Emotionless is Godolphin’s best for quite some time

Things did not work out for me at Longchamp (except for Christophe Soumillon winning the closing handicap, of all things, on the German raider) but the ground was always going to be a key factor and the nap, Mecca’s Angel, was sensibly taken out of the Prix de l’Abbaye. Most of the jockeys thought it was good to firm, almost unthinkable in Paris in October in the old days, and I should think it was plenty fast enough for Treve in the big one.
So much has been said and written about the race that I shall not add much here. Yes, Dettori rode a canny race but Treve’s ‘pacemaker’ made things more straightforward for him. I wanted Treve to win but, as I said more than once, the hopelessly skinny price about a mare trying to give two Derby winners 5lb was always quite absurd and no one should have been tempted. Golden Horn is better than I thought and John Gosden deserves great credit for keeping him going at the highest level for several months.
Limato was backed for the Foret as if defeat were out of the question. It was a question of visitors going in, head down, for Ryan Moore on a Henry Candy raider but again the prices were crazy. Make Believe won the French 2000 Guineas and if you forgave a modest fifth at Royal Ascot, where he was far from disgraced, he should have been favourite. He was always in control after Limato (not the most straightforward temperament-wise) had completely missed the kick.
Anyway, the great show is all over for another year and in 2016 it may all be happening at Chantilly while Longchamp undergoes extensive renovations. It was a wonderful atmosphere last week and not at all a bad way to go into an extended break.
It looked very good galloping ground at Newmarket on Friday and that may persuade Aidan O’Brien that Air Force Blue can take his place in the line-up for the Group 1 Dubai Dewhurst Stakes. The stable must have been thrilled with the way Minding ran away with the Fillies’ Mile and I doubt that the 6/1 Boylesports held up for the 1,000 Guineas will last very long. At this stage you’d say she is a natural for the Newmarket version with Ballydoyle maybe looking at the Curragh. Godolphin will have some idea of the task confronting them, though I must say I thought First Victory was pretty impressive in a quality renewal of the Oh So Sharp Stakes and the boys in blue will be much more serious contenders in the Classics next year.
That will certainly be true if EMOTIONLESS wins the Dewhurst on Saturday. I thought he was hugely impressive on his second outing and there was a time on Thursday when he went odds on as Air Force Blue drifted out to 7/4. The bookmakers are clever, of course, and may have thought that O’Brien would blink first and withdraw. That may still happen, in which case the early 5/4 about Emotionless would look one of the bets of the season. Anyway, we shall see, but I still think the Godolphin colt will prove the better of the pair.
The Cesarewitch has not done me any favours for a long time. Low Key was impressive in the trial and the suggestion is to back him and one other as a saver. Sir Mark Prescott most unusually runs four and my pick would be Moscato, the mount of Luke Morris. Moscato ran a fair seventh behind Low Key after a long absence and is 7lb better off.
I’d like to see Hors de Combat bounce back to his best in the closing Darley Stakes  –  James fanshawe is in much better form now  –  and in the more or less impenetrable Coral Sprint Trophy at York I can see Poyle Vinnie giving his supporters a great each-way run under a big weight with George Bowen the most obvious of countless dangers.