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DAVID CARR |
Weblog: What do you mean the Wi-Fi doesn't work? The life of a Racing Post reporter
Raising the scarlet banner in North Yorks
FLUNKED your A levels? Missed out on that course in radical political history? Then head to Catterick.
Letting Howard Wilson talk you through his string is a real lesson in who-was-who in the last couple of centuries of progressive politics. No tuition fees either.
He is proud to name his horses after 'lefties' (in his words) and most famously he was the man behind last year's smart two-year-old Frederick Engels, who needs little introduction.
Tonight's Catterick winner Sylvia Pankhurst is another familiar name, though Wilson was quick to point out she was the most radical of the sisters and ended up fighting for Indian independence.
But full marks if you can identify Juana Belen (fourth in the seller tonight) - she was a Mexican revolutionary.
Bertie Whittle (in tomorrow's Great St Wilfrid at Ripon) - a Doncaster miner and union activist.
And Annie Besant (in at Wolverhampton on Monday) - was a leading member of the Chartist movement.
Full spectrum of winning owners tonight as two races after Sylvia Pankhurst's victory, Galleon scored for the Queen.
No, the owner wasn't here - she's on holiday at Balmoral and Catterick is scarcely her sort of place, though this is the only track where the man bringing the full result from the judge's box shows such deference that he knocks on the door of the press room before entering.
One last question. Using your skill and judgement, as they used to say in 'Spot the ball', explain the difference between these two phrases: "A good horse goes on any ground" and "Any horse goes on good ground."
Simply put, one is rubbish, one isn't.
Why should a good horse go on any ground? The state of the ground can be the single most important factor in determining a race. Every day many a horse is readily forgiven a poor performance as they have failed to handle a firm or a soft surface - why should a good horse not get the same understanding as his less talented brethren?
But any horse goes on good ground. That is why it is called 'good'. The clue is in the name.
The ground was officially good tonight. Nothing in the race times or jockeys' post-race comments suggested that was anything other than a pretty accurate assessment.
Which made it all the stranger that half a dozen horses were withdrawn on account of the ground. Heaven knows what possible objection they could have had to it.
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