Shute yeah. I can't recall another time when a UK race meeting has been broadcast live, nationally in this country. No three year old classics, no Grand Nationals, nothing. Do we crave a win or what?
The three letter answer to the question is “YES”. Backing Moonlight Cloud each-way at 6/1 is a ridiculous bet. If she runs a place, it will pay out at 1/10, so punters may as well back Black Caviar at 1/5. Although we cannot translate Australian form directly to Europe, Black Caviar has beaten all-comers on the bridle Down Under, which suggests that she has eight or ten pounds in hand of the home contingent. Those of us that are just watching hoping to see a superstar perform are not expecting to be disappointed. A Black Caviar and Moonlight Cloud forecast is going to pay virtually nothing and does rely on the French filly winning the race for the runners-up spot. On the ratings she is the second-best horse in the race but these sprinters do tend to take it in turns having good days and bad ones.
When Luke Nolan dropped his hands, he did not even look to his left to see the two French horses closing. Had he been caught, he would have received a huge ban for failing to ride out his mount and he would have been spending the night in the Ecuadorian embassy and not envisaging a return to Australia. The bookies must love the result other than the forecast. I expect they are not paying out much on the winning margin betting and all the British each-way punts finished out of the frame. Apparently in a post-race press conference, the trainer has done an O’Brien and made ‘all not well’ excuses and, according to the BBC, she may be retired upon her return Down Under. On the BBC, they showed the celebrations in Melbourne – I guess a win by a head is still a win.
When she pulled up she looked a bit lame. After a while she appeared to have walked it off. It will be interesting to see if her legs are OK. Remember she has been off the course for long periods with leg injuries when younger and this course and going may have severely stressed those injuries. I hope she is OK. I think experiencing the reception she got from the crowd at Ascot was probably the most emotional I can recall. I'm actually quite upset that people are crabbing her for that performance. I feel sorry for the jockey who will probably get a bollocking. Had he lost her the race it would have been a very similar situation to that idiot on Zenyatta.
QMII: The Ecuadorian Embassy is becoming very popular? Must have nice facilities, including a convivial café and bar? Godda speak Spanish though, I would imagine; Dexter would love it.............
Yesterday was also a very big day for Austraian rugby - Wales losing by a point this time <>laugh> Well done and thanks
Like everyone else George, the press have been taken aback. They are still going with the win, but they are going to great pains to ramp up the injury line. Damage limitation me thinks.
Cyc - one other thing that hasn't really been mentioned in all of this is that she was the first mare to win the race in 25 years. That in itself should be seen as a massive achievement.
Such a shame that the Aussies had to build her up next to Frankel in the pre-race hype because if she was judged on her own merit she was actually a fairly good winner of the race. I'm pretty convinced she was below par because she didn't quicken up at any point, which she always does in her Aussie races and thats regardless fo opposition. I also thought she looked more impressive in Oz when she ran 7f instead of 6f. Suits her engine.
