Juliette's Weekly Frolic
The thick black cloud hanging over Cheltenham racecourse lifted shortly before the race, the rain considerately eased off and but for the concession of 151b to the winner, Game Spirit would have won the Queen Mum her first Mackeson Gold Cup and my ailing kitty a very welcome £48. All that was only too clear, but since at the time 1 could not have named the third and fourth to save my life, the ability to view races through detached and unemotional eyes continues to elude me.
Post mortems — especially on 16-1 moral victors — are apt to eat up space, and consequently I've not a great deal of room left for John Hislop's Brigadier Gerard (Seeker and Warburg £3.00) which has its official launching this Monday. However, as the book has been cornering rave notices round the town for the past fortnight, as well as being dished up for Saturday readers of the Times, it is hardly suffering from under-publicity. The tale of the home-reared hero fighting off the million-dollar American-breds matches that of Brown Jack and Golden Miller in human interest and this engagingly written biography will no doubt find its way into non-racing households. All the same certain passages may receive a more critical reception from fans of Mill Reef, and Roberto too, just supposing that maligned animal should have any.
The Mill Reef/Brigadier Gerard duel never did take, place, but the press are already showering similar superlatives on a clash scheduled for Ascot this coming Saturday.
The battlefield here is, the Black and White Whisky Gold Cup, normally a target for the proven novices of the season before. This time though, Buie and Captain Christy, the principal participants, are somewhat different — both brilliant hurdlers, they can only boast three novices chases between them. It is Certainly a commendable fighting policy to pitch them in at the .deep end so early in their careers but these 'matches' offer a fateful temptation for dabbling elsewhere and perhaps Carroll Street's year of experience might counter the precocious brilliance of the two new boys? Stranger things have happened.
To John Hislop breeding is a science, but it also has its unexpected side and I doubt anyone would have predicted that the Derby and Leger winner, Never Say Die would father a highly successful three-mile chaser. Tregarron, as he was christened, had a seasonal warm up behind Red Rum at Ayr and looks all set for the spoils on Friday whether it be in Ascot's Kirk and Kirk, or Wetherby's Emblem Chase,
Wolverhampton's Clerk of the Course has displayed a nice touch in the naming of Wednesday's races right down to the Bottom Drawer Selling Hurdle. While I defy anyone to resist Royal Mark in the Royal Wedding Chase, High Ken's chances in the Wedding Bell Steeplechase are more obvious, though less appropriate. Assets: E70.75. Outlay: £3 to win TregatTon & High Ken, £2 to win Carroll Street & Royal Mark.
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