It's been a fantastic Royal Ascot with Frankel confirming himself as the greatest flat horse of all time and now today, we have the second-best horse in the world racing. She's not really opposable today although at the prices, there's not much point backing her either. I think I'll just crack open a can of stout, put the feet up and enjoy this race for what it is.
I quite fancy Sea Moon in the Hardwicke stakes, priced around 7/2. Looked a little rusty last time out but needed to shake off the cobwebs.
It was a good day yesterday with Demurely winning at Limerick but once again, the inplay lays didn't really go anywhere. I've a couple of those today:
For Saturday's paper, I done a little bit of a write up on Frankel. We really need to appreciate and enjoy these horses while they are around - it could be decades before we see the likes again:
http://www.independent.ie/sport/horse-racing/no-argument-frankel-is-the-greatest-3147066.html
No argument -- Frankel is
the greatest
THE late Bobby Frankel, one of the greatest American
thoroughbred trainers of all time, was a master handicapper in his youth and
his in-depth knowledge of the formbook enabled him to make a fairly lucrative
income from betting before he took out his first training licence in 1966.
Forty-six years later, the modern-day handicappers at
Timeform have recognised the horse named after Bobby Frankel as the greatest
Flat runner of all time.
Royal Ascot 2012 has been memorable for a number of reasons,
but Frankel's victory in the Queen Anne on Tuesday makes it historic.
Until now, no horse has ever earned a Timeform rating as
high as 147.
A bloke I drink with down the local, in his 70s, claims he
was there to witness Sea Bird win the Derby in 1965 (even though his wife tells
me he's never been to England in his life) and for the past couple of years,
we've argued over which horse is the best.
squabble
It's a futile squabble really as it's nigh impossible to
compare horses from different eras, but after Tuesday's win, even this staunch
defender of Sea Bird has conceded that Frankel is probably the greatest of all
time.
As racing fans, we should enjoy this while it lasts as it
could be a while before we see his likes again. We have to go back to the 1960s
to see any horses rated near this high -- Seabird was rated 145 and Brigadier
Gerard was rated 144.
It's astonishing to think the best might be yet to come from
Frankel and the step up to a mile and a quarter in the Juddmonte International
or maybe the Eclipse will not prove troublesome.
I think I'll make a special effort and travel over to see
him race this season, so that in years to come, I can sit on a barstool and
(truthfully) tell the youngsters that I saw the greatest horse of all time in
the flesh.
Not only have we seen what is officially the best horse in
the world at Ascot this week, the second-best horse will run today in the
Diamond Jubilee Stakes (3.45) and it's no surprise to see the wonder-mare Black
Caviar trade as low as 2/7 in the betting. She's unbeaten in 21 starts, but I'm
sure my editor wouldn't be too pleased if I was tipping horses priced as low as
that so for something a little bigger, consider backing Sea Moon around 11/4 in
the Group Two Hardwicke Stakes (3.05 Ascot).
With six victories in this race, trainer Michael Stoute
knows the sort it takes to win and the four-year-old certainly matches that
profile.
Sea Moon had a cracking season as a three-year-old, winning
the Great Voltigeur Stakes among other races, and his return to the winners'
enclosure at Goodwood in May proved that he hasn't lost his will to win.
EACH-WAY outsider
A large field of 29 will go to post for today's Wokingham
Stakes Handicap (4.25 Ascot) so it's definitely a tricky one from a betting
point of view.
One that catches the eye is the Andrew Balding-trained
Desert Law, generally available at 12/1. He was back to near his best when
second of 20 runners at Epsom last time, but the handicapper's mark of 97 still
leaves room for improvement.
TODAY'S SELECTIONS
3.05 Ascot: Sea Moon
4.25 Ascot: Desert Law (e/w)
7.35 Lingfield: Standing Strong
- Wayne Bailey
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