Juliette ' s Weekly Frolic
Enthusiasts who prefer their racing ' live ' will have their stamina stretched to the limit this coming weekend. Six days gossiping, gambling and drinking at Newmarket's sales and races, followed by a cross-Channel sprint to Sunday's Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, is a double act I'd only recommend to those with private means of air transport. Us lesser mortals must settle for one or the other and while Newmarket can't match the glamour of a weekend in Paris, it is 'liable to be considerably easier on the pocket.
In any case the Cambridgeshire takes precedence here, being twenty-four hours au-tier, eighty-one years older and twice as fascinating — at least as a betting medium.
Pontam and Concoral are leniently-weighted, reasonably priced, ultra-consistent four-yearolds, but their attractions pale beside those of 1972 scorer, Negus. Had this grey six-year-old continued to progress along the lines that won him six out of seven starts last season, he would have soared in the handicap. As it is, the cunning fellow didn't turn' it on until sweeping home at Brighton recently under 9.11. The seaside prize money was too paltry to merit a penalty, so unlike previous dual scorers, he goes to post with precisely the same burden as last time.
A lady whose career has taken a noticeably similar turn to that of Negus will be lining up for the ' Arc' the following afternoon. Attic Meli had a five-out-of-six score in 1972 but her supporters were kept waiting until this August for a return glimpse of the old sparkle. She's now a tempting proposition for Longchamp but hasn't quite got the cachet of fellow English challenger Rheingold, an old hand at plundering the French kitty. It will be the first time this year he hasn't started a hot favourite Assets £73.89. Outlay: £2 to win Negus and Rheingold.
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