Trueshan, Westover, Holly Doyle, John Randall, In no particular order.

​John Randall, the Racing Post’s go to racing historian, is very rarely wrong about anything related to the subject of horse racing and I can’t remember an occasion when I have taken issue with any of his views. Didn’t he anoint Night Nurse with the crown of greatest ever hurdler? Which was my view all along. 
And he is not short of the mark when trying to cool the hyperbole over Trueshan’s magnificent triumph in the Northumberland Plate. His point that Trueshan’s effort ‘was superficially superior’ to the achievements of past weight-carrying heroics is perhaps factually on the money. ‘Winning the race under 9st 10Ibs in Victorian times meant much more than winning it under 10st 8Ibs today, when the quality of the fields in the big handicaps has dropped considerably’. What he alludes to is that a century or more ago owners and trainers were forced to run Group I and classic horses in handicaps as conditions races were few and far between.
He quotes Isonomy winning the Ebor under 9st 8Ibs in 1879 and the Manchester Cup under 9st 12Ib, giving up to 59Ibs to his rivals. He also highlighted other great weight carrying performances of the same time period. But what he did not mention, and I cast no aspersions, merely state known fact, is that ‘tonics’ were routinely given to horses back then and astonishingly the giving of drugs and ‘milkshake’ type cocktails were not illegal. Please read ‘Men and Horses I Have Known’ by George Lambton for corroboration. Unsurprisingly, it was the influx of American trainers and jockeys into this country that began the epidemic of administering cocaine and other substances to horses prior to a race.
I only bring up this unsavoury subject to suggest that results prior to the 1920’s might be taken with a small dose of salt as we cannot be 100% certain that the winners were 100% clean.
The standout point of Trueshan’s sterling effort is Alan King daring to give it a go. Yes, he was amazed as everyone else by the result, yet before the race he cited Denman and Desert Orchid winning over fences giving away 2st or more, though the actual reason for running at Newcastle was ‘I had to get a run into him’. And, of course, in giving it a go, he elevated the race and the day from the quite ordinary to an awe-struck moment that can be recorded in modern times as ‘historic’. Trueshan was so heroic that it seems to be lost in the editing suite that Holly Doyle became the first female jockey to win the ‘Pitman’s Derby. Yet another ‘first’ for someone who is quickly becoming ‘the darling of the crowds’, as evidenced by ‘there’s only one Holly Doyle’.
One small note about the ever-upward curve of Holly’s career is that though there are other female jockeys winning races on a regular basis, with many very good female apprentices following in their wake, no other female jockey is being given even a fraction of the opportunities Holly has earned for herself. In fact, at Royal Ascot, admittedly Holly won a Group 2, she had few other rides in the Group races. It is even worse in Ireland. There are no female flat jockeys making an impression even in the big handicaps and over jumps there is no professional female jockey within many light years of Rachel Blackmore. Other females have to be given opportunities, otherwise the legacy of Doyle, Blackmore, Frost and Turner will be far from the changing point it seems to be now.
While displeased Rob Hornby was jocked off Westover in favour of Colin Keane, I was pleased to see my reading of the Epsom Derby vindicated. If you look back at the Derby, at the point where Westover and Hornby were mullered not once but twice, you will notice Desert Crown making his run at the very same moment. I am not convinced that Desert Crown would have beaten Westover at Epsom and doubt if he will beat him again in the future.
It wouldn’t surprise me if Frankie Dettori was the next jockey to sit on Westover. If you can justify Keane jocking-off Hornby on the basis he is the better jockey and his greater experience of the Curragh, the same argument can be used for Dettori taking over from Keane if Westover rocks up at Ascot next month.
Finally, as much as I would like to see Holly Doyle become the Gosdens’ stable jockey, my money would be on James Doyle becoming first jockey at Clarehaven, with Holly used, when available, on horses that James cannot do the weight on. To me, at this stage of her career, this arrangement would seem to be the perfect fit.