MALTESE CROSS, NATIONAL ANTHEM!, JUDDMONTE & ANOTHER IGNORANT COMMENT.

Tom Marquand has won a St. Leger, now he wants an Arc on his c.v.. That is what I got from his comments after winning the Great Voltigeur yesterday on Maltese Cross. It is not an absurd suggestion that Maltese Cross should go to Longchamp instead of Doncaster, he won well yesterday, making his challenge still on the bridle and then instead of winning by five or more lengths he idled and only exerted himself enough to give the backers of Pierre Bonnard false hope. I am sure if it was left to his trainer, a proud Yorkshireman, I am sure the master of Somerville Lodge would like to go for the St. Leger. And he would be right, I believe. Maltese Cross can only win a classic this season. Next season he could add the Arc to his roster of success. If owners, trainers and jockeys do not lend their utmost support to the English classics these historic races are going to be rendered consolation races, bested by races of greater monetary values. The triple crown is already holed below the water-line due to breeding trends; do we want to see the St. Leger similarly scuppered? Yes, I am of the opinion that an Eclipse restricted to 3-year-olds would make a more relevant triple crown classic but that does not imply I want the St.Leger made defunct. I would like to see it upgraded, if open to older horses, with the race made the most valuable in Britain, a rival to the Arc, a race of such importance that instead of the cream being exported to Australia they will be kept in training in this country with Doncaster the aim not Melbourne. A St. Leger with the current Derby winner taking on several improving 3-year-olds is just the fillip the St. Leger needs right now.

I realise the Queen was in attendance yesterday, and it was wonderful to see her supporting our sport, but why the National Anthem? The King did not accompany the Queen and though it was respectful to her majesty to have the National Anthem sung by a proper singer, it does not sit well with me. I dislike the anthem played before football matches and other team sports events. To me, though it would be appropriate to be played at the start of a battle, the words and the tune do not inspire the right emotions for a sporting event. Also, and challenge me on this if you wish, but the Welsh and the Scottish have far more inspiring anthems than the one played for England, and why in this United Kingdom do the Welsh and Scottish teams not sing along to 'God Save The King'?

What is so magical and amusing about our sport is when the racing media build-up a race as 'a race for the ages', a race that only really concerns two horses, no matter how sizeable and talented the opposition, only for the fervour and expert opinion fall flat as a pancake as two unconsidered horses fight out the finish. It happened when Kauto Star and Denman were outpointed by Imperial Commander and it happened again yesterday.

I do not understand how a horse can be pronounced 'greatest horse on the planet' when it can only perform to its best on one description of ground. I am not knocking Ombudsman; his record is exemplary. But that record is established on good-to-firm ground. A splash of rain and all hope is lost. Both Frankel and Brigadier Gerard were better horses on a firm surface, yet both found the will and courage to win on soft and heavy ground.

Whereas I would like Maltese Cross to miss the Arc in favour of the St. Leger, I see Item as a potential Arc winner. Perhaps if Kalpana saunters home in the Yorkshire Oaks today, that would see Item head in another direction. Yet initially Kalpana's end-of-season target was to be the Mares race on Champions Day, so there is the potential for Item to be Juddmonte's representative at Longchamp. He will certainly stay 12-furlongs; he would not have run in the Epsom Derby if they did not believe he would stay and he won the International by finishing more strongly than the runner-up.

Ed Chamberlain saw controversy in the International. Did you? I didn't. Quite why in a race when there were two designated pace-makers neither got to the head of affairs at any point in the race is more a question in need of asking than any discussion of controversy. I also did not see stall 1 being an unsurmountable problem for 'the best horse in the world' to overcome. I can accept that the soft ground caused Ombudsman to underperform but not stall1. And as for Constitution River - he just is not as good as the experts made him out to be. He was flattered by his Eclipse win and only just finished in front of Hawk Mountain in the French Derby, and where did Hawk Mountain finish yesterday?

To finish with the Juddmonte International. After the race, the usually sensible Richard Hoiles made the comment that Kieran Shoemark on Almaqam may have been inconvenienced in the finish by using up his quotas of smacks with the whip by the time Colin Keane came upsides him. If this remark has any credence than what is being implied is that the more you smack a horse with a whip the faster and longer it will gallop. I'm sorry to keep advancing my own belief on this subject but a willing horse requires no such 'encouragement'. I am convinced in my own mind that the less the whip is used the less ungenuine horses we will have and because the emphasis will be on keeping a horse balanced if the whip were to be more severely restricted, the number of horses suffering back and tendon injuries would be reduced.  'One hit and that's it' is my mantra and I hope before I die (I have been diagnosed with a heart murmur, so fingers crossed) to see, at least, is hand and heel races trialled for professional jockeys and not just apprentices.