The turf
Searching for superlatives
Robin Oakley
It was as an undergraduate during my university finals that I first learned that you really cannot beat the system. We all heard the story of the bright spark in another examination hall who had researched the university statutes and who demanded that he be brought a pint of ale during his men- tal exertions as the ancient orders stipulat- ed was his right. Eventually, after a fuss, the ale was brought. And afterwards the authorities fined him five guineas for not wearing his sword . . .
After three consecutive Saturdays of profit, and even after backing Alan King's Windross, the winner of the first at Kemp- ton on Racing Post Chase Day, I should have known that it was the bookies' turn. But I fancied several of Nicky Henderson's runners at a meeting he always favours to try out his Cheltenham prospects and, find- ing Nicky himself at the excellent lunch to which we had been invited by the Kempton executive, I pressed on. In fact, reasoning that a man who had turned up wearing a pink shirt, a yellow tie and a bright blue pullover was clearly expecting an afternoon in the public eye, I doubled my bet on Fid- dling The Facts, the gutsy mare he was run- ning in the big race at Haydock, and on Architect, his Triumph Hurdle entry who was making a jumping debut at Kempton.
Sadly, Fiddling The Facts clouted one early on and was pulled up, while Architect was pulverised by Francois Doumen's ath- letic filly Snow Drop in the novices hurdle, finishing nine lengths down in second place. The only Henderson horse I neglect- ed entirely was little Serenus in the novice chase, who started the 7-1 outsider of four. I had reckoned him, despite his speed on the fiat, too small to make his mark over fences but I had neglected two things. One was the horse's record as a course special- ist: he has won on the flat and over hurdles at Kempton. The other was the fearsome courage of his jockey Mick Fitzgerald, who had been decanted by Serenus last time out at Plumpton. Riding as if he had a couple of spare collar bones in his pocket, he fired Serenus at the last and gained the momen- tum to beat the rallying Young Spartacus home by half a length in a thrilling race. As Nicky said afterwards, 'You simply won't see better riding in a chase.'
In the big race of the day, Marlborough, whom Nicky Henderson trains for Robert Ogden, finished a decent second. But he and the others in a quality field might just as well not have come to the races for all the chance they had of beating Martin Pipe's Gloria Victis. Just once or twice a season, if you are lucky, you see a sight on a racetrack which truly stirs the imagina- tion, warms the heart and stimulates the phagocytes. Gloria Victis's victory in the Racing Post Chase did all of that and more. Of the hardened professionals around me two were struck dumb, one was turning green with envy and the rest went out searching for new superlatives to describe what we had seen.
What we did see was a six-year-old novice in only his third run over fences put in an astonishing round of jumping. It was not just faultless (well, he did get close to one although fiddling it with the agility of a gymnastic cat) but exhilarating in its soar- ing athleticism. And in the process this youngster galloped his rivals into a submis- sive procession behind him. The jumping was bold, at times it was flamboyant, and the horse's back was arched in the style of some of the great leapers. I have not seen anything better from a novice in many years and not surprisingly Gloria Victis was immediately made second favourite behind See More Business for the Gold Cup.
Equally unsurprisingly Martin Pipe would not say which of the four races at the Cheltenham Festival in which Gloria Victis holds entries was likely to be his destina- tion. But you could not mistake the gleam in the trainer's eye. Letting his feelings show far more than is his habit, he said that he had never before been so excited by a horse before a race and that now the sky was the limit. As Martin said, 'He jumped for fun.' Go and watch him when you get the chance, we do not see many like this.
Of course Kempton is a right-handed flat-track and Cheltenham is a left-handed up-and-down track with a fearsome final hill. Of course this is a young horse. And not all French-breds go on to last over the seasons. But I believe that on Saturday at Kempton we saw a horse capable of prov- ing something special. Before I am accused of getting over-excited and dredging the gush-barrel let me remind readers that even before Gloria Victis ran Tony McCoy, forced by suspension to miss the ride, said before the race that Gloria Victis had excit- ed him more than anything he has ridden this season. He also pointed out that in winning the Feltham Novices Chase at `He says he needs space.' Kempton over Christmas he put up a faster time than See More Business had done gal- loping his rivals into submission in the King George VI chase. With Looks Like Trou- ble in the race, too, we could now be in for a vintage Gold Cup.
Gloria Victis's original Cheltenham tar- get was the Royal and Sun Alliance chase, a race for novices. It is well endowed. But unlike the Gold Cup it does not, I under- stand, carry the £50,000 bonus for winning both that and the Racing Post trophy. If I were in the fortunate position of owner Terry Neill I would go for the big one. You have to take your chances of making your mark in this life. Even if they do fine you afterwards for not wearing your sword.
Robin Oakley is political editor of the BBC.
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