Ballydoyle tactics backfire
When questioned, O’Brien is usually most consistent, insisting the horse(s) is in the field to ensure a nice even gallop, which will be fair to everyone.
And mostly that’s exactly the way it works out. O’Brien’s view seems to be, when a race is run in such a manner, the best candidate nearly always wins. It is his opinion and one with which most of us are in agreement.
But there are occasions when the use of a front-runner by Ballydoyle has absolutely nothing to do with ensuring a level playing pitch for all concerned and the Irish Oaks at the Curragh last Saturday was surely a great example.
This really was a bit of a farce and the fact just a length and a half covered the first five home very much told its own story.
O’Brien’s Just Pretending went straight into the lead, but sat in front and anyone who wanted a strong pace was immediately inconvenienced.
The Epsom Oaks heroine, Talent, was obviously top of that list and she eventually trailed in a remote seventh of seven.
Mind you there were rumours circulating prior to the classic that Talent hadn’t travelled well to the Curragh, so it probably made no difference to her how the race was run in any case.
But that’s hardly the issue and the real point is Just Pretending’s sedate gallop for most of the journey was a little disappointing.
Tom Queally partnered the well-backed Lady Cecil-trained Riposte and made an early decision to go up and track Just Pretending.
That was in contrast to Royal Ascot, where Riposte came from behind to record an impressive success in the Ribblesdale Stakes.
Maybe, if he had his time over, Queally would have sat back and asked Riposte to come with one run.
But the easiest thing in the world is to be clever in hindsight and, I suppose, he was mindful of Just Pretending being allowed to kick away.
Johnny Murtagh was given plenty of praise, rightly so, for his handling of eventual winner, the French challenger, Chicquita, but must have been ecstatic at the way the race was run.
You’d imagine Murtagh could hardly believe his luck. Chicquita confirmed she is a multi-talented brat, but her suspect temperament was never put under any pressure, except in the closing stages.
Ironically, of course, the Ballydoyle tactics may have backfired, because their hitherto twice-raced Venus De Milo was only beaten half a length into second by the French filly.
She was doing all her best work through the final furlong, leaving the strong impression that a decent pace would have suited her admirably.
The subsequent stewards’ inquiry, after Chicquita had hung across the track, was gas, with Brian Gleeson particularly enjoying himself on RTÉ.
The poor decision, and that’s being kind, by the Killarney stewards to disqualify Positive Vibes earlier in the week was still fresh in the memory. Of course their conclusion was actually upheld on appeal on Thursday to leave one utterly puzzled.
Gleeson knew there was little chance of an alteration to the Oaks placings, but the longer it went on the more he kept the pot boiling. It was great entertainment entirely.
To my way of thinking the antics of Chicquita were far more pronounced than Positive Vibes and the Killarney stewards might have disqualified her. Logic, however, won the day and the result stood.
Anyway, it is interesting to note that the rules concerning stewards’ inquiries have recently been modified.
In the past the stewards, before they could act, as I understood it, had to be certain the result was affected, but that has now been changed to “the balance of probabilities’.’
It has to be regarded as a progressive move, as long as the amateur stewards all over the country prove capable of interpreting the said balance.
Galway looms large on Monday and the attendance and betting figures are going to be of huge importance.
But the question on most lips, through, will be just how many rabbits will Dermot Weld pull out of his hat?
Certainly there are signs of late that his horses are just hitting form at the right time, so maybe he can work the oracle yet again.
One of his we would like to see is Carla Bianca in that fillies’ maiden for juveniles on Tuesday night, but she doesn’t figure among the entries.
She made her debut at the Curragh a week ago and ran Aidan O’Brien’s highly rated Australia to three parts of a length.
The daughter of Dansili was going on nicely at the end and the fact it was five lengths back to the third was rather encouraging.
Who were the brave punters who decided to offer evens on the exchanges Make Your Mark in running at Tipperary last Sunday?
He was as close to a certainty as you could get in this game and went off at 4-11. But Make Your Mark threw some hairy leaps in the early stages and the trigger-happy boys on the computers couldn’t wait to let their fingers do the talking.
He had little to beat and had all-day to get organised, on the basis this was a three-mile affair. Davy Russell soon had him popping away and the six-year-old won without moving out of second gear.
