jennings, cook & the rachael blackmore legacy.

​I like David Jennings. I enjoy his style of writing. I enjoy his opinions and his tipping makes me feel better about myself. If I knew him, I suspect I would pinhole him as a ‘good egg’, which is old folks speak for a decent fellow.
He does, though, occasionally, depending on how you view such opinions, either put his head above the parapet unfearing of the bullets that might fly his way or those opinions can be viewed as pretty darn well stupid. Putting in the public domain that only two colts can possibly win the Epsom Derby this season is, to my mind, firmly in the latter category.
Delacroix looks solid; a perfectly reasonable Derby favourite. The Lion In Winter on the other hand, although darn certain to win a clutch of Group 1’s in the future, looks too shaky and flaky at this moment for any one to install him as one of only two colts with the ability to win the 2025 Epsom Derby. He sweated-up quite badly at York yesterday and even proved half-heartedly reluctant to go forward to his stall, an unusual trait for a Ballydoyle horse. And for the first two-furlongs he was a right old handful, as if he was wanting to test if Ryan Moore’s reputation as a great horseman was justified. It was; Ryan won the battle.
If he were not trained by Aidan O’Brien, he would be 20/1 for the Epsom Derby rather than 6/1. Of course, if Aidan tells us The Lion In Winter will improve leaps and bounds for the run, all past evidence dictates we should believe him. I am of the opinion, though, that the Derby razzmatazz is what may defeat him if he goes to Epsom, and I suspect that Aidan, given he has half-a-dozen other Derby candidates, will take the cautionary route of sending the horse to Chantilly and the French Derby.
Pride of Arras looks a nice prospect, though he did not look a Derby winner to me, yet as Epsom will be only his third-run he is as entitled to come on for the run every bit as much as The Lion In Winter.
To return to David Jennings bold prediction that there are only two candidates for Epsom glory this year, I say this – have you forgotten Ruling Court? I also have an instinctive liking for the Dermot Weld-trained Purview.

In his column today Chris Cook put up a lively defence of the decision by the French stewards to kick-out She’s Perfect and to promote Zarigana as the winner of the French 1,000 Guineas. He almost persuaded me that She’s Perfect was legitimately disqualified due to Shoemark being unable to keep his mount running in a straight line. He made a persuasive argument for the principle that all races should be run fairly. I would argue that not one of the first three kept to a straight line and when push came to shove the two contenders did not touch.
In our desperately annoying present-day wokish environment, though I accept that Barzalona caused his filly no harm, fourteen-hits (2 with the whip, 12 with his hand) was unsightly and not a good look for the sport. How hand-slapping is any different to using the reins as a substitute whip as Rachael Blackmore chose to do at Cheltenham the season before last, and was cautioned for it, is hard to defend.
But the main reason why Chris Cook did not win me to his side of the fence was that he made no mention of the view of the incident from the patrol camera following the runners. It is as clear as a cloudless sky that the coming together with Exactly by She’s Perfect was nothing more substantial than a brush, while Exactly went sideways for some distance to collide with Zarigana and was this incident that cost Barzelona the opportunity to win the race, though losing his whip must also have contributed.
On the balance of the evidence, I believe the appeal should succeed, though I doubt it will. Fairness, I suggest, is how you wish to define it.

On a day when Jody Townend will don the Royal silks at Leopardstown in a Ladies only handicap, in the preceding apprentice race there are 8 females slated to ride in the race, though two of them are on possible substitutes and will need withdrawals to be able to take part. I suspect that 6 female riders in an unrestricted gender race in Ireland must constitute both a record and a significant step forward for female jockeys in Ireland. Perhaps the Rachael Blackmore legacy will be on the flat for females and not over the jumps.