Derby 2012

of course not,just thought he is now fully recovered.Aidan mentioned that at the curragh.

If Frankel moves to a mile and two I will eat my underwear,not really but I will think more highly of Henry.They will come out of the woodwork to take him on.Golden Lilac, C.del Aig, SNA, SYT etc.Does Camelot have to race at 1 1/4 miles to prove anything? If he goes for the Leger will he go to LA? I’ll be there.

I wonder if he’d go to the Classic over the Turf. Even if neither horse wins their Triple Crown, a battle between two Derby winners would be something to savor. The great Zev vs. Papyrus match race in 1923 – 12 furlongs at Belmont, on the dirt, for $100,000 – drew a crowd of 50,000.

Its impossible to say how good camelot is but it looked to me as if he was struggling to handle the camber as well as the hill so his win looks very very good.allied to the time posted and the fact that he was ridden hands and heels the last furlong shows he is a top class horse.He looks to have improved from the guineas and looks like he will stay the leger distance no problem if required.Only when he faces older horses will we be able to judge him properly but its not his fault he scared the opposition off.One of the top ten derby times i believe as well.Id love to see him at the eclipse but doubt he will go there.lets just enjoy a superb derby winner and maybe there is much much more to come from camelot.

St Nicholas Abbey, whilst undoubtedly impressive, beat nothinf of consequence. Those who filled the places behind are not Group 1 Mile and a half horses, nevermind what one may deem to be high calibre group 1 horses. He’s proven to be a very good animal, but all available form still doesn’t show us this supposed ability that we were told at 2.

I find it hard to be overly enthusiastic about Camelot. He’s clearly a very good colt, but what his form amounts to is difficult to know. I don’t have the extensive knowledge or seen enough classics that many posters on here will have seen, but this years Derby renewal came accross as a thoroughly disappointmenting one. The majority of the field had no chance, the domestic challenge was abysmal (Only Bonfire had a profile even approaching a serious chance in an ordinary year) and in the end and the result was dominated by O’Brien.

Personally, if Frankel and Camelot were to meet, i think Camelot would be murdered. Outside of wishful hyperbole, what have we seen from Camelot to suggest he’s a realistic match for Frankel?

Having set a decent pace – arguably to benefit his more illustrious stablemate – Astrology lengthened well from the front and had the majority of the field at full stretch turning in.

It was only when his pacesetting duties took their toll that he weakened, eventually losing second place to Main Sequence, who ran on through beaten colts.

It’s a shame that such a talented animal will never be given a fair opportunity to compete with Camelot, despite demonstrating the necessary attributes to do so.

The generally unfancied Ballydoyle pair, Homecoming Queen and Was, have been responsible for classic success this year. Last Year, Memphis Tennessee and Treasure Beach ran with much credit at Epsom, while better fancied duo, Seville and Recital, flopped miserably.

With so many colts and fillies under his guidance, it must be hard for Aidan O’Brien to know exactly who is the creme de la creme. As a result, it’s more than likely that some of his inmates will never reach their full potential. In short, a colt like Astrology would be a stable star for another yard, yet at Ballydoyle he’s just another above average 3YO.

This is not an attack, just an observation. In a recent interview, Peter Moody attacked the ’staged’ nature of British racing, and to some degree he has a point. Frankel has Bullet Train, St Nicholas Abbey has Robin Hood (another talented individual who was also employed to help So You Think win a poor Group 1) and Windsor Palace – who helped So You Think win the same sub-standard Group 1 last year.

Now, Sea The Stars – there was a colt who didn’t need the assistance of a pacemaker over any trip (although Ballydoyle normally provided one for him!). Oh, well. I’m sure Astrology will get on well with Mike De Kock, or if that never comes to fruition there’s always Qatar…

As a rule, I slowly become gripped with tension and growing excitement when the Derby is about to start but yesterday, I felt next to nothing. Something to do with the lack of runners and quality.

The writing was on the wall when, entering the straight, Bonfire already looked burned out and the others looking like glorified donkeys. It was then a question of when Camelot was gonna open up and trounce them. Yawn!

Not a Derby I’ll be reminiscing about in high regard and enthusiasm.

The cure? As Peruvian Chief mentioned … The Eclipse – Frankel vs So You Think vs Carlton House vs Camelot (and another half-dozen that Ballydoyle could throw in).

Camelot was darned impressive. You can only beat what’s in front of you, and he did it bloody well.

I hope he goes for the Triple Crown. It’d be something special.

That said, I think Sea The Stars would have beaten him. So far, I’d say he was great (Guineas+Derby=Greatness), but he ain’t an all-conquering uberledge. Time will, however, tell.

Camelot won, beating the other horses in the race. Quickened nicely and left them for dead. Joseph said the horse didn’t come down the hill at all, so not a bad performance at all.