Absolutely brilliant, Ghaiyyath! Tremendous ride again by William Buick, am really happy for Charlie Appleby and connections. Admit to being worried about the ground (good, good-to-soft in places), but didn't make a scrap of difference in the end. Hell of a racehorse.
Kameko moved in like he was going to be the biggest danger. Lord North and Magical came under pressure before him but although he was second at one stage and I had a potential forecast, he simply didn't stay and faded to fourth. You could see his stride shortening and although he probably won a pretty poor Guineas, I think that Balding has placed the horse poorly this season. The Derby was a mistake with Kameko and it shows how poor that race was that the Balding horse managed 4th. If Andrew Balding had his time again I am sure he would have kept Kameko at a mile for the remainder of the season following his Guineas win. I suppose that is the difference between good trainers and great ones who have that instinct to know what is best for their horses. I suppose the QE II and Palace Pier is next on the agenda for Kameko. Magical yet again comes up short when she isn't a short price against inferior horses. Perhaps Enable HAS stopped her from winning more Group 1 races but they would have been more weak Group 1 races where she was odds-on. A solid run again from a lovely filly but she is not quite top drawer. I had my doubts about Lord North coming in. A stunning win last time but amounted to little more than perhaps just catching Addeybb on an off day and he would have been a huge price today based on his short head win from the bitterly disappointing Elarqam earlier in the season. Rose Of Kildare didn't belong in this race, Admirable bargain buy that she was, she was never going to have the class to harass Ghayyiath. It was like seeing Charlie Magri gloving up to in against Muhammed Ali.
I very much doubt anyone will have any excuses for any of the beaten horses. Ghaiyyath ran them into the ground. Even Lord North's known turn of foot couldn't come into operation, although he did run on at the finish. Excellent demonstration of how to make sure you win
They will probably have to raise Pyledriver's official rating towards that of the leading 3YO colts after that showing. He conceded the 3 lbs penalty easily. That said, he beat a modest looking bunch. Cut to 5/1 and 6/1 for The St Leger, you could see why in an uninspiring list for the Classic. The jockey seemed to feel the horse has enough speed to be effective at 10F as well as 12F and you wouldn't be sure they would want to take him over a new trip when he seems on the up at a mile and a half. Some might laugh at Pyledriver as an Arc player but Mogul is 16/1 for that with William Hill and the Muir horse must surely hold a better chance than that. If he were mine I would be thinking of an Arc trial in France as the next move, as you wouldn't want many more runs this season I would think. Ghayyiath generally 5/1 and 6/1 for the Arc now but I don't think a lot really changed today. We knew he was good but we thought that last season and the possibility of the same scenario exists this year. He is a horse you would need to wait and see with regards to the ground. I thought Pyledriver had a good chance at a price today but never expected that he would win like he did. Nobody bid on him at £10,000 back in the day and I didn't see much love for him this morning. Mogul was napped in plenty of places but I have never seen it with that colt. Too much too soon for Darain and Roberto Escobarr and I doubt either will go to the St Leger. Berkshire Rocco ran a solid enough race given that he shapes like further would help him.
I cannot fault the performance today by Ghaiyyath. He was there to be shot at and nobody was good enough and if they choose to stick to ten furlongs, only really soft ground is going to stop him. Good grounds for the handicapper marking him up for this as reliable yardstick Magical ran her race but never got close to him with her allowance. Lord North just plugged on without ever featuring and the two three year olds continued the underwhelming record of most of their generation against their elders. It will be interesting to see whether they decide to go to Longchamp again as he will find it difficult to dominate and last year he just ended up as a pacemaker, who had emptied by the turn to the straight. Ultimately, some of us would argue, he cost Enable the race because she sat too close to him (easy with hindsight to blame Frankie) while the winner settled at the back.
Pyledriver has been introduced to the Arc De Triomphe betting. You can get 40/1 with Paddy Power and some other firms. That's generally four times the odds of Gosden's Mishriff, who I am not convinced would be as suited by 12F as the Muir colt. The current Arc list can be cut through with a Samurai sword in terms of no-hopers and unlikely runners. Today's winning trainer later said:- "We'll go back and talk. We are in the Grand Prix de Paris. The Leger has been on the cards, but people are saying we should now go for the Arc. "He didn't look like he was stopping today, but then Martin said today he's got loads of gears, and horses with gears normally don't just stay and stay. "It's a lovely problem to have - this is where we want to be."
Cor blimey I bet it was bleak on that hill above Bath today. One thing that wasn’t gloomy though was seeing the Blake barn secure their first victory since lockdown earlier on. ‘Tis Fantastic’, I hollered, as the horse galloped past the Stratford winning post. Still enough ramblings from me just wanted to say that I hope everyone is well and coping fine in these unprecedented times. Similar sentiments I pass on to everyone’s moles / insiders / contacts (delete as appropriate). Nudge, nudge, wink, wink, say no more… Personally. I’ve had to furlough some of my regiment including, regrettable, one of Lieutenant Henderson’s Privates. The great man, I understand, was furious with this decision but needs must, I say, needs must. Anyway, take care and cheerio for now…
