All Roads Lead To The Arc.

Well it seems as though it's finally been confirmed, the Antipodean assassin, So You Think is on his way to Longchamp. Ballydoyle's all round good guy and champion of all things important to Coolmore, Aiden O'Brien, has publicly stated that the horse has a date with the Prix de L'Arc de Triomphe early next month.

Of course the door has been left slightly ajar, with the stipulation that the state of the track will be the final arbiter. The horse will not take his place in the field if the going on the day is less than reasonable. If So You Think is pulled from the Arc, Ballydoyle will have just 13 days to freshen the horse for the shorter trip of the Champion Stakes at Ascot on the 15th.

With the quality of this years Arc beginning to suffer, it seems a prudent time to throw the son of High Chaparral into the deep end. This coupled with his stirling win in the Coral Eclipse when he ran down the Derby/Arc winner Workforce, probably set in train, plans to head for France. The big question in the run up to the race, is whether he'll go to the gates as the favourite.

 

AOB says....

Listen Cyclonic, obviously we just may run him in the Arc but we'd be silly not to keep our options open; and I wouldn't say the "door has been left slightly ajar"- it's wide open cos I may have to fit several horses through it!
But listen, listen, I only said the horse has a 'date' with Longchamp- we need to look at other dates and study the going. If it's good ground, then that obviously ticks one box out of several- no, I don't know all the others at this stage. Do you?
Thing is he's been on the go since May and, add that to his previous long trip from down under, we just have to consider the horse's welfare. He's only human after all!
Phone rings......must go , Cyclonic, the vet's coming to do So You Think's blood count. No it doesn't matter I can't count. What counts is that HE can count! (AOB smiles).
See you at Longchamp- or maybe Ascot- or Newmarket.
What matters is obviously you'll all know what I'm going to do when I do it.....if you've been listening!

 

What does a trainer do anyway? Vets give "em the drugs, Jocs sit on 'em, and the horse freaken runs. And trainers get the glory. Where's the justice???

 

The trainer......TALKS! ......andI don't know what 'justice' has to do with it. As my old man used to say..."They don't run 'em for me and you."
Seriously, it's probably down to the backroom staff in many cases- likewise football managers. We all know most of the latter couldn't manage a p-ss up in a brewery- and spend most of their time working out their contract for their next club move.
Good morning by the way, Cyclonic.

 

Interesting that they've chosen the Arc, I was convinced he was Champion Stakes bound. I'm just hoping they do run in the Arc, and this isn't yet another Coolmoore PR stunt.

If he goes for the Arc he has a shout, whether his form is good enough, I'm not convinced. I still feel Nathaniel is a little bit special, though I wouldn't be suprised to see SYT beat the rest home.

 

I hope they do run him Shergy, it will certainly throw more interest into the race. I also like the look of Nathaniel mate, his win at Ascot over Workforce was full of merit. He still has some way to go yet as that was just his first G1 win. But as he's only had a handful of runs, that can't be held against him. I'd certainly like to have him in my back yard. At this point though, at the risk of looking biased, I'd rather come down on the side of experience. I haven't had a look of late, but with I think 7 G1s to his name, So You Think might just have the edge on the young bloke. But racing is all about opinions Shergy, and my opinion when it comes to picking horses, borders on shocking.

 

Afternoon (i think ) Cyc no beach today, Elton John was good last night, for an old man he can still sing a song and bash those black and whites. Played for 2hrs 45min with no break unless you count him waliking around the piano drinking bottle water. Played all his greatest hits, a great show.

 

Don't you mean Sir Elton Islander?

 

AOB's a great trainer, no question, but would it not be correct to call him a bit quirky? Regardless of Arc outcome, and as I told the Timeform Radio guys a while ago, he'll for sure be on the fern immediately after the race to talk to someone. He really is horseracing's Inspector Clouseau?

 

I don't think that AOB is all that different to most people under the age of old Swanny. We've been through this phone thing in the past mate. Every bastard and his poxy dog has a phone glued to his/her ear these days. So much so, that they have become a social parasite. Their infection rate is not unlike the spread of a plague.

 

Cyc: Yes, all too true, about the cell phones especially. But he does wear those damn sunglasses on the gloomiest days? Still say he's just a wee bit quirky.................

 

I'm a sunnies man from way back Swanny. I wear 'em so much that I sometimes forget that I've got them on. I can be driving along as the sun goes down, thinking that it's getting dark really quickly, then the missus tells me that it's time to shed the things. As soon as I leave the house I put 'em on, even if I'm just heading for the mail box.

 

Once played friendly poker in a local club. Bloke there thought himself a bit of a pro ... he wore sunnies indoors at night to hide his eyes, trouble was some times his cards reflected off his glasses.

 

On the phones thing, the one that gets me is when your down the pub and people just sit there texting, why go down the pub to text, surely you go there to socialise. I predict by the year 2050 people wont even speak verbally to each other, luckily il be dead