As the hours tick
away to 3.40 at Doncaster on September 15, the excitement in the racing world
grows ever more fevered as followers of Flat racing wait and wonder if the
Aidan O’Brien-trained Camelot can indeed live up to his illustrious name and
establish himself as an all-time racing legend by winning the Triple Crown.
Not since the
heady days of the Vincent
O’Brien-trained superstar Nijinsky (ridden by the mighty Lester
Piggott), way back in 1970, has a horse managed to win all three legs of the
British Triple Crown; the 2000 Guineas run over a mile at Newmarket in May, the
Epsom Derby over a mile-and-a-half in June, and the St Leger at Doncaster in September – run over
the stamina sapping one-mile-six-and-a-half-furlongs, the last furlong of which
has so often proved a bridge too far for many of the great St
Leger runners over the years.
Just keeping a
horse fit and well over such a time span is a feat in itself, but to win all
three races at such a variety of distances is phenomenal. It requires a horse
to have the speed to beat the best milers around in the spring, the agility to
handle Epsom and stay a further half-mile in front of more than 250,000 racing
fans in June, and then the stamina and guts to see out the trip of the St Leger
in the early-autumn.
When Sue Magnier
gave Camelot his name it was in the hope that he would live up to all the
expectations having been bought for 525,000 guineas as a yearling by her
husband John and his long-time Ballydoyle partners Des Smith and Michael Tabor.
The name had been registered and saved for 10 years, just waiting for the right
horse to come along.
Nearly two years
later, unbeaten in all five starts, including last year’s Group 1 Racing Post
Trophy, this year’s 2000 Guineas, Investec Derby and the Irish Derby, the son
of Montjeu is ready to face his destiny on Town Moor. Bookmakers seem all but
certain that barring an accident Camelot will be crowned racing’s new monarch,
even in a season where the sensational Frankel has carried all before him and
brought the house down at every turn.