Firstly, my condolences to Anthony Van Dyke’s connections, an unwarranted end to a great horse, and somehow so far from home. Our Melbourne Cup selections all flattered to deceive, but that Flemington ground was very fast. All that aside, Joseph O’B had the winner trained to the minute and a 2m pillar to post run simply didn’t look possible. But it was, and TWILIGHT PAYMENT ran an exceptional race. It might be however that TIGER MOTH’s second, might just herald the arrival of one of the greats. To run the race that he did as a 3yo was quite extraordinary and he should go into all Cup notebooks for the future.
I am grateful to the MI6 Community blog, who sent me the following Sean Connery observation.
A rather confident 007 strolled into a bar and took a seat next to a stunningly attractive woman. He gave her a quick glance, then casually looked at his watch for a moment.
Noticing his actions, the woman next to him asked, “Is your date running late?”
“No,” he replied, “Q’s just given me this state-of-the-art watch and I was just testing it.”
Intrigued by his words the woman replied, “A state-of-the-art watch? What’s so special about it?”
“Well you see,” said Bond, “it uses Alpha waves to telepathically talk to me.”
“I see,” said the woman, “and what’s it telling you now?”
“It says you’re not wearing any knickers…” came the reply.
The woman giggled and replied, “Well it must be broken because I’m afraid I’m wearing knickers!”
007 tutted, tapped his watch and said, “Damn thing must be an hour fast!”
Talking of broken, and I’m not referring to the US election, here’s some thoughts on Exeter.
In the Haldon Gold Cup, the stats leave us with just three to choose from, and they are top of the market. Given his Grand Annual 4th, his proven and probably progressive abilities, Paul Nicholls GREANATEEN looks the obvious choice. Tom George runs BUN DORAN who appeals at a too-big price. Anything longer than 10s is good.
GREANATEEN Win – BUN DORAN e/w