REALITY STRIKES, HOW ABOUT BACIO, ORLA TYNAN, NIJINSKY & RACING IS A TEAM SPORT.

On his first run since March, as a nine-year-old ex-hurdler, I thought finishing only 5 and a bit lengths behind two genuine Group 2 horses was a perfectly respectable effort on the part of Constitution Hill. The horse will come on for the run; will doubtless be better on turf; and will be seen to better effect when in his proper grade, when he can run in a handicap. I also think, as Billy Loughnane suggested, that he should be upped in trip. Why Nicky believes 14-furlongs would be his maximum trip is for him to explain. For a nine-year-old hurdler he might well be a bit speedy. But on the flat he will taking on younger legs yet to have their natural speed taken from them. In Nicky we trust, though.

As for Hayley Turner and Adele Mulrennen wanting the horse retired! Do they not read the papers. I mean no disrepect to any of his connections, all of whom acted in the best interests of the horse, but fate granted Galopin Des Champs only five-days of retirement before his life was taken from him. As long as Constitution Hill is happy and sound enough to race, they should continue with him. The horse doesn't care if he is taking on group horses or handicappers and if he is doing himself justice in whichever type of race he competes then allow him to continue. For me, the best that came out of the race yesterday is that Constitution Hill will not go fantasy pot hunting Melbourne or at the Breeders Cup.

Almeraq was impressive in the Sprint Cup at Haydock, hacking up on soft ground against a poor bunch none of which  seemed to care for the ground and is now being hailed the sprinter of the season. I disagree. The people at The Racing Post have seeming forgotten Bacio, the American horse who has won his last two races on British soil. I am aborn cynic, yet even I had my socks blown off by Bacio's performance in the Nunthorpe. Bacio first, the rest nowhere. Bacio first by half-a-furlong, second by a similar distance, Almeraq. Pity the two can't face-off before the end of the season.

Irish apprentice Orla Tynan won another race yesterday. At Navan, in a photo-finish, she won on Irish Rumour, carrying so much lead in her saddle than she described carry it into the hands of the trainer harder than winning the race. Now, I know for jockeys the Irish scene is very competitive, with all but the few finding it easy to get mounts, but why o why does a 7Ib claimer with the winning habit, allbeit she is female, get so few rides? As I said after her previous winning ride, which was a peach worthy of Colin Keane or Billy Lee, Tynan could be to Irish racing what Holly Doyle is to Britain. 

When I was a kid, I think my first purchase with my own money was a print of Nijinsky which hung on the living room wall. Where it is now, I have no idea. Anyway, before I became aware that a flat-bred horse does not reach maturity until it is five years of age, it was my opinion that Nijinsky was the best flat horse I had ever seen. Back then, of course, I was young, nowhere near maturing as a human being. Now I believe no horse should be termed 'one of the greats' if it is retired to stud after its three-year-old career. Unless a horse can beat the following generation of top horses, giving them weight as per weight for age, how can we ever know their limitations. Sea The Stars and Dancing Brave were magnificent as three-year-olds but who can say they would have trained on, stayed sound in wind and limb. They were both rushed off to stud to avoid that racecourse examination and as such their connections should be denied the accolade of having trained a true great. To me, sadly, even if the decision to retire at three was Vincent O'Brien's policy and that the owner was dying of cancer and wanted to see Nijinsky's first foals before he died, Nijinsky falls into my category of 'only if'.

Mr. Meechan of Worksop, in a letter published in today's Racing Post, makes the comment, which I have come round to entirely agreeing with, that horses run as pacemakers are not being ridden to the letter of the rules of racing. A horse should always be run on its merits, hence jockeys riding pacemakers should receive suspensions and trainers who issue orders as such, should receive a large fine and a caution. Where I take issue with Mr. Meechan is his belief that horse racing is not a team sport. It is. Staff, trainer, owner and jockey all play their part and therefore they represent a team. When a horse wins, all four team members are rewarded in one way or another. Horse racing is a team sport until the horses are between the white rails and then the rules of racing take precedent.