Golden age
Robin Oakley
In a Cary Grant film in which she effectively played herself, Mae West declared, ‘When I’m good I’m very good, but when I’m bad I’m better.’ Exotic Dancer, the six-year-old trained by Jonjo O’Neill who runs in the familiar pink silks of Sir Robert Ogden, can be good, and he can be an absolute stinker. Five days before the Paddy Power Gold Cup he ran second of three at lowly Carlisle, beaten by 28 lengths after effectively downing tools when asked for an effort. Champion jockey Tony McCoy, by all accounts, was pretty grumpy when his retaining stable asked him to ride Exotic Dancer in Saturday’s big race at Cheltenham, which effectively launches the serious jumping season.
But A.P. McCoy is not just strong and determined: he is also clever. In the Paddy Power he held Exotic Dancer at the back of the big field until the third last fence. The quirky character, a talented hurdler who broke his pelvis in a fall with McCoy last season and runs with cotton wool stuffed in his ears, was switched off and hardly aware he was in a race. He was then brought with a smooth run through the field to challenge at the last fence and win going away up the hill.
Sir Robert’s racing manager Barry Simpson reflected, ‘He is a horse of immense talent but he’s never shown it. I thought there was a good race in him but he has let us down many times.’ The trainer added, ‘He’s run some lovely races but he’s run some awful ones as well. When he’s good he’s very good and I guess he was on a going day today.’ The key to getting the best out of him? A quiet smile from Jonjo: ‘I think AP might be the key.’ But if McCoy was magnificent, Ruby Walsh on Tipperary All Star in the Letheby and Christopher novices’ handicap hurdle was sublime. This was the waiting race to end all waiting races. Again he cruised at the back on a horse who needed to be held to the last moment before being asked for his effort. But approaching the second last Ruby was still a good 20 lengths behind the leader, who appeared to be going well. Needless to say, he then cruised to the front on the bridle and went four lengths’ clear of Bonchester Bridge up the run-in.
When I asked Ruby afterwards if he had had any moment of worry he declared, ‘Only when he was too keen at the first flight.’ Of the ride which was still being discussed in Cheltenham bars hours after racing, he shrugged his shoulders and said, ‘If it works out you look great, if it doesn’t you look the biggest fool at Cheltenham. But it’s the way he has to be ridden.’ The tactics were a repeat of those he had used before on Tipperary All Star at Punchestown. When he came into the paddock, he asked trainer Mick Halford, ‘Do I ride him that way again?’ and got a nod, though even the trainer admitted of the way his orders were executed, ‘He’s got a lot more nerve than I have.’ It reminded me of Charlie Swan’s famous Festival ride for Edward O’Grady in 1994 when the trainer, who hadn’t had a Cheltenham winner for ten years, told his jockey to hit the front at the latest moment possible. ‘I said it wouldn’t worry me if he got beaten for leaving it too late but if he lost the race by going too soon I would have his guts for garters.’ Swan didn’t pounce until halfway up the finishing hill and the grateful trainer later sent him a wall plaque. Two round metal objects embedded in a green baize background carried the caption: ‘Balls of Steel’.
What was notable last weekend was not just the quality of the two rides but the modesty of the two jockeys. Tony McCoy said of his triumph, ‘I don’t think it was a great ride, I think it just happened. He was more relaxed today.’ Compare that and Ruby Walsh’s ‘all in a day’s work’ response with the turf-sliding, shirt-flapping, hugging and kissing histrionics of a lucky goalscorer in the Premier League or the mindless champagne-spraying of a Formula One driver who owes most of his success in a race to the mechanics.
How lucky we are to live in an age of supremely talented jockeys. There have been individual greats in the past like Fred Winter, John Francome, Peter Scudamore, Richard Dunwoody. But never have we had such strength in depth. The top five listed for the final race were ridden by Richard Johnson (thanks to McCoy’s long reign the best rider never to have become champion jockey), McCoy himself, Mick Fitzgerald, Ruby Walsh and Timmy Murphy, whose ride in the Paddy Power on Vodka Bleu, who had not run for 714 days, was a little classic of its own. Add Paul Carberry to that list and you have half a dozen riders who would have held their own with the best in any age. And we have stars coming along, like Paddy Brennan and the find of the season so far, young Tom O’Brien. It is a classic vintage.
It was an unlucky start for our Twelve to Follow. Idle Talk was beaten by just half a length in the Servo Computer Chase and Don’t Push It went down by three quarters of a length in the Joe Brown memorial novices’ chase. But Don’t Push It was beaten by Denman, probably one of the best horses in training, and Idle Talk did everything right on his seasonal debut. Stick with them. We did, too, have a late bonus with the Ten for the Flat. An 8–1 victory for Alfie Flits on the season’s last day lifted our winning total there to £146 against a £10 level stake. Cheers!
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