TRIPLE CROWN GLORY FOR THE LEGEND OF CAMELOT? It’s been 42 years but Camelot is around 1.45 on BETDAQ to be the first horse since Nijinksy to win the Triple Crown.
It used to be the Holy Grail. 2,000 Guineas, Derby and St Leger – there’s even a trophy for the feat which has gathered dust in a racing museum. If the silver polish hasn’t been deployed this week – then it should have been as the odds say Camelot will do it and I agree.
In fact, come 3.45 this afternoon, we might well be looking back at the 1.45 shot of the season. This race is probably about just one factor – Camelot’s ability to handle the distance. Team O’Brien are right to be cautious but listening to Aidan this morning you would have thought he was talking about the 2m 6f Queen Alexandra Stakes at Royal Ascot rather than the additional two furlongs, plus, of the St Leger trip.
Three things to remember:
(1) Well done to connections for going for the Triple Crown and putting it back on the map. You sense that it’s been done to get into racing’s history books rather than a focus on the P&L of Camelot’s breeding business. Let’s also hope we also see him as a four-year-old.
(2) In the talk of the Triple Crown victory for Camelot don’t forget victory would give Aidan O’Brien a remarkable clean sweep of all five English classics. This would be a first.
(3) Let’s not forget Oh So Sharp – she completed the fillies equivalent of the Triple Crown back in 1985.
Camelot has not run since winning the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby at the Curragh, purposely being given a break with history in mind by Aidan O’Brien.
O’Brien said: “We’ve had great horses all through the years and you always hope something different will come along again and then when he (Camelot) arrived it was just incredible.
“He’s an incredible talent really. One of those very special horses, one that only comes once in a lifetime.
“I thought it (winning the 2000 Guineas) was impossible really, I have to take my hat off to the lads for trying it.
“He went there doing half-speeds and the lads were prepared to let him go there, it was a big call and he had an awful lot to lose. It was one of those special days.
“In the Irish Derby I was very worried as everything was against him – the ground and he hadn’t worked on grass since Epsom, so he hadn’t done a lot of work in that kind of ground.
“We gave him a good break and his weight started to increase, which was unusual. He will be heavier for the Leger than he has been going into any other race but with three-year-olds they often don’t change until later in the year.
“His body is built more like a miler in that he is round and strong as opposed to angular and lean. That is a little thing that would be in your mind.
“We are in the zone where you don’t want to talk about things – you just want to keep everything smooth.
“We think Camelot is like no other horse. Who knows what is going to happen? – we don’t take anything for granted. We will do our very best – it’s all we can do.”
At the Curragh the Irish St Leger looks much more open. I’m not sure about Fame And Glory after his flop in the race last year and will side with course and distance winner Hartani to strike a blow for the three-year-olds.
In the Goffs Vincent O’Brien Stakes at 6.40 Dawn Approach might be worth taking on. He probably needs it firmer and is racing off a long break since his Coventry Stakes win at Royal Ascot.
SHAMROCK’S BETS:
NAP: Camelot (3.40 Doncaster)
NEXT BEST: Hartani (6.05 Curragh)
LAY: Dawn Approach (6.40 Curragh)
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