I think it is fair to say that Potters Charm would be the classiest horse to be seen so far this jumps season and though he did not win by far yesterday at Worcester, I liked the way he raced with his ears forward, as if he was enjoying his day out. If he won despite being of being short on fitness, his trainer said he was only 80% fit, I think he would be worth having on your side in the coming weeks, and again at the back end. I doubt he is one for deep ground, if we should be so lucky to achieve soft ground this season.
I suppose I should have started with Final Demand failing a dope test at the Cheltenham Festival last season. Yes, a Willie Mullins horse in dope shock! Apparently, and I cannot remember any announcement at the time, Final Demand had received a kick on the jaw eight-days before his run in 3-mile novice chase (the Brown Advisory) and was administered a pain killer by Closutton's resident vet. Unfortunately, the vet did not include the administration of mepivacaine on Final Demand's medical records, which, I believe, muddied the waters for the inquiry for a while. Also, and Cheltenham were fined £5,000 for the error, there was no c.c.t.v in the stable yard at Cheltenham where Final Demand was housed, resulting in the inquiry being unable to know who entered Final Demand's stable prior to the Brown Advisory. Toxicology advice was that the medication found in Final Demand's system, mepivacaine, could only have been administered 24-hours before the race.
This is not a scandalous case and the small trace of medivacaine was considered to be accidentally administered, though by whom remains a mystery. Mullins was fined £1,100. The good side to this case is that there is now an answer to what was perceived as a disappointing run by Final Demand and that he remains a legitimate candidate for the Cheltenham Gold Cup.
In a letter published in today's Racing Post, Dr. Stephen Angel makes the point that great races do not neccesarily make great racehorses and that when every horse in the Arc finished within 7-lengths (I calculated it at 10-lengths) of the winner, it is stretching the band overly to proclaim Darys a great horse. I agree about the quality of this year's Arc, though in winning two Arcs, one more than most of the acclaimed 'great horses' of the past, Darys has won the right to be called a 'great champion'.
In the name of equality, I must point out that the last winner of the triple crown was not Nijinsky but Oh So Sharp. She won the 1,000-guineas, the Oaks and the St. Leger. When her names does crop-up in this conversation she is belittled as the winner of the 'fillies triple crown' as if winning the fillies classics is somehow far easier than winning the colts classics. If Nijinsky is one of the greats for being a triple crown winner, why is Oh So Sharp not awarded the same honour? No one adds 'colts' triple crown when Nijinsky is referred to, so why must Oh So Sharp be left out of the conversation just because she is female. If I were not so lazy I would start a petition to have Oh So Sharp added to the list of triple crown winners.
Historical weather mention. I believe this extract from 'Men and Horses I Have Known' refers to the summer of 1908, though George Lambton was not one for rubber-stamping which year he refers to. Perhaps when he penned his book in 1928, he could not imagine it still being read in 2026. 'The summer had been so dry that even that glorious course was as hard as a brick.' He went on, talking about Canterbury Pilgrim, the foundation mare of Lord Derby's stud. 'I now had to train the mare for the St. Leger, and what a horrible time I did have, for I think it was the driest summer I have ever known...... But the course had not a blade of grass on it, and was in an awful state. Very different to what we find now, for I don't know any course that in my time has been so improved as Doncaster.'
Later on George Lambton makes an observation that is as relevant today as it obvious was back in the 1920's. 'It is curious how everyone in this country laments the lack of stayers, and yet how they turn their backs when they are at stud.'