2007

Asked to speak at the Irish Racing Awards, Donn McClean stunned the more than 200 people present with a poem he composed, encapsulating the highs and lows of the year.

The Guineas, we knew was down to just two

Perhaps the best we had seen.

A boxer from Cuba, a holy Roman ruler,

Both Irish, both set for Round Three.

But the best laid plans of horse and of man

Can be scorched in the heat of unfairness.

Lose one young buck, that’s desperate luck,

Lose both, that’s downright careless.

And if Newmarket beats with four fleeting feet

It’s the 1000 Guineas that claims her.

A legend who lives, the only question is:

Would that be the filly or the trainer?

An impressive haul, but two Guineas is not all.

A brand new approach has beckoned.

The Galileo nous is at home in Glebe House.

Could this be Teofilo the Second?

Royal Ascot arrives, the pride divides,

Shane travels, Ger chained to the sink.

Elletelle the skinner, the Queen Mary winner,

But the new Irish manager? You think?

Yeats and Mahler and Henry the Traveller,

The Ballydoyle winners, well backed.

Aidan decrees, a famed 1-2-3

And St James’s Palace is sacked.

The drama’s begun as the Arc is won

By a poet and a hell of a man.

The masses wait as the stewards debate

For a lifetime. Exhale. Result stands.

The Hennessy feast, a perennial treat,

The grey has them all in a spin.

Twenty lengths clear, he listens, but can’t hear

An 11-year-old heart closing in.

And over the last, Salmon’s last gasp,

A bid for a place in history.

Never before can a spine-tingling roar

Have carried a horse to victory.

There’s no debate on the Cheltenham weights,

You Irish won’t fool us again.

You get 7lb, take note, if you travel by boat,

If you come by plane you get 10.

And it isn’t the case that the Champion Hurdle’s safe,

As you win it all of the time.

There’s a strong temptation to go with ‘weight for nation’.

The ridiculous to the sublime.

A National hero lands for a couple of grand.

A cloud with a silver line.

As handicaps go, this is Ireland’s Own,

That’s six of the best from nine.

Retirement with grace after his 57th race,

It makes sense to go out at the top.

Un-Touche-able he remains over Cheltenham’s banks and drains,

He made a difference – not difficult to spot.

Second crowning for Long Run

2012

HE may not be the superstar that many thought a couple of years ago but, forced to reach into his deepest reserves of courage, Long Run ran out a very gutsy winner of the Grade 1 William Hill King George VI Chase at Kempton on St Stephen’s Day.

The seven-year-old, always well there while not especially fluent, was headed by Captain Chris at the last, but fought like a tiger for Sam Waley-Cohen, and thrust his head in front again close home to score by a neck. It was 14 lengths back to Grands Crus, followed by Champion Court and Cue Card.

The ground was heavy and conditions will probably be very different at Cheltenham in March. Even so, it is hard to imagine anything that finished behind on Wednesday making an impression. Long Run won the big race nearly two years ago, and was also successful here. He is one of the best chasers of recent years, and his form figures reveal admirable consistency.

Of course, he had something to prove this week, and 15/8 was a very cautious price about a horse with only one win since his finest hour at the Festival. Both Nicky Henderson and Robert Waley-Cohen thought Long Run was below his best last season after a punishing run against Kauto Star at Kempton. They were probably right and Henderson has done exceptionally well to coax the horse back to Grade 1-winning form.

“Both horse and jockey have laid any doubts to rest,” he said. “Long Run has proven stamina, willingness, guts, determination, and Sam has given him a great ride as well.” These days, forums and chatrooms ensure that criticism is pointed, to say the least, and some of it has clearly hurt the jockey who is, after all, a part-timer in the saddle.

However, he was completing a double on the day and is sensible enough to listen to those, like John Francome, who have been there and done that. “I listen to the people that are closest to me when they analyse a race,” he said. “When you don’t do things right you listen and hope to learn. When you feel it’s not quite fair, you try to brush it under the carpet.

“Today was all about guts, and [Long Run] has a lot of them. I didn’t know if the finishing line would come too early. I was screaming and pushing and hoping, and he got there.”

There is still some 8/1 for the Gold Cup with three or four layers. Overall, the impression was that Long Run is not quite the performer of two years ago, and the likes of his own stable companion Bobs Worth, together with Flemenstar and Sir Des Champs, will make things very hard for him.

[Indeed, as Ian Carnaby predicted, Long Run found Bobs Worth and Sir Des Champs too good for him in the Gold Cup, in which he finished third. He led a four-horse British challenge at Punchestown for the Gold Cup, and was beaten less than a length by Sir Des Champs.]

Booming Christmas crowds

1982

WITH a Tote aggregate of over £890,000 for the six Christmas meetings at Leopardstown and Limerick, the year is ending on a cheerful note.

This was £260,000 more than 12 months ago, and indicates that with the right ingredients there are still plenty of people prepared to go racing and spend their money. Of course, some ingredients are unpredictable, especially the weather which could not have been better at Leopardstown. Sponsors provided sufficient cash to attract the right runners, making competitive racing that led to lively betting.

There is no doubt that the jackpot guaranteed by Sean Graham, a minimum of £20,000 on the first two days and £10,000 on the third at Leopardstown, was a clever gimmick. It might appear odd for a bookmaker to give the Tote a financial shove, but it did the trick. Sean did not have to put his hand in his pocket, and he no doubt benefited from the bigger attendance,

Finally, it is interesting to note that the increased admission charge and the three-day extensive television coverage did not make the slightest difference to the Leopardstown gate.

Dickinson rules

Michael Dickinson has a quite extraordinary grip on the pulse of jump racing in Britain. On Boxing Day he sent 21 runners from his Yorkshire stables to six race meetings. Twelve of the horses won, setting a new record that only Michael is ever likely to beat.

The highpoint of Dickinson’s dozen on the day was unquestionably the success of Wayward Lad in the King George VI Chase before a huge crowd at Kempton. The joint-champion jockey. John Francome, had been booked for Bregawn, but was more than pleased to switch to such a talented substitute as Wayward Lad.

Will Wayward Lad be as effective over the longer distance and more testing course of the Tote Cheltenham Gold Cup? Francome certainly thinks so. He said: “You see, we were flat out all the way and were only running at the end. We met the last spot on, jumped it really well, and that won me the race. Wayward Lad certainly felt that he wanted further.”