WHICH O'BRIEN IS BEST, D.J. IS RIGHT AGAIN, MR. KARTER HAS A POINT & RACECOURSE GRAVEYARDS.

When Joseph O'Brien's achievements are laid end-to-end, and combined with his relatively young age, it is almost fair to suggest that he is beginning to put his father in the shade. Today he has the favourite for the Scottish National, last week he had two winners at the Aintree National meeting, which might have been greatly improved upon if Ben Jones had taken a couple of deep breaths and thought about matters before boldly going where a more experienced jockey would have feared going, and he has managed to hoist an eleven-year-old into becoming the champion staying hurdler, yet foremost Joseph is a trainer of flat horses and is one of the best in the world at that game also.

It is easy to forget that his father started as a jumps trainer and won races at the Cheltenham Festival and elsewhere. But not to the extent that his son is achieving. I would argue that neither Aidan nor Willie Mullins is the best trainer in Ireland at the moment but young Joseph, and there is no debate on who will succeed his father  at Ballydoyle. I hope that day is a long way into the future as National Hunt will then lose one of its brightest stars. Ballydoyle is no place for eleven-year-old hurdlers.

When David Jennings is right, he is not shy at reminding us. To my shame, I was not aware of the controversy surrounding the final race of the Aintree meeting, though why the National itself is not the final race is beyond me. There is no more a 'after the Lord's Mayor Show' than the race that follows the Aintree National.

Patrick O'Brien won the race, restricted to amateurs and claiming jockeys, I believe, on Laafi, beating Melon (should be pronounced Me-Lon in deference to a more famous horse of that name who only retired the season before last) in a head-bobbing finish. The eagle-eyed were quick to predict that the result would be overturned, not in the stewards' room, everyone knew that, but down in London four-days later. The punters who backed Laafi were unconcerned; they would be paid-out; the backers of Melon would not be, and that is unfair, don't you think?

O'Brien had gone four over the whip limit and that meant disqualification. In his column in the Racing Post today, Jennings quite rightly asks why it needs to take 4-days and a different set of eyes to determine the bloody obvious? When it comes to the interference rule, the on-the-day stewards have the power to disqualify and in an open and shut case like this, why can't they also determine guilt and equally disqualify. It would save time, expence and allow those who backed the declared winner of the race to be paid-out by bookmakers and not those who backed the disqualified horse. Simplies, as a well-known meerkat would say.

Mr. Karter of London is vying for my position of miserable git of the year. In his letter published in the Racing Post today he wants to know what all the fuss is about. The fuss being Constitution Hill's popularity with racing fans. Like all miserable gits, he has a right to air his grievance. That he is missing the point entirely, is lost to him. I, on the other hand, am correct when I say that Constitution Hill is a long way down the pantheon of the greatest 2-Mile hurdlers. Others will disagree, though not Mr. Karter, I suspect, but I stand by my claim. On the other hand, there is absolutely no doubt that Constitution Hill ranks highly amongst the most popular horses of recent times. Not a Desert Orchid or Red Rum, yet loved by many and his presence on the flat this season, weather allowing, is a major boost to the sport. Ask Newbury, they promoted the John Porter to the middle of the card solely because C.H. was expected to run. That he will spend the day at Seven Barrows is a great loss to Newbury, with attendances lower than if he were centre-stage at the racecourse.

Given the need for diversity of money-making schemes at racecourses these days, with golf courses in the centre of the course or conference halls in the grandstand, would a racecourse in this country give some thought to a graveyard so that people like myself who would like nothing better than to be intered in holy racing earth when my end day comes, can rest easy in their coffins. I am sure there are many people like myself who would appreciate quietude crossed with the race-day excitement of the racecourse as a final resting place. Personally, I would not want a memorial stone that a loose horse might injure itself upon, just a small bush or dwarf fruit tree as a clue to what lies beneath the turf. I also do not seek the afterlife, just the contentment of residing where horse and human link hearts and minds in the race for unity and glory.