Five minutes after Yeats re-wrote the history books, five minutes after he won the Ascot Gold Cup for an unprecedented fourth consecutive time, surpassing anything that any of the great stayers of the past or modern era – the likes of (Le Moss} or Ardross or Sagaro or Gladness – had ever achieved, five minutes after he had powered clear of his field, the first eight-year-old to win the race since the turn of the century, after he had transcended the boundaries of racing and even of sport, and brought horse racing kicking and screaming into mainstream news, the BBC cameras went to John and Gary in the betting ring.  Gary turned to John, looked him squarely in the eye and said, straight off the Lock Stock set, “Two words for that John …”

Some events transcend betting, and this was one.  But the BBC betting ring brief is obviously not to deviate from betting speak.  Nevertheless, in the second that Gary paused, you thought that this would be different and contemplated what two words he might use.  “The Greatest”, perhaps?  Johnny Murtagh had likened Yeats to Mohammed Ali in an interview before racing.  “Mohammed Ali was the greatest,” he had said.  “And Yeats is the greatest.”  Maybe Gary had heard that, maybe he was going to continue the analogy.  The analogy was good.  A heavyweight who dominated his peers for years, who kept coming back for more, who knew he was the best and who continually re-affirmed his status both to himself and to the masses who followed the sport.

“A Legend” perhaps?  It depends on how you define a legend.  If a legend is a being, human or equine or other, that displays characteristics that are truly extraordinary, traits that we admire beyond reason, when we feel that we have to take a moment to take stock in order to fully appreciate their magnitude, then legend would be a fitting word to use.

“Absolutely unbelievable” maybe?  Because it was.  Even if you took Thursday’s performance in isolation, it would still have been extraordinary.  They went no gallop in the early stages of the race, which did not play to the strengths of Yeats, an eight-year-old who is a proven stayer and who perhaps does not still possess the gears that enabled him win a Derrinstown Stud Derby Trial and a Coronation Cup, a horse whose greatest asset is his reserves of courage and stamina, who is at his best when staying power is at a premium.  It wasn’t in his favour that they dawdled early on, so Johnny Murtagh took it upon himself to kick for home early, off the home turn.  Now catch me, now let’s see what you young guys have.  They had nothing by comparison, and Yeats powered clear.  Even if this was his first Ascot Gold Cup, it would have been a memorable display, but it wasn’t his first.  It was his fourth.  He was re-writing history.

“Truly awesome”?  “Simply fantastic”?  Any combination of any number of two words would have done.  Alas, this one didn’t get outside the betting ring.

“Bookie basher,” said Gary.

It’s been emotional.

* For more of Donn’s thoughts, visit www.donnmcclean.com

This entry was posted on Friday, June 19th, 2009 at 10:04 pm and is filed under Betting, Horse Racing, Irish Racing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.