Bondi Beach to rule the Melbourne Cup
Normally viewing a recording of the race some hours later would more than suffice, but when you fancy one the live show is the only game in town.
I have felt for some time now that Aidan O’Brien has had this in mind for Bondi Beach and, with 10-1 freely available this week, a quarter the odds four places, resisting temptation proved impossible.
At such odds you don’t need a huge investment to reap a decent reward and if it goes belly up then there is no great harm done.
O’Brien has some unfinished business when it comes to the Melbourne Cup. Eight years ago he ran three horses in the contest and they trailed in 18th, 20th and 21st.
The stewards subsequently sought reasons for their poor showing, with an inquiry being held several hours after the race was run.
O’Brien was actually summoned back to the course from his dinner table at a hotel in the city of Melbourne.
He apparently regarded the line of questioning as hostile and the reports at the time indicated O’Brien was near to “boiling point’’.
Well, the old maxim tells us not to get mad, but to get even, so, hopefully, he may be a man on a mission come Tuesday.
Bondi Beach ran in the Cup a year ago, finishing 16th of 24. On that effort, he has no chance, although only beaten a little over six lengths in total.
Last year, however, you never really felt this was his main target, after he won the Voltigeur at York and then had a hard race at Doncaster when beaten a head into second by Simple Verse in the St Leger.
This year, Bondi Beach has had just four outings, never leaving Ireland. He made a winning seasonal debut at Limerick in April and followed up, at 1-9, by beating two rivals in a Group 3 at Navan in May.
Then the four-year-old disappeared off the radar for almost three months, returning to take third in another Group 3 at Leopardstown in early August.
And last month, in yet another Group 3, Bondi Beach was far from knocked about when third to Zhukova and US Army Ranger at Leopardstown.
If Bondi Beach does the business Aidan will surely enjoy his dinner a lot more than 2008, while we can hop back into the cot with sweet dreams virtually assured.
Mind you a drop of rain at Flemington would help.
is interesting to note an observer, or two, getting a trifle carried away with the displays of both Identity Thief and Disko at Punchestown last Saturday.
You certainly couldn’t crab what either of them did, on their debuts over fences, but a little perspective might be prudent.
Disko did well to win, having blundered badly at the seventh, but otherwise his jumping was really good and he strolled to success over second-rate opposition.
Identity Thief had nothing to beat, but his technique was essentially impeccable and the former hurdler clearly has a future at this game.
The problem, of course, with all of these early season heats is that none of them have been contested by horses trained by Willie Mullins.
He has yet to unveil any of his big guns and when Identity Thief and Disko take on Mullins inmates then that will give us a far better idea of their true merits.
One to particularly note from Punchestown, I think, is Stand Up And Fight, trained by Enda Bolger.
Making his seasonal debut, and only running for the second time, Stand Up And Fight was impressive in landing a maiden hurdle by five and a half lengths, finding loads in the straight.
Again there was no Mullins representative and that obviously tempers enthusiasm. I’d imagine Stand Up And Fight is a smart horse all the same.
know David Wachman won’t be training next season, which is even more sad now, considering the display of his White Satin Dancer in a one-mile maiden at Leopardstown last Sunday.
She made no more than a promising debut when third at the Curragh behind Hydrangea and Madame Cherie in August.
Hydrangea has done nicely in the meantime, but the second has since got hammered out the gate, so there were doubts regarding the value of the form.
But at Leopardstown, White Satin Dancer travelled like a dream throughout and powered clear over the final two furlongs to score by just under five lengths.
It was a seriously encouraging performance and, being by Oasis Dream, she is likely to be even better on a faster surface. Whatever trainer gets her next season will be thanking his lucky stars.
