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At least Steve Mellish on RUK told it like it was following the race.
What did he say? ? ?
I hate to go on and on, but if you look at the Two Thousand Guineas, the Derby and this race you are left wondering. It is a good thing that Mrs. Bolger owns this filly, that way the pain stays at home.
If you go to Channel 4’s website and to the racing section you can watch all of today’s races for free if you’re signed up with the Racing Post. Well, when I say all, I mean those covered by RUK.
I don’t have satellite/cable etc so the website is excellent. More importantly, the races are shown and reviewed a number of times allowing you to make notes about horses etc.
Channel’s 4 website obviously show recordings of races they’ve covered. However, they show the races with RUK’s pictures, commentary and analysis. Today, while watching a replay of River Proud’s win, Mellish is heard to say ‘I was worried the ground was a bit slower and that would hinder Lush Lashes, but judging by the time of this race the ground is good ground.’ I think we can assume from that comment that he was on Lush Lashes.
We see this time and time again. Slow pace and some jockeys content to remain at the back of the field. Mellish made some good points about tactics of three of the jockeys. He was astonished that Durcan aboard Passage of Time (proven stayer) was happy to track Murtagh and allow him first run. Moore’s ride on Heaven Sent was even more incredible, allowing the filly to give the others 3,4,5 maybe even six lengths start in what turned into a 2 and a half or 3 furlong sprint.
As for Manning, Mellish went berserk. He must have used the word ‘shocker’ half a dozen times. In response to the comment about Manning dropping his reins, Mellish responds ‘well, he did it twice, so at least he’s consistent.’
Having said all that, Francome and McGrath made some fair points I thought. Lush Lashes took a long time to pick up, just as she did at Ascot before powering away. However, if there’s one person who should know this, if I know it, is Kevin Manning. Yet, I think Channel 4’s pair started from the wrong place… as did Moore, Durcan and Manning.
Manning’s greatest mistake, in my opinion, was allowing a proven stayer – Lush Lashes – to become embroiled in a sprint. Now that’s fair enough, because that filly has plenty of speed. But his positioning of the filly was barking mad.
This week has finally seen Murtagh receive the plaudits he has deserved all season. It’s all very well talking about Ballydoyle’s money, and the quality of the horses he rides; but just think of all those Group 1 wins where Murtagh has won by a half length or less:
Newmarket 2,000 Guineas
Queen Anne at Ascot
Eclipse
Sussex
Irish Oaks
King GeorgeThese are just the ones off the top of my head, there may be others; but the man has been far superior to his peers.
Would Ryan Moore, Jamie Spencer, Frankie Dettori, Jimmy Fortune have been able to judge all those finishes so accurately?
Not a chance.
This week has finally seen Murtagh receive the plaudits he has deserved all season. It’s all very well talking about Ballydoyle’s money, and the quality of the horses he rides; but just think of all those Group 1 wins where Murtagh has won by a half length or less:
Newmarket 2,000 Guineas
Queen Anne at Ascot
Eclipse
Sussex
Irish Oaks
King GeorgeThese are just the ones off the top of my head, there may be others; but the man has been far superior to his peers.
Would Ryan Moore, Jamie Spencer, Frankie Dettori, Jimmy Fortune have been able to judge all those finishes so accurately?
I have little doubt that Frankie at his best would have got the job done. The man has won over 100 grp.1’s worldwide, no need to elaborate any further. As for the rest of that bunch the simple answer is no.
I hate to go on and on, but if you look at the Two Thousand Guineas, the Derby and this race you are left wondering. It is a good thing that Mrs. Bolger owns this filly, that way the pain stays at home.
After today, that made me chuckle.
Safe to say that Passage Of Time has now latched on to some very credible form.
As for Manning’s ride – it was not all a horrible effort by his own accord. Gaps kept closing when he looked around for a free lane in the straight. Remarkable. However, he would not have had that problem if he decided to peel out when possible.
Amazing thing though, Lush Lashes was not phased. And in the end, she proved to me that with a clear run she would have blitzed this field by 2 and 3 lengths.
I would back her with a vengeance in the Matron Stakes or possibly have an interest if she were included in the Irish Champion (pending New Approach decisions being made).
Lush Lashes is a very brave and genuine racer. She fought her way through the gap and wanted to win.Should have won easily.Like I said someplace else New Approach would have won the Derby easily if Manning had just followed Moore up the outside at Epsom, instead of heading for the rails . Interestingly NA now is suffering from a sore left shoulder coming out of the Derby! There is no excuse to get blocked on such wonderful horses.
Mr Deering, I agree with you.
By the way, did you hear Steve Mellish’ quite extraordinary rant down your way? I’ve never heard anything like it. Read Reasonoverfaith’s excellent post for more detail.
What made me laugh was that Mellish’s pocket talking explosion was another one in the eye for all the The Racing Forum “RUK -is-the-lovechild of-The South Bank Show-and-The Literary Review” armchair critics who accuse ATR of being lowbrow. Ho ho ho.
And Willo had the temerity to accuse ATR of jockey bashing the other day up at Catterick! Steve Mellish reminded me of an old drunk in some backstreet bookies bashing his nut on the racecards and calling Pat Eddery a ****.
In hindsight and with the benefit of a few more viewings, I’m sure Mr Mellish wouldn’t get his jowls in such a twist over the ride. I’ve seen better, but I’ve seen a lot worse. Mick Kinane, for example, (who Steve Mellish loves), rode Statue of Liberty in the 2001 Sussex as if he had developed Parkinson’s Disease mid-way down the back straight. Anchorman Julian Wilson moved adroitly on in the aftermath.
Unfortunately, it’s Goodwood, Steve. Speak to your mate, Tom. Hard luck and Goodwood are twin sisters who live together in a little cottage and paint pictures of poodles.
I’m sure Steve will have worked that one out tonight and will be apologising to subscribers shortly for his outburst and perhaps keep his Three Star bets for the times he isn’t punditing.
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Safe to say that Passage Of Time has now latched on to some very credible form.
Safe to say also that Bankable is a much better horse than many give him credit for.
ps PoT’s close-up 3rd in the Breeder’s Cup isn’t too daft, either.
"What made me laugh was that Mellish’s pocket talking explosion was another one in the eye for all the The Racing Forum "RUK -is-the-lovechild of-The South Bank Show-and-The Literary Review" armchair critics who accuse ATR of being lowbrow. Ho ho ho."
Max, are you sure you don’t have a connection to ATR?!
The instances of jockey-bashing (or, if the postings on most forums, on this occasion suggests, "telling it like it is!!") are far less on RUK than ATR, where it is almost a daily occurrence.
I would agree that Steve’s rant today did smell of "burnt fingers", as I posted above, but surely his criticism of the other jockeys in allowing Murtagh to dictate such a gentle pace was well-placed.
Just my opinion, of course!
Colin
Maxilon…I have no love for jockey bashing but having listened to Mellish and then flicked over to Francome’s pathetic attempts to defend the ride on C4, I don’t really care whether Mellish was talking out of his pocket or not. He was simply talking the truth.
I would take Steve Mellish’s rant as a punter talking though his wallet then ex jockeys and so called experts who,s main aim is to suck up to Horses connections.
99 times out of 100 Lashes would beat Halfway, all form and ratings back this up, the majority of us saw this and backed accordingly.
So yes we are like Steve talking with Burnt Fingers and its hard to find any excuse for the jockey in this case.Colin, I struggle to maintain a connection with reality never mind a TV channel(though I’ve always fancied a go at Stateside if someone can tell me how to get on the roster. I’ve got a proposal for an X-Factor style reality show where eight armchair internet pundits compete for the right to present something like Sky Poker, Stateside or an afternoon at Redcar. It’s a sure fire ratings winner, but I digress…).
So no, no connection – just an unbiased opinion that people who believe that RUK is a furlong clear of ATR in terms of class are talking out of their hat.
Respectfully, as usual.
And I do like Mellish: he’s like one of us and proved it yesterday. As for the ride, BSB, as I say. Seen better, seen worse. Liam Jones on Kings Apostle in the very next race, for example. But because that was a fourteens shot, no-one gives a crispy duck.
Having been fortunate enough to back the winner, Halfway to Heaven, I do however concede that Lush Lashes would have won had the gaps appeared earlier. The Bolger filly ( as Francome rightly said ) failed to quicken in the manner Manning may have expected when he made his initial move.
That said, Murtagh gave the winner a superb ride and dictated the race throughout. In hindsight, Manning could have given his filly more of a chance and should have been more tactically aware. He tended to engineer his own problems. As always in such matters, it’s all ifs, buts and maybes.
That’s racing … as "they" say.
Gambling Only Pays When You're Winning
I would take Steve Mellish’s rant as a punter talking though his wallet then ex jockeys and so called experts who,s main aim is to suck up to Horses connections.
99 times out of 100 Lashes would beat Halfway, all form and ratings back this up, the majority of us saw this and backed accordingly.
So yes we are like Steve talking with Burnt Fingers and its hard to find any excuse for the jockey in this case.When you back a horse you back the jockey with it. There is a gulf in class between Murtagh and a string of "average" jockeys that are currently riding.
Murtagh barely ever rides a horse wrongly, compare his number of **** ups with the likes of Spencer, Hughes, Hills, Moore etc.
When you back a horse you back a jockey as well, they are two parts of the same team so maybe the jockey should be considered more when placing bets?
Yes, I got the distinct feeling there were some burnt fingers amonst the RUK team.
Colin
hello Colin!,
In case you’re not aware of it, Lydia wrote on Betfair last night about this and made the point, more than once, that Steve had not had a bet on the race.
Presumably she stated this with his permission and hopefully, you never know, she might discuss this with you herself later on
clearly I have little better to do than read these things.I rather enjoyed Mr Mellish’s outburst – a pleasant change and reflected the opinions of many a viewer I expect.
Now if you don’t mind I’m getting back to Big Brother
… ta ta
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