Beresford punters guilty of not seeing the wood for the trees

MORNING prices exist, at least on occasions, to keep punters in the style to which they have become accustomed.

Last Sunday's Juddmonte Beresford Stakes at the Curragh was certainly a great example of just how people can buy into hype and, conveniently, ignore what the form book is telling them.

We are all guilty at times of going with the flow, both bookmakers and punters, and not seeing the wood for the trees.

The betting on this Group 2 was a prime example of logic, essentially, getting tossed out of the window.

All the layers were singing from the one hymn sheet and John Oxx's Akeed Mofeed was odds-on everywhere you looked.

When a favourite is a wrong price - much shorter than he should be - then there is likely to be value somewhere else.

And that was certainly the case with eventual winner, David Livingston. There was a little 7-1 available on Sunday morning and it was no problem getting on at 13-2.

Akeed Mofeed did look a possible star in the making when taking a maiden by five lengths at Leopardstown.

But he very much got the run of the race that day and there is a world of difference between a maiden and taking on relatively seasoned campaigners in a Group race.

Aidan O'Brien ran three in the Beresford and it was an absolute given that at least one of them would ask a serious question of Akeed Mofeed.

As it turned out, of course, common sense finally prevailed and a big hitter, or two, on Betfair decided they had to go after Oxx's horse and did so with gusto.

And so he became an odds against chance on the machine and some sort of reality was brought to the situation.

In the end David Livingston, who finally went off a 7-2 shot, ran powerfully from the front and held on close home to beat Akeed Mofeed by half a length.

I thought both horses emerged from the contest with great credit and we learned plenty about them.

We discovered that David Livingston is one tough cookie, who will always be particularly hard to beat on soft ground.

We had a fair idea that was the case anyway and, in truth, found out more about Akeed Mofeed.

Despite appearing to be all at sea on the surface, he stayed on in terrific fashion and, at least to my way of thinking, came out of the race with reputation greatly enhanced.

A possible star of the future? I believe probable star may prove far more accurate.

Perception is clearly king with the BHA

WELL, the British Horseracing Authority revealed its hand this week, issuing the new rules regarding the use of the whip.

They are, of course, largely a sop to the RSPCA and to many of those watching on television, who have little or no idea about the game. Perception, apparently, is king.

Most of the industry has come out in favour of the new rules and, if they work, then racing will all the better.

But for them to work jockeys are going to have to be able to count through a contest, as if they hadn't enough to worry about already.

They will only be able to hit a horse seven times on the flat and eight over jumps. And they can only administer a tickle five times after the last obstacle, or inside the final furlong.

And then there's the real sting that riding fees and, far more importantly, percentage of prize-money will be forfeited in more serious cases.

Jockey, Graham Lee, described the new rules as "black and white now and that is a good thing.''

There's no doubt the rules are black and white, the problem is that racing is not. Contrast two horses, for instance, Harchibald and Brave Inca.

Harchibald was a bridle horse and more likely to go slower, rather than faster, for a couple of belts of the whip.

Brave Inca was a masochist, who would never have won a Champion Hurdle for Tony McCoy, under the new rules.

There were very few dissenting voices within the industry, which was somewhat surprising, although trainer, Alan Bailey, was a notable exception.

He made a lot of sense, saying: "It's ridiculous. Fancy, if a jockey uses his whip six times, instead of five, in the last furlong of the Derby and he wins then loses his winning percentage. There will be a strike, won't there?''

Richard Hughes, while a big backer of the new rules, said: "The whip does not cause them (horses) pain. If need be I'll bare my backside in public and have the whip used on me to prove the point.'' Which begs the question, what the hell is this all about in the first place?

Anyway, the next few months are going to prove mighty interesting, with counting the name of the game.

Perhaps, it will all be seamless and the BHA will be shown to have got this exactly right. Yeah - and pigs will fly.

Roll on Cheltenham when all those "rough'' Irish jockeys will be in town.