Nothing worse. Hope you were bought a few pints to ease the pain.
Some racing next week in Ascot.
Have a 40 double with sea the stars at 7/2 for the derby and JJ the Jet plane at 9s. Oxx done the business with the first and JJ had a good blow out in Winsdor 2 weeks ago and is now 4/1 fav.
Herbie Fogg:
Statistical research lies at the heart of the service provided to subscribers at herbiefogg.com. Horse racing expert Herbie Fogg runs three services: The Edge, Turfmax and a newly launched Saturday service, which enables non-members to obtain the Edge Saturday advice from 1.90 per week: www.herbiefogg.com/#/saturdayservice/4532988669.
The Prix de Diane (Group 1) Chantilly, Sunday 14th June.
Nothing in racing, be it for owners, trainers, jockeys or punters alike, quite chaffs like coming second - especially when circumstances conspire to deny your best effort. This week the inquiry into the running of the Epsom Derby must have wrangled on into the night. They went mob-handed and ended up playing into the hands of the horse with the class to deny them. Itâs most unlike the steamroller weâve seen flatten Group 1 fields around Britain, Ireland and France.
First run from off the shoulder of a searching pace, brushing aside the opposition with a super fit, hard-nosed percentage shot. At times it has made some other highly respected trainers and jockeys look rather tactically out-gunned and itâs been a pet theory of mine that Coolmore have at times been rather punching above their weight - mugging fields and making champions of horses that arenât necessarily all that special, at least compared to some.
Unlike his namesake, who had it all, Aiden OâBrien has no part in the picking of the future talent he will train. The Northern Dancer bloodline has been mined for all itâs worth, and now the superstars are bobbing up from different directions or evading capture at the sales. My theory goes that eventually the Coolmore team will struggle to maintain a grip on the biggest prizes because they lack the prime ingredient that made it all possible, the sublime talent of Michael Vincent OâBrien.
This year the smooth victory machine has faltered. Johnny is invariably on the wrong one and the tactics feel oddly indecisive and muddled. Something is amiss all right and it has been all season - they donât know who their best horses are or who to believe in - six declarations for the Derby tells itâs own story; throwing the lot in is hardly the art of training.
Itâs possible they rather underestimated Sea The Stars and felt there was a fair chance he would empty out, a few of us did, but itâs a moot point because everything hinged on the assumption that Mr OâDonoghue was of a mind to tear off and commit hari kari for the team. But it certainly didnât work out like that and one wonders after Chester, if perhaps the unsung veteran had a thought of his own - that he could win. Without the right fractions being set, plan B didnât look like much of a plan and, well, here we are.
Sea The Stars is a wonderful horse, a truly marvellous specimen and a great tonic for the sport, and thereâs no doubting the Coolmore approach has gradually caused others to up their game: Messerâs John Oxx and James Bolger to name but two. But one thing is for sure, the Master of Ballydoyle would not have been impressed.
I donât know about you but Iâm finding it difficult to shake off his loss. For many folk my age two names above all others hold sway in our memories: Lester and Vincent. When your heroes pass on, itâs tough to look at the sport in quite the same way in the knowledge that those days are gone for good. As of course they are, but there it is. What a special man he was.
And then something pulled me up a little. Perhaps, just perhaps, as one star faded a new light began to resonate with the same remarkable assurance, the same uncanny ability to pick and deliver a horse. That man of course is Jean-Claude Rouget. The thing that marks Rouget out is that he doesnât spend a fortune on his horses, and certainly nothing even remotely akin to the vast figures expended by Godolphin, Coolmore and others. The rising star of French racing is currently hot favourite to be the champion French trainer and all that whilst competing, financially at least, on vastly inferior terms.
This week Tom Segal compared it to the club tennis pro turning up with a wooden racket to win Wimbledon, as impossible on paper as Brian Clough doing what he did at Forest, but in the vast corporate Premiership era. Good fortune can alight anywhere and deliver up a one-off, but this appears to be no fluke. In one season Rouget has saddled the 1-2 in the Pouliches, won the Ispahan and the Alary and then at Chantilly last weekend added the Prix du Jockey Club (trousering two other Group races on his way through the card). Two classics under his belt and now his immediate sights set on a third.
In the French Oaks on Sunday, the word is his filly Stacelita will take all the beating. A filly so good she is already considered viable Arc material and where, perhaps, she may even line up to tackle Sea The Stars. Now that sounds like a race worth watching, in fact some would say precisely the sort of race we are so often denied.
Picking horses and training them is an ephemeral, God-given art when practised by the best of a generation and very few men have laid claim to have it all. If they exist, as we must surely believe they do, or so my theory goes, racing is secure - because the beauty of it is long-term, simply having the biggest cheque book is not enough.
Letâs hope she is everything they say she is.
Stacelita, 2 points win.
Bon chance,
Herbie
Herbie seems like an alright sort and talks a lot of sense, might have a few bob on the french filly now. Also folks, back Ger Lyonsâ horse tomorrow in the listed race in Cork. Had word to back his one in the 5F in Sandown today and he came third at 11âs⌠sam word saif they are very sweet on tomorrows effort in Cork.
Good shout there on Cork HB.
Fuck me that was impressive from Stacelita. Good shouts lads.
Good going lads keep them coming!!!
JJ the Jet plane 4/1
Yeats 5/2
Forgotten Voice 9/2 Could be a group horse in a handicap
Monsieur Chevalier 2/1
High Standing 7/1
Tartan Bearer 7/4
1 euro Lucky 63. Just for the an interest in Ascot. JJ the important one.
Didnât back anything today myself but if we can find these winners on a regular basis weâll be drinking champagne at the jolly boys outing 
Nice one Hangblaa. Thatâs a sweet few pints Iâll be suppinâ. Feel free to throw a few more out there!
Profitable weekend okâŚ
Very interested in an entrant in Tipperary Bumer on Thursday, but will have more closer to the time.
Forgot to put this up earlier. The legend that was Tom Costello is no more. Passed away over the weekend aged 77.
He sold 6 Gold cup winners aswell as Florida Pearl and many more
[quote=âmonteladoâ]Forgot to put this up earlier. The legend that was Tom Costello is no more. Passed away over the weekend aged 77.
He sold 6 Gold cup winners aswell as Florida Pearl and many more[/QUOTE]
Yeah, got a mention in the Independent today. Wonât get much coverage given that Ascotâs upon us.
[quote=âHangBlaaâ]Profitable weekend okâŚ
Very interested in an entrant in Tipperary Bumer on Thursday, but will have more closer to the time.[/QUOTE]
Anyone know if this meeting will go ahead this evening? Iâve heard from one person that it was / will be called off completely and another who says just the chases will be called off. 
[quote=âThe Dunphâ]Anyone know if this meeting will go ahead this evening? Iâve heard from one person that it was / will be called off completely and another who says just the chases will be called off.
[/QUOTE]
Inspection at 15.00
Will Yeats win another gold cup today lads?
Chalk it down he will.
Worth a punt at 2/1 so?
Backed him for small money at 6âs e/w after his seasonal blow out in Navan, 2âs is a bit short for my liking.
What a horse though, but backign him at 2âs would be akin to backing Istabraq in his final champion hurdle.
[quote=âHangBlaaâ]Backed him for small money at 6âs e/w after his seasonal blow out in Navan, 2âs is a bit short for my liking.
What a horse though, but backign him at 2âs would be akin to backing Istabraq in his final champion hurdle.[/QUOTE]
Sound. I might have a small bet for interest. Any word on Thurles? Might the rain have scuppered the chances of that one you had word for?
yeah, good ground horse, wonât run now i reckon even if it does go ahead.