October
JanuaryCruel? Come off it
Everyone is entitled to an opinion, but there are instances when they are best kept to oneself and one such example is the view offered by Mr Jim Griffiths (24/12).
Mr Griffiths "firmly" believes that "Coolmore/(Aidan) O’Brien have subjected So You Think to cruelty during the time he has been in their care."
I feel that for someone to make such a slanderous remark is ignorant, verging on moronic, particularly when it is an opinion that is expressed by someone who admits to having "very little interest in UK/Irish racing" and hence, little or no understanding of it.
So You Think ran eight times from May 2 to November 5 last year, winning four times, including three races at Group 1 level, on each occasion producing exceptionally high levels of form.
Even in defeat his efforts were of outstanding merit, including when second in the Group 1 Champion Stakes at Ascot (the fastest ever 2000m run at the historic track) and when fourth in the fastest Group 1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe of all time. He is recognised internationally as one of the very best horses anywhere in the world.
I don’t believe that any horse that is subjected to the "cruelty" to which Mr Griffiths refers would be capable of consistently reproducing the exceptionally high levels of form that So You Think did in 2011. In fact, it was frequently relayed via the television coverage of his European races that So You Think presented in wonderful physical condition for each of his starts and the consistently high level of his performances illustrates this.
That Mr Griffiths would consider himself an authority on the management of a horse through a campaign in a racing jurisdiction that he has "very little interest in" is almost laughable, especially when you bear in mind his criticism is directed at one of the genuinely greatest horsemen ever to set foot on this earth.
Having trained 92 invidividual Group 1 winners (71 of them colts) prior to his 43rd birthday, Aidan O’Brien is an exceptional trainer and a genuine horseman. I would say that to suggest that his treatment of So You Think, or any of the horses under his care, has been cruel, is something akin to sacrilege.
Mr Griffiths has clearly established a dislike for Aidan O’Brien following the 2008 Melbourne Cup, which he refers to as a "disgraceful fiasco" — the words of a disgruntled punter maybe?
O’Brien’s three runners were ridden prominently in the 2008 Cup to make best use of their undoubted stamina, but the failure of his runners to reproduce their form following their 10,000km journey led to the trainer being unfairly criticised.
I would suggest it is worth watching a replay of the 2008 Melbourne Cup and note the other three Australasian runners — Barbaricus (ridden by Stephen Baster), Varevees (Craig Williams) and Boundless (Greg Childs) — that are amongst the six horses within a length of each other entering the first turn and noting that the pace scenario in that race was not created exclusively by the O’Brien-trained runners.
Maybe it would serve Mr Griffiths well to pay more attention to the workings of Aidan O’Brien and and the consistently excellent efforts of the horses he prepares, year after year — it might help him to learn more about the genuine horsemanship to which he makes reference, as he clearly has no understanding of it.
Sydney