Horatio has heart for Derby battle
I have long believed the colt capable of winning the greatest classic of them all, but if Fallon had said no thanks it would, obviously, have lessened one’s confidence.
He was a superb two-year-old and many of us thought he went into winter quarters very much a worthy favourite for the Derby.
But the appearance of Visindar on the scene and a relatively moderate effort in the Newmarket 2000 Guineas saw him drift, almost alarmingly, to a high of 9-1. At the start of the season such a price would have been quite unthinkable.
Horatio finished only eighth behind George Washington in the Guineas and, trained by anyone else but Aidan O’Brien, he’d now be a 20-1 shot, at least.
We all know, however, the way O’Brien operates. The Guineas was not the big day for this lad; Saturday has clearly always been the main target.
Essentially, one suspects, everyone in Ballydoyle knew that if Horatio started the day before he wouldn’t beat George Washington over a mile on fast ground.
You can be absolutely certain, however, he has been hard-trained for a number of weeks now and, wherever he finishes in two days time, will leave his Newmarket running a long way behind.
What I particularly liked about Horatio Nelson as a juvenile was his ability to buckle down and battle.
You can have all the talent in the world, but if your heart isn’t in the right place in a war such as this then it is just not going to be good enough.
I cannot come to terms with Visindar being such a short-priced favourite. Glancing at a reasonably detailed selection yesterday there wasn’t much 2-1 available, with 7-4 the general offer.
He will surely be much bigger on the day, because the layers on-course will want to get Andre Fabre’s charge.
They will, presumably, factor in the real possibility of Christophe Soumillon getting lost somewhere along the way!
To my eyes there is one major danger to Horatio Nelson and that is Sir Percy. We know he was under a cloud after the 2000 Guineas, but Marcus Tregoning would not risk him if he wasn’t 100%.
Sir Percy beat an admittedly unlucky-in-running Horatio Nelson a neck in the Dewhurst at Newmarket in October.
You can argue his second to George Washington at Newmarket is the best piece of form any horse carries into this contest.
He had Araafa over two lengths behind in fourth and he boosted the form with a clear-cut win in Saturday’s Irish 2000 Guineas at the Curragh.
Anyway, I have been waffling on about Horatio Nelson for many months now and have no notion of deserting him at this stage.
* EVEN By Dermot Weld’s amazingly high standards, getting Nightime to win Sunday’s Irish 1000 Guineas at the Curragh was an extraordinary feat.
The fact she scored by six lengths rendered it almost unbelievable. The daughter of Galileo, on what she had achieved previously, had no right to be in the first three.
Her claim to fame was beating David Wachman’s Miss Dela and Phantom Lad by two lengths and the same, with Crookhaven another head away in fourth, in a Cork maiden.
Miss Dela hasn’t been seen since, Phantom Lad could hardly run to warm himself at Ballinrobe during the week and Crookhaven was eighth to Araafa at the Curragh on Sunday. Further evidence D.K continues to walk on water.
Two horses who should be losing their maiden tags very shortly, from the Curragh on Sunday, are Magicalmysterytour and Galilean.
They were second and third respectively, beaten a short head and a length and a half, behind Noel Meade’s Rockall Blizzard.
I’m still trying to fathom how Magicalmysterytour managed to turn glorious victory into agonising defeat and you would have to like the way Galilean came home.
