some of the best thoroughbreds in the world were asked to race was no more than a glorified greyhound track.
The likes of William Buick and Richard Hughes enjoyed far from trouble-free passages at times, but you couldn't blame any jockey for getting it wrong at Santa Anita.
The short run from the final bend to the winning post was ridiculous and offered no sort of spectacle. Added to that you had massive gaps between races and the entire affair seemed to drag on almost endlessly.
Contrast Santa Anita with what was on offer from Flemington for the Melbourne Cup into the early hours of last Tuesday morning.
Flemington looks like a magnificent racecourse, spacious and with a terrific long run in from the final bend.
Watching the coverage on ATR was hugely entertaining, it was colourful and lively and at no stage, unlike the Breeders' Cup, did you almost lose the will to live.
Flemington is an entirely fitting location for the race that stops a nation, while on the next occasion Santa Anita houses the Breeders' Cup then it will get the old Brian O'Driscoll swerve from this scribbler.
Have they discovered the right way to ride First Lieutenant, following his second behind Kauto Stone in the JNwine.com Champion Chase at Down Royal on Saturday?
When he beat Rock On Ruby a short head in the Neptune Investment Management Novice Hurdle at Cheltenham last year then you really had to think that here was a possible star of the future over fences.
After all Rock On Ruby subsequently progressed to land this year's Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham and the form could hardly be any stronger.
But First Lieutenant hadn't progressed as a chaser and even Davy Russell seemed to have given up on him.
He had a choice of Gigginstown House Stud horses for the Down Royal feature and went with Quito De La Roque, who eventually finished a creditable third, in preference to First Lieutenant.
So the ride on First Lieutenant went to Bryan Cooper, who quickly allowed him bowl along at the front.
And the imposing seven-year-old always looked happy, jumped beautifully and was only beaten a length at the end.
Anyway, he was definitely beginning to shape like a horse to avoid, but this was encouraging.
A horse we certainly have to avoid, at least until we know better, is Tony Martin's Bog Warrior.
Ruby Walsh partnered him to win the Drinmore at Fairyhouse last December, by 31 lengths, and to say the jockey was impressed would be an understatement.
But then he took a crashing fall at Leopardstown at Christmas and has never been the same since.
Bog Warrior went off a short-priced favourite win a Grade 3 at Down Royal a week ago and tried to make all of the running.
But he never appeared happy and was struggling badly when taking another tumble at the final fence.
It won't half test Martin's skills to get him back to something approaching his best and, perhaps, a spin over flights mightn't be the worst idea in the world.
It was very disappointing that Sizing Europe failed to meet his engagement at Down Royal last Saturday.
His trainer, Henry de Bromhead, maintained the stated going description was wrong and that's why he didn't run his horse.
Down Royal manager, Mike Todd, accepted there was a change in the description, but that it was essentially insignificant.
All in all it was a mess, utterly unsatisfactory and did absolutely nothing for the image of racing.
