GOING for the bronze can get you into trouble. Look what happened when Dancing With The Stars contestant Hughie Maughan went a darker shade of brown. He was the talk of the town but voted off the show the next week.

The Hurricane Fly bronze sculpture, unveiled for the first time at Leopardstown last Sunday, also divided opinion. Up close, it looks much better than it appeared in many photographs. The fact is that it was not meant to be an identical lifelike replica. The attendance at Leopardstown was down over a thousand on last year when Faugheen and Douvan were a much bigger draw. Damp weather, and the absence of Faugheen and Min after suffering setbacks were undoubted factors, with just four runners in the two Grade 1 races. Yet there was still plenty of activity.