RSS

Contact us

Saturday 22 November 2008

The turf

Head over heart

After another masterly ride from Johnny Murtagh, Mount Nelson’s head dipped just at the right moment in a driving finish and he beat Phoenix Tower on the line by a short head. It was, incredibly, O’Brien’s 12th Group One success of the season and Murtagh’s tenth. Currently, they are unstoppable, with an extra strength that comes from their mutual confidence.

‘We put pacemakers in when they will benefit us,’ said Murtagh, who sounds already as if he has been part of the Coolmore furniture for as long as a Chippendale sideboard.

‘I knew today that I was on the fastest horse in the race. I knew that if they went slow I would outsprint them and if they went fast (as they did, thanks to Cecil’s Multidimensional) I’d be able to do what I did — wind it up from the back. Aidan told me that if I led inside the final furlong that would be enough to win it and he knows the horses so well that if he says something you know it is probably right.’

It was fascinating to hear the jockey who succeeded the drug-suspended Kieran Fallon — how he must be kicking himself — discussing still with a slight sense of wonder the sheer strength in depth of the equine athletes who lope around the Ballydoyle barn. At most yards, he said, you hope for just one top horse to make your season. ‘But, with the standard of horses we have, it’s just one behind the other, a huge range of horses for different distances.’

Mount Nelson, he said, ominously for his rivals, would come on for the race. And it would not be surprising if he did. After being a top-class two-year-old, Mount Nelson missed most of his three-year-old season after tearing off a shoe and losing half his hoof with it. So his fifth to his stablemate Haradasun at Ascot was a creditable effort, and one clue to O’Brien’s genius emerged as the quietly spoken trainer reflected on that performance: ‘We never mind them getting beat if we learn something about them.’

More articles from: Robin Oakley | this section

Print this article  |  Email to a friend  |  Permalink  |   Comment

Post this entry to:   del.icio.us | Digg | Newsvine | NowPublic | Reddit

Advertisement

Spectator Business | Apollo Magazine

Corporate | Advertising | Privacy | Terms

Spectator, 22 Old Queen Street, London, SW1H 9HP

All Articles and Content Copyright ©2008 by The Spectator | All Rights Reserved