TRIPLE CROWNS, MULLINS FEAST WEEK, RIPPLING ALL AROUND THE WORLD & THE SCOTTISH LASS ON AN UPWARD CURVE.

It keeps being said that no horse has won the triple crown since Nijinsky, yet Oh So Sharp won the 1,000 Guinease, Oaks and St. Leger in 1985 (spent the last ten-minutes trying to find my book on Henry Cecil only to discover it was published in 1983!). Of course, I am unlikely to witness another triple crown winner as the St. Leger has lost its prestige, even if it is the oldest classic of them all. As anyone who has visited this site on a regular basis will be aware, I would like the Eclipse to be upgraded to classic status, thereby giving the sport a more respresentative look to the racing age we live:  a 8-furlong classic, a 10-furlong classic and a 12-furlong classic. To my mind the St.Leger should become all-age, with the sport throwing a bucket-load of money at it, upgrading it to be a complimentary race to the Arc, though over 2-furlongs further.

I would like to see to the concept of triple crowns extended to other divisions of the flat. A 5-furlong triple crown series, and a six-furlong triple crown. Choose your own races to make-up the series. A mile triple crown, too, and a ten and 12-furlong triple crown, and, of course, a stayers triple crown over 2-miles, 2-miles and a quarter and the Ascot Gold Cup. If these races were spread throughout the second half of the season it would provide a cohesive narrative rather than the jarring tumble to the finish, made worse by the interloper that is 'Champions Day', that we have at present.

If the B.H.A. want premiership then I suggest triple crowns is the road to travel, a concept which might interest and intrigue a single global sponsor.

The Willie Mullins week of worship and wealth accumulation begins tomorrow at Punchestown. We should not pity Gordon Elliott too much, though we pitied Dan Skelton for two-years, but what must it be like to have finished second-best to Willie for what seems like decades. Gordon is the Richard Johnson to McCoy's Willie Mullins. By tomorrow evening, it is highly likely that for the first time this season Gordon will not be top of the leades board. Unless Marine Nationale can topple the four of Willie's in the 2-Mile Champion Chase, the title will be all bar the presetation of the trophy. It shouldn't be this way but that is the reality of the Willie Mullions kingship in Ireland. If it were not for Willie's favour of allowing his best horses to take each other on, Punchestown would be more akin to Sandown's final jumps meeting than the Cheltenham Festival. There are ups and downs, pros and cons, for living in Willie's world. Though for poor Gordon, it is mainly downs and cons.

We are all aware in this country that our mad, bad and sad  Prime Minister and his allies wouldn't have a clue on how to run a mobile canteen let alone a country. It was a laudable exercise to try and help gambling addicks to overcome their addiction, yet their blind approach to the subject is having a ripple affect in many other countries, especially those in racing jurisdictions. By herding otherwise respectable men and women in this country to the unregulated (and no doubt linked to criminality and money laundering) black market, it has opened up illegal betting to people all over the world. Actions have consequences; bad or unworkable solutions to very small problems have even greater consequences. Vote Reform in every election until we are rid of the wokist Labour Party.

There is a wee Scottish lass who to my inexpert eye is a rider of great potential talent. Lauren Young rides mainly for her employer Jim Goldie (as good a trainer as you will find anywhere in the country) and presently claims 5Ibs. I suggest by the end of this season she will have ridden out her claim. If other northern trainers were to give her opportunities might she become champion apprentice and would that not be a feather in the cap of Northern racing. Apart from good hands and a great racing sense, she is light and rode at 8st 2Ibs yesterday when she got Let's Be Frank up the final strides at Musselburgh. She has a bright future as a northern lightweight; yet I believe she could have a far more stellar career if she receives the backing of other trainers.