| Phelps' coach says Lochte is better _ for now By DAVID GINSBURG 2010-09-13T17:11:04ZHUNT VALLEY, Md. (AP) -- The longtime coach of Michael Phelps says the 14-time Olympic gold medalist isn't the best swimmer in the world right now.... hosted.ap.org |
Twins double up Athletics, close in on division crown Rookie Danny Valencia hit a tiebreaking three-run homer in the sixth inning, sending Kevin Slowey and the AL Central-leading Minnesota Twins ... rssfeeds.usatoday.com |
Tessco rejects Discovery's buyout bid Tessco Technologies Inc.’s board of directors unanimously rejected a buyout offer from Discovery Group. feeds.bizjournals.com |
Bill Belichick: Report of incident with Randy Moss 'a total fabrication' New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick praised departed WR Randy Moss denied that there were discipline issues that prompted the trade that ... rssfeeds.usatoday.com |
Claims Five: The best Group Ones of 2010 Fans of Flat racing can keep themselves warm through winter with the memory of all this high drama on the trackTimeform's Chasers & Hurdlers was published this week and, on the same day, the weather turned bitter. It is clearly time to start thinking about the winter game.First, though, let's take stock of what we've seen from all those zippy little Flat racers, now shivering in their Newmarket stables. Below is my pick of the five most memorable Group One races run in Britain this year, with links to videos of those races on YouTube.I've restricted myself to Britain because otherwise the list would write itself, consisting largely of the glamorous foreign races that had runners from these shores, with the Arc at the top. And I know the Racing Post Trophy hasn't been held yet, but I think there's only been one running of that race that would have made my top five for the year. This list contains no two-year-old races, as it turns out.Three of these featured fine winning performances but that has not been my sole criteria, or I would not have left out the Derby. In each case, there has been something in the surrounding circumstances that has helped the race hold its place in my mind.As ever, these choices are highly subjective, so feel free to offer your own list if mine doesn't do it for you.5) Godolphin back in the limelight There was plenty of chatter about Newmarket's final Champions Day but relatively little about the fact that this year's Festival of Racing at Ascot was also the last in its present form. This was, after all, the card that gave Frankie Dettori his magnificent seven in 1996, albeit with a slightly different line-up of races. There were people who loved this day's action as it stood.Those people would presumably include everyone associated with Godolphin, who had won the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes four times before this year. But the boys in blue have not been the force of old in recent seasons, in Britain at least. Apart from the St Leger, which just barely counts, they won no Group Ones here from May 2008 to September this year.So it was quite a moment when they won two such races in the space of 70 minutes at Ascot, thanks to White Moonstone in the Fillies' Mile and Poet's Voice in the QEII. Their day would have been made all the sweeter by the fact that Poet's Voice held off Rip Van Winkle, from the Coolmore organisation whose success has dwarfed theirs in the last five years.It was some race, even allowing for the fact that the favourite, Makfi, did not show his best form. Poet's Voice seemed on his way to a comfortable victory as he went past Rip Van Winkle but his rival battled back and, from where I stood in the stands, it could easily have been a dead-heat as they crossed the line.Frankie rode four winners that afternoon, Godolphin had three. It was almost like old times.4) Goldikova won't be caught Goldikova is one of the great race mares in the sport's history, with 11 Group One wins to her name, more than any other European-trained horse since the start of the Pattern 40 years ago. She made just one visit to England this year, so her success in the Queen Anne at Royal Ascot was a major event for all race fans in this country.Things did not pan out brilliantly for the French mare, as the pace-setters melted before her, leaving her in front with two furlongs to go and nothing to aim at. Meanwhile, Paco Boy was starting his powerful finish from further back.Goldikova ran on dourly but it is easy to understand why Paco Boy's backers felt they were unlucky when she held on by a neck. He made up so much ground in the final quarter-mile that the temptation is to say he would have won, had Richard Hughes asked him to make his move perhaps a stride or two earlier.Still, according to the ratings published by the Racing Post, Paco Boy matched his career best that day. He has since been narrowly beaten by Goldikova on two more occasions and the most obvious conclusion is that he is just not quite good enough to get past her.There is no shame in that. Goldikova has won 12 of her last 15 starts and there are sound explanations for each defeat. It is extremely rare for a horse, at any level of ability, to hold its form anything like so well.Occasionally, people use Goldikova to emphasise the worth of Zarkava, who beat her in the French Guineas and the French Oaks, but that seems a bit glib to me. Goldikova led two furlongs out in the Oaks but clearly failed to stay, while she boiled over before the start of the Guineas and then stumbled as the stalls opened. She had not, at that stage, become the horse she is now.Zarkava's career was faultless but brief and we have not seen her for more than two years. If you offered me the pick of these two fabulous mares, I know which one I'd rather have owned.3) Canford shows brilliance Goodwood's Sussex Stakes turned into a mini version of Grundy against Bustino. Rip Van Winkle was the older horse with proven stamina and a pacemaking stablemate trying to set the race up for him. Canford Cliffs was the flashy, fast three-year-old who would be tested as never before.The plot to beat the favourite almost came off. Rip Van Winkle was two lengths clear entering the final furlong, at which point Canford Cliffs traded at 7-1 on Betfair. Then, the younger horse quickened powerfully and was past before the bookies could let out a moan of distress. So comfortable was the victory, albeit achieved by only a neck, that Richard Hughes was able to sit up in the saddle for the final few strides.That form looks even better in the light of Rip Van Winkle's subsequent victory in the York International and his nose defeat in the QEII. But it may have taken its toll on Canford Cliffs, who has not raced since. He is to be kept in training next year and we must hope he does better than Grundy, who never won again after the 1975 King George.2) Guineas glory snatched away In the moments after it was confirmed that Jacqueline Quest had beaten Special Duty in a photo for the 1,000 Guineas, the winning owner stunned reporters with the tragic details of his life story. Noel Martin had been a paraplegic since 1996, when neo-Nazis had thrown a concrete block through the windscreen of the car he was driving in east Germany. His wife, after whom the horse was named, had died of cancer in 2000 and was buried in Martin's garden.Broadcasters and press folk alike were shocked. Surely no British Classic had ever been won by a man more deserving of a change in luck. Plus, Henry Cecil had just trained his first Guineas winner since 1999, news to cheer most followers of racing, even if the horse was a 66-1 shot.And then: "Bing, bong! Here is the result of the stewards' inquiry. The placings are revised as follows . . ."It was appalling. Martin was visibly upset. "In British horseracing, I haven't seen a race taken away since … God knows when," he said.Still, those cold-hearted stewards had undeniably reached the right decision. Jacqueline Quest had carried Special Duty halfway across the track in the final furlong, preventing the favourite from going past. The pair were very nearly caught by Gile Na Greine, who had kept a straight line up the stands rail.Special Duty was the right winner, and she was the right winner again two weeks later when, incredibly, she was awarded the French Guineas in the stewards' room. But it would have to be admitted that the Newmarket form amounted to little. None of the first five, who all raced up the favoured stands' rail, have passed the post in front since then.1) Harbinger storms to greatness Workforce was the 8-11 favourite after winning the Derby by seven lengths, even though there was already a suspicion that the form would add up to little. Ryan Moore had said weeks before that he would ride Workforce in preference to Harbinger, also stabled at Sir Michael Stoute's yard, but that decision may have had as much to do with politics as any inkling about which horse would win. Workforce is owned by Prince Khalid Abdullah, who is a much more dependable source of good horses for Stoute than the Highclere syndicate that owned Harbinger, meaning that the Prince was the right man to cultivate.The two horses did sometimes work on the gallops together, including one morning when a pack of pressmen were watching, but Stoute said he never asked them to race against each other and insisted he had "no idea" which would be better on the racecourse. "It depends how much Workforce improves . . . or disimproves," he said. "Harbinger's progress has been very satisfactory. Will he progress further? We don't know, do we?"Frankie Dettori, Richard Hughes and Kieren Fallon were among those said to be in the frame for the ride on Harbinger but in the end that job went to Olivier Peslier, who had been the first to contact Stoute, specifically asking for the leg-up.And so the image that will stay with me from this Flat season is of Peslier's joyful expression as Harbinger bolted up, completely unchallenged. He could have been called the winner at the home turn, when Workforce and Cape Blanco were under pressure and he was cruising along on their heels. Then the jockey gave him his head and he shot clear."When I saw the big screen in the final furlong, I didn't know where the other horses were," Peslier said. Pictures of his happy smile in the closing stages convey the pure delight of a jockey who, having picked up a spare ride in a major race in a foreign country, discovers he is on an unheralded champion and nothing can possibly stop them from winning.Not for Peslier the straight face that many another rider would wear in that situation. "Look at me!" he seems to be saying. "Can you believe my luck?"It was Harbinger's one and only outing in a Group One. Two weeks later, he fractured a leg on the gallops and was retired.Who can say what he might have achieved, had he stayed sound? He seemed an exceptional racehorse who was just reaching his peak but perhaps there would have been better to come.Workforce was clearly not himself that day and won the Arc on his next start more than two months later. But even on the Longchamp form, it is by no means clear that he could have made a race of it with Harbinger, had he been completely healthy at Ascot.I asked Peslier to compare Harbinger with the other fine horses of his career. Jockeys are forced to be diplomats but I think the truth lay in his first sentence, before he recovered himself slightly in the second. "He looked like the best. I have ridden Goldikova, Peintre Celebre, but he was a wonderful horse and ranks very high."Horse racingChris Cookguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |