THE BEST IS YET TO COME, CHILDREN, REALLY! & THE END IS NIGH.

I read in the Racing Post today, at least according to David Jennings, that Tom Segal has stated, as I have done on this site, his belief that Joseph O'Brien is going to be as great a trainer as his father. Of course, strictly on the results gained at Royal Ascot, Joseph is two-winners less accomplished than his father but then Joseph is not supported by the might of Coolmore and his five winners were owned by five different owners, which perhaps makes his winning haul that bit more impressive. And Joseph also has to work the handicaps, something his father rarely has to bother with.

Just imagine if Ben Jones had ridden a more restrained race on Jordans in the Aintree National back in April and Joseph had an Aintree National on his c.v. along with the two Melbourne Cups, an Irish Derby, an Epsom Oaks and a Doncaster St. Leger and all the other Group 1's and Grade 1's, especially winning a succession of Grade 1's with the eleven-year-old Home By The Lee.

Obviously, there is only one Aidan O'Brien, the one and only where any debate is held on the greatest flat trainer in history. Yet if you held a debate who is the top trainer during the time Joseph has held a trainers' licence that huge gap between father and son closes considerably. Of course, to be within a close shout of his father, the debate must encompass both codes of the sport as Joseph is as good at one as he is at the other and his father's succcessful time as a National Hunt trainer are so far back in time that it is beyond the capacity of my memory, bar the Istabraq years, of course.  But in the really short period of time that Joseph has trained on his own account, his form figures are so impressive that the gap in achievement between him and his father closes by the season. And of course, where the father started with comparatively nothing, Joseph will have compiled a mighty c.v. even before he is invited to take possesssion of the keys to Ballydoyle on the retirement of his father.

As you will be aware, I am on the side of Christophe Soumillon when it comes to the infamous running of the St. James's Palace Stakes and the charge of employing Team Tactics. Yet at the first day of his appeal, it is to be continued next Thursday, instead of defending himself with the comments he gave to the press after the race, that he had ridden two off the rail the whole race, he has chosen to use as the core of his defence his fear that a large number of children positioned close to the rails in the straight would frighten his mount off a straight line. I cannot see how this strengthens his case. He also has blamed David Egan on Power Blue for riding aggressively and pushingd him towards the rail.

I believe the Ascot stewards were on the lookout for any example of 'team tactics' in order to have an excuse to bring in strengthened rules on the subject and Soumillon's ride on Puerto Rico gave them the opportunity to bring the matter to the public eye. If 'team tactics' were actioned in this race, I do not understand why Aidan O'Brien is not also on the charge sheet, as he has been in the past on this issue. Either Aidan issued the riding instructions to his jockeys or Ryan was instrumental in issuing Soumi with how he expected him to ride Puerto Rico. Ryan stuck to the inside because he knew a golden highway would be there for him, perhaps. If 'team tactics' were employed, Soumi could not have acted alone.

It seems Chelmsford racecourse is to remain closed for the foreseeable future after Golden Mile Racing Limited had its application to take over the licence rejected by the B.H.A. yesterday. The B.H.A. consider John Holmes, though not a director of GMRL, to still be influential within the company and seem to be of the opinion that he is an unfit person to be involved with the racecourse. He originally informed the B.H.A. that the level of debt at Chelmsford was £22-million when he knew it to be £30-million.

Although I shed no tears for the loss of an all-weather track, it is sad that such a fine facility for the training or racehorses, even if it cannot function as a racecourse, is to be left in limbo.