THE audacious coup organised and landed at Roscommon on Tuesday has livened up what is one of the duller weeks in the horse racing calendar, with apologies to fans of the Shergar Cup.

As usual, there has been plenty of debate centring on whether such well-publicised gambles are bad for the image of racing, or indeed whether the intrigue involved actually makes the sport more appealing to a public who are cynical enough about the world to begin with.