The turf
Give him time
Robin Oakley
Iam glad that Sheikh Mohammed has taken this eolumn's advice and spent the £75,000 on supplementing Godolphin's brilliant filly Cape Verdi so that she can take on the colts in Saturday's Derby. On balance, after he had finished 12th of 14 in the Flanagan and Allen Handicap at Brighton last Thursday, my partners and I decided that we would not spend the £75,000 supplementing our Rhapsody In Blue for the big race. Unfortunately the only thing that he has in common with those running in it is that he is three years old. His form figures now read 000-0. Before the Brighton contest the Racing Post tersely and cruelly summed up his rac- ing career so far as `Unfancied and soundly beaten in three maidens at 6-7f.' The next day its only comment was 'Always behind.' But not for nothing is our syndicate named The Eternal Optimists, and we found plen- ty to cheer about, quite apart from the sheer exhilaration of taking in the sea air from the centre of the parade ring as `Rhaps' strode around the tarmac circle, very much on his toes and glowing with health.
He must have been one of the biggest two-year-olds in the country last year. At three he is still on the leggy side but has begun to fill out nicely. Indeed, if not watched he could fill out too much. Trainer Andy Turnell says that he is 'a good doer' which is trainer-speak for 'he eats like a pig.' So much so that Rhaps will munch his way through his meals and then start on his bedding, even if it is shredded newspaper. So after mealtimes he is muzzled.
You might think that when Andy tells us that the horse does things slowly it is a gen- tle way of warning us that we have bought a dud. But what he means is that Rhaps is a long-striding animal who takes time to wind up. The orders to jockey Nicky Carlisle were 'Pop him out and keep hold of him as long as you can.' The highly pro- fessional Carlisle, no doubt an indulgent parent too, said: 'You mean get him organ- ised as soon as possible but give him time to find himself?' He did precisely that and Rhaps lobbed along at the back, taking some time to find himself and rather longer to find the others in the race. Being the big fellow that he is, he did not handle the downhill track too well but once they reached the rising ground a couple of reminders from N. Carlisle saw him doing his best work at the end of the seven fur- longs.
'I'd rather see them slow to start and running on at the end than the other way around,' said Andy Tumell, who is clearly fluent in trainer-speak. Jockeys with a view to future rides can be diplomats too and Nicky Carlisle was accentuating the posi- tive as he dismounted: 'He's got a lovely long stride.' But he was realistic too, warn- ing that Rhapsody had been a little ring rusty, that the others had been too fast for him early on and that he had struggled down the hill. Also, he had given trouble at the starting stalls, being the first to be pre- sented to them and the last to go in. The jockey was confident though that he will stay one and a quarter miles, perhaps one and a half and we should certainly win a race with him if we do not aim too high.
The bad news for Rhaps concerns his sex life. Trainer Tumell has long found him a little too coltish, disinclined to keep his mind on the job when fillies are about, and the stalls episode has redoubled his enthu- siasm for having him gelded this autumn.
Rhaps may never forgive him for that. We are just about forgiving him for not let- ting us know before the race that he had mildly fancied his runner Academy. With a couple of duck eggs before his name he too started at 33-1 and came home a storming winner by half a length. He could be worth backing next time out as well — his lad reported after the race that when he was being tested his heartbeat was so slow the vet refused to believe he'd had a race. I suspect they might have said the same of Gay Kelleway's Soft Touch. From three furlongs out you could see that Richard Quinn only had to choose his moment to go on and win. Watch for her next time too, if they don't get too ambitious.
And finally what about the big one? Reg- ular readers will know I see no colt around capable of giving Cape Verdi weight and a beating in the Derby. I believe she will win. Of the various Derby Trials I still think that Paul Cole's Courteous at Sandown was as impressive as any and I fancy Michael Stoute's Greek Dance to give the revived and still talented Walter Swinbum an excit- ing ride. So it is 1. Cape Verdi. 2. Courte- ous and 3. Greek Dance for me. And just wait for Rhapsody In Blue's hurdling career.
Apologies for the generational mix-up last time I wrote about Cape Verdi. It was, of course, Caerleon's sire Nijinsky and not Caerleon himself who won the Derby, the Irish Derby and the King George.
Robin Oakley is political editor of the BBC.
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