Workforce some horse!

If you're not a horse-racing fan then you'll probably have missed it, but yesterday saw two of the most brilliant bits of sporting excellence I've ever seen.  When Workforce won the Prix de 'Arc de Triomphe, the most important European race, in Paris yesterday, it represented a triumph of mega proportions for his trainer, Sir Michael Stoute, and the ride that Ryan Moore gave the horse was coolness epitomised.

Workforce won the Derby in brilliant style back in June, but when he took on the older horses in the King George at Ascot in July, he was so bad that there were only two possible conclusions to be drawn: he was either a dreadfully poor Derby winner (not every generation can be brilliant), or he was off-colour in some way.  The 'Arc proved that it had to be the latter reason, although Sir Michael had subsequently find nothing wrong with the horse after the King George - it's an old racing cliche, 'They aren't machines'.  To train a horse to win the Derby, suffer such a huge disappointment in July, but then get him back to his absolute best in early October, is training of the highest calibre, proving again that 'genius' isn't an over-statement when it comes to Stoute.

Ryan Moore may be Champion Jockey, but his PR skills leave a lot to be desired.  However, he can be forgiven that if he produces rides of the quality of the one that he gave Workforce.  The 'Arc is a rough race and yesterday's running was no exception, but Moore kept him out of trouble, the horse was good enough and brave enough to go through the gaps when they appeared, and then responded to every one of Moore's urgings on the run to the line: it was simply poetry in motion.

Thankfully for me, out of Sir Michael's 200 or so horses, I managed to get Workforce on the list of the dozen I asked him about when I interviewed him back in February.  That meant that the Racing Post Guide, for which I write, had a decent couple of paragraphs on Workforce - it's the stuff of nightmares to have spoken to its trainer but failed to get his comments on the Derby and 'Arc winner!