No shortage of opinions in the Teofilo/Emperor debate
Following as good a Dewhurst as has ever been run at Newmarket on Saturday, the score now stands at 2-0 to Teofilo and, yet, the jury remains largely out as to which of them is the best.
The majority opinion seems to be that Teofilo will always outbattle his rival, but there are plenty in the other camp as well.
Teofilo has won all five of his races and has simply got better and better. His canny trainer, Jim Bolger, believes that as talented as he is now, we will see a far better horse next season.
It is easy enough to understand his thinking, because the son of Galileo has the size and scope to make dramatic improvement through the winter.
Holy Roman Emperor has been kept busy and Saturday was his seventh race as a juvenile. There are those who will tell you, and they aren't slow either, that if Aidan O'Brien truly saw him as a potential classic winner then he would not have campaigned him the way he has.
I have read that Holy Roman Emperor is the complete two-year-old and unlikely to train on.
It is the type of debate which enhances racing and everyone seems to have an opinion. My own? Well, I wouldn't be surprised if Holy Roman Emperor's blinding speed, given good ground, saw him win the English 2000 Guineas next May.
Perhaps, a mile will be the minimum for Teofilo as a three-year-old. Anyway, these continue to be terrific days for Irish racing and, imagine, having the first and second favourites for the 2000 Guineas as the harsh winter beckons
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WHAT does the future hold for Kieren Fallon? At the moment he is stuck in a sort of limbo and there was something decidedly sad that he had to ride at Cork on Saturday when his heart, and the real action, was at Newmarket.
If his case in England doesn't come up until well into next year then it is hard to see how he can go on being the Ballydoyle number one.
Coolmore stallions are essentially made in England and Fallon is really of limited use to them when he cannot go to ride there.
You could argue, for instance, that his absence from Holy Roman Emperor on Saturday may have made the difference between victory and defeat.
No one is a greater admirer of Michael Kinane, but this was his first time partnering Holy Roman Emperor in a race.
Fallon was aboard in his previous six outings and knows the horse like the back of his hand. The margins in top class flat contests are very tight and small things can cause major alterations to results.
George Washington is another case in point. Kinane sat on him for the first time in a Group Two at Goodwood and the horse missed the break and ran free, before finishing third to Caradak.
There was no messing next time, however, with Kinane clearly the boss, guiding George to a brilliant success in the Queen Elizabeth 11 Stakes at Ascot.
The point is that it just won't make sense to have Fallon riding all the horses domestically and then handing them over to somebody else when they head for England.
It isn't the type of messing with which Ballydoyle-Coolmore, understandably, would be happy, you'd imagine.
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NOEL MEADE, a bit like Jim Bolger, isn't a man for making sweeping statements, but he really let the cat out of the bag after his newcomer, Aran Concerto, had won a bumper at Naas on Sunday with any amount in hand.
Meade said he could be the best he's ever trained and might be a Gold Cup horse. Racing is littered with trainers, and indeed jockeys, who made a comment on the spur of the moment and lived to regret it for a long time afterwards.
Marry in haste and repent at your leisure and all that!
It will certainly mean that Aran Concerto is going to have the eyes of the racing world gazing very much in his direction on the next occasion he appears on a racecourse. What if Meade is right?
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GLANCING at the entries for Fairyhouse this Saturday, it seems safe to assume we are about to embark on a number of weeks when large-scale balloting will again be the order of the day.
The maiden hurdle has attracted a staggering 148, the 74-109 handicap hurdle 85, beginners chase 70 and the colts and geldings bumper 63.
Trainers, you suspect, are set for a frustrating period and unless HRI puts on plenty more racing between now and Christmas, the only answer will be to load up and head across the channel.
