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Captain's Blog - 4th October 2010

What are we to make of the performance of Workforce yesterday? His win in the Prix de l’arc de Triomphe was gutsy and the way he settled towards the rear and the turn of speed he showed proved that his win in the Derby was no fluke. Some better judges than me were not impressed with his Derby win despite the fact that he ran a massive speed figure. They then went on to say ‘told you so’ when he ran poorly in the King George, but surely he recoiled there from his massive effort at Epsom, yes he bounced.

Now it is being said he only won an ordinary Arc! Indeed it seems some punters will go to any lengths to downgrade this horses achievements. Yes it was an Arc that was run on very soft ground which may not have suited many runners, but Workforce displayed hitherto unknown talents indeed he showed that he is maturing into his racing. I say this because he settled beautifully, better than he did in the Dante Derby or King George. He made up his ground smoothly on deep ground something you rarely see and he quickened up impressively, again something that is hard to do in such conditions. What more do people want? This horse is the fastest ever winner of the Epsom Derby, his speed figure that factors in the super fast ground was outstanding as was his figure in the Dante when the bit slipped through his mouth. I know he ran badly in the King George but he bounced, his effort in running so fast in the Derby took its toll, with those exertions behind him he showed what he could do yesterday. Make no mistake he is no ordinary horse, his Derby run showed he was one of the best we have seen for years and his run yesterday should have shut his doubters up, but there are those out there who have not seen the light and do not believe in speed figures and they will continue to knock this horse with their spurious baseless assertions.

His trainer Sir Michael Stoute has come in for some criticism as well for not keeping everyone right up to date with the horse's well being and progress. Sir Michael has priorities which quite rightly will start with his owners. It would however have been nice if we could have felt more connection with the Derby winner. Some are more than irritated by the lack of communication. To be frank it does not bother me, the figures tell us how good this horse is, his pedigree tells us that he comes from a family that is somewhat infirm. Yes a regular update would have been nice and it would have helped us all to connect with this horse better, but we should know that Sir Michael has never been as media savvy as some trainers and we should not have expected any more than we got. What we should not do is let this colour the raw achievements of Workforce which in the end are all that matters.

I am at home today which is good news as the Ryder Cup singles take place today. I think Europe are going to get the 5 points they need to win the Cup today and are best priced at 1/5 to do so. I suspect I will be rooted to the sofa today watching all the action unfold. I am planning to get to the gym as well, but that all depends on how long the Ryder Cup goes on for. Both of ’s meetings today were subject to inspections but both have passed so there is plenty of action on your favourite Racing Channel.

Time to settle down to the golf.

Todays Selections

2.40 Pontefract – Robert the Painter (each way 7/1 William Hill )