Juliette's 'Weekly 'Frolic
Sandown On Saturday was a far cry from the idyllic scene at the press preview the week before, but then any racecourse would have been hell with a 21,000-plus christening party shoving and spilling its way over the stands. People who'd fought tooth and nail to the bar only to find they'd run out of lasses then selected a winner but ailed to battle to the bookies, tended to sympathise with a normally serene young friend of mine who longed to lay her hands on a machine gun and mow them all down. All the same. I, though alas not the ' Frolic ', backed a 7-1 winner, ate some interesting pink cake for tea and can think of few warmer places from which to watch jumping on a wintry atternoon.
There was inevitably much heated discussion on the comparative merits of the Sandown and Ascot stands, a conversation which will no doubt be continued when the protagonists roll on to the Berkshire course later in the week. This three-day Ascot meeting gets under way on Thursday with a pair of Group 3 races, the Diadem and Cumberland Lodge Stakes, dominating proceedings. At this stage the latter with possibly Ksar, Moulton and Scottish Rifle in contention, is beyond my powers of reasoning, but the Diadem seems a straight trial of strength between Sandford Lad and Balliol. The former beat the latter a length in the ' Nunthorpe ' but has never tackled six furlongs, which is Balliol's speciality.
• Last time Via Tritus showed up at Ascot she finished plumb last in the Jersey Stakes which is not much of a recommendation. However she's subsequently trounced her male contemporaries at Lingfield, finished only threequarters of a length adrift of Tudor Rhythm at Kempton and should be too quick for the girls in Friday's Green Shield Cup.
It would be a trifle embarrassing if an Italian immigrant were to humble a fellow who's just been syndicated for a million pounds, but if his recent four-length defeat of Royal Prerogative was anything to go by, Brook could do just that to Thatch in Saturday's Queen Elizabeth II Stakes. Despite competition from four pattern prizes, richest race of the meeting is a handicap, the £10,000 Trafalgar House Stakes where I may as well stick with my Ayr Gold Cup nonrunner, Fabled Di plomat.On Saturday the money's as good, the opposition easier and with luck. Piggott will be on board. Assets: £79,89. Outlay £2 to win Balliol,,Via Tritus, Brook and Fabled Diplomat.
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