Saturday, June 02, 2007

Derby day debrief


So, finally, Dettori has laid to rest his Derby day hoodoo. Authorized's victory looked exceptional. After an inauspicious start, it was clear Frankie had plenty of horse beneath him, at one point taking time out to look around and check the runners behind. As they came into the home straight, the horse appeared a little further back in the field than would have been ideal, but it was of little consequence as Authorized showed a commanding turn of foot.

I felt the BBC coverage tended to concentrate excessively on the personalities involved rather than highlighting the achievements of the horses concerned. In truth, Dettori's reaction appeared a bit of a mixed bag, a 'going through the motions', a 'playing to the media'. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure that's due to the pressure, but it looked as much a reaction of relief as anything else.

With a roaming camera following the victor back into the inner sanctum of the weighing room, we were treated to a couple of pardonable expletives and then, much to Mrs Tips' amusement, a quick full frontal of an unsuspecting jock getting ready for the next. The result in our house was that Mrs Tips had to go for a lie down and me and the kids had to wait for our tea... Good job it only happens once a year.

2 comments:

Vienna Moore's Biggest Fan said...

Hi GeeDee what a great Blog you have and a great insight to horce racing. I had many winners by following Mark Winstanly during the early 90's when he wrote for The Racing & Footbal Outlook. When he left that paper he started tipping losers:). On to my main point I will follow your wonderful and great blog.

GeeDee said...

Thanks for the comments, shahid; pleased you like the blog.