Big Time could well catapult John Murphy into the ... big time!
The first thing we found out was that War Command is clearly nowhere near as good as he looked when winning the Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot by six lengths.
We all know the form of that Coventry isn’t working out at all, but one was still inclined to think that this horse was a possible star of the future , so impressive was he.
But the old adage that anyone can impress when passing out trees was never better illustrated.
War Command was quite brilliant at Ascot, but the form has been repeatedly let down and the horse we saw at the Curragh is almost certainly the right one going forward. He went off at 2-5 and, as the contest unfolded, you could only begin to kick yourself that you hadn’t opposed him.
We’re long enough at this game to realise that no matter how good a horse looks, he is always beatable, if not having the form in the book to back it up. And, after all, he was taking on two tough customers in Sudirman and Big Time, who respectively beat him half a length and the same into third spot.
War Command remains decent, but many of us jumped the gun, none more so than the ante-post bookmakers, who had him as their favourite for the English 2000 Guineas. He was 6-1 prior to the Curragh and you could have as high as 16-1 this week.
Big Time emerged from the Phoenix Stakes with great credit and may yet catapult his Cork trainer, John Murphy, into the big time!
My memory wouldn’t be the best, but cannot remember a top class horse that is a probable Group 1 winner ever being trained in Cork.
John is having a smashing season and, in Big Time, he really does have something to fire at the major battalions.
The Curragh also revealed, to our cost, that Sea Siren is highly unlikely to develop into a top-notch sprinter.
She won three Group 1s in Australia and made an excellent debut in Ireland when scoring at the first time of asking at Fairyhouse.
The conditions of the Curragh Group 3 on Sunday greatly favoured her, but she could only struggle home a disappointing third behind Slade Power.
The five-year-old went off at even money and, on the face of it, you’d imagine was very strongly fancied.
But, nearing the off, Sea Siren was a big drifter on the exchanges and that is always a worry.
Those hawking her, at what looked too generous a price, were well ahead of the rest of us and had their reward.
If War Command and Sea Siren were Ballydoyle disappointments then Tapestry, was the exact opposite.
She was particularly good in winning a Group 2 for fillies, initially finding plenty for pressure and then quickening clear in style in the closing stages.
And what about Ballydoyle’s Terrific, who found any amount of improvement to land a little touch in a two-year-old maiden?
The daughter of Galileo made her debut at the Curragh in late June, finishing 12th of 15 finishers behind Paul Deegan’s Avenue Gabriel.
Look at the tape of the race and you will that she was slowly away, was ridden after about three or four furlongs and, quite honestly, could hardly be mapped down as a likely winner, at least not in the near future.
But fast-forward 44 days, the fitting of a visor and a favourable draw in four and it was like watching a different horse.
Backed from 7-2 to 9-4, Terrific came out well enough on this occasion and made virtually all to win quite cosily.
Ballinrobe on Tuesday night emphasised, at least the concluding maiden hurdle did, that when your luck is out the temptation to chuck this game must, at least at times, be almost overwhelming.
Shark Hanlon has been having a frustrating campaign and, heading to Ballinrobe, had just two winners on the board and a strike rate of 2%.
In that maiden hurdle, however, he unveiled Old Kilcash, who was a bit of a good thing, as long as he stripped at his best.
He was a certainty on his third to Moyle Park and Blackmail, two very smart winter horses, at Leopardstown last Christmas.
The doubts were raised, however, by an inexplicably poor effort on the part of Old Kilcash at Leopardstown in January.
The five-year-old went off the 6-4 favourite, but dropped away tamely before the straight to finish a remote ninth.
He was subsequently found to be blowing hard, but otherwise there was no explanation for a shocking effort.
Onto Ballinrobe then and his debut over flights. Old Kilcash went off a heavily backed 11-10 favourite and seemed to have the race in safe keeping when taking a crashing fall at the last.
For the Shark, and those who were on the horse, it surely wasn’t a million miles from being the last straw.
After all, here is a man who has trained more seconds this season than any other National Hunt trainer in Ireland - 15 to be precise.
