Hot tips
Jeffrey Bernard
Racehorses of 1983 (Portway Press £45)
who can put a price on a book except for a publisher? Required reading at £45 a throw is a bit steep, but this hardy annual from the writers and publishers of Timeform is a must for the quietest of rac- ing fanatics, and essential reference for the punter who really wants to win and not just collect his daily dose of injustice. Inciden- tally, a copy of the 1948 annual recently fetched £800. It may not be much consola- tion for someone who is about to be parted from £45, but it may be worth telling briefly just what goes into producing this amazing form book. Timeform, the weekly Raceform and the subsequent Racehorses of 19.. were the brainchild of a mathematics master, William K. Temple, known to all and sundry in racing as Phil Bull. He masterminded a lone venture which revolutionised the analysis of a racehorse, Until then, punters had to rely on their own uneducated guesses or dubious information. Now, Mr Bull's small army of experts publish their opinions in weekly in- stalments and annually in this offering.
At Timeform House there is an editorial staff of 120. Six expert race readers watch every race in Britain, and at the end of the year some seven men sit down to write a detailed commentary consisting of 1,044 pages, which contain lengthy essays of up to 5,000 words on the top 150 horses amongst the 7,000 horses included which ran on the Flat in Britain last year, plus the best of the French and Irish. There are also 350 photographs of the cream of the horses and races. But this equine encyclopaedia is not as dry as a reference book pure and sim- ple. Phil Bull and his organisation have very definite opinions and ideas about racing and, as they say, they speak from first-hand experience — for example, on such matters as the Jockey Club's far too rigid control over race programmes. That auspicious body turned down a new £100,000 race they wanted to sponsor, a Yorkshire Derby and a 15-race apprentice series leading to a Final on Timeform Charity Day. Insanity. But you can't tell the Jockey Club much.
The Timeform organisation agree with the official handicappers in making Vincent O'Brien's El Gran Senor the best two-year- old in Europe in 1983. Hopes are centred around his 2,000 Guineas prospects, and they warn readers that he might not quite get the Derby trip. Another warning they issue is that O'Brien has three other strings to his bow in the form of the unbeaten colts, Argosy, Capture Him and Sadler's Wells. Readers of 'Low life' may remember that I'd heard a loud whisper for Capture Him two weeks ago, and, of course, it was interesting to read what they had to say about this one. They rate the American bred colt quite highly and think him more than likely to make more than normal im- provement this year.
'Capture Him (USA) Bay Colt. Mr Pros- pector — A Streaker. A $775,000 yearling Looked a potentially top class colt when slamming his 15 opponents in maiden race at the Curragh in September, bursting away inside final 1/41mile to win most impressively by 8 lengths from Tomriland; will be suited by I mile; held in highest esteem by his trainer and looks to have a very bright future.' That's the gist of it and he'll do for me.
Rated by all as second best last year, only 1 lb behind El Gran Senor is the Jeremy- Tree-trained Rainbow Quest, who is also strongly fancied- for the 2,000 Guineas, although Timeform think him more of a Derby type. Beaten half a length by El Gran Senor in the highly prestigious William Hill Dewhurst Stakes, Rainbow Quest, however, could show more improvement over the winter, being, as he is, a late foal. I telephoned a bookmaker last week to en- quire about his price for the Guineas and was offered what I thought to be a fairly mean 5-1, great prospect though he is. Shrewder men than I must have been mak- ing similar enquiries. Joint third best with Rainbow Quest is Lear Fan, trained by Guy Harwood. Another Guineas horse, his Der- by prospects are not quite so bright in Timeform's view. 'He is a hard-pulling, ex- tremely powerful galloper who impresses as far more likely to be suited by the straight mile of the Guineas (May 5) than the switchbacked mile and a half of the Derby
On the debit side, he is considered by his stable to be a top-of-the-ground per- former and a very wet spring could both hinder his preparation for the Guineas and his performance in it.'
Another lengthy and interesting essay is the one on Europe's best two-year-old filly of 1983, the French-trained, American-bred Treizieme. She beat the colts in the Grand Criterium, France's most valuable two- year-old event, and 'her victory proves she is exceptional. Only five fillies have achiev- ed this notable feat since the war Perhaps Treizieme will be sent over for the Derby by her adventurous trainer (Maurice Zilber) in an attempt to become the first fil- ly to win the race since Fifinella in 1916.'
This is an exceptional book by any stan- dards, and it would take space for a good 5,000 words of quotation to do it justice. If you do happen to be a racing freak with no
chance of affording the price, I do urge you to buy their £4 booklet, Timeform Horses to Follow. It is a précis of 50 of the horses to be found in the great annual and will pay back the purchase price in no time at all. It will stake you to the price of the annual too.
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