Racing NO MYSTERY ABOUT PADDY’S PROGRESS

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32005, 4 June 1969, Page 4

Racing NO MYSTERY ABOUT PADDY’S PROGRESS

(Specially written for "The Press' by the former English jockey. HARRY CARR) Just 12 months ago, Lester Piggott and Sandy Barclay fought out the finish of the Epsom Derby—Connaught striding out gamely and Sir Ivor coming like a train.

Will these two jockeys show the way home again tomorrow?

Certainly, they will be upon the horses most likely to capture the crowd’s imagination . . . Paddy’s Progress, just about the only blemishfree horse in the race, and Ribofilio, mysterious yet the only one in that big field which can be regarded as potentially great.

In a season of topsy-turvy form, Paddy’s Progress must loom up as a beacon of hope for the punters. At least there are no mysteries, no form reversals here. In his one public outing—the Free Handicap at Newmarket—he won cleverly. And, on the Heath, he has been consistently showing some of the best four-year-

olds in the land what galloping is all about. Good Company. One of the many advantages of having a horse in the Noel Murless stable is that there will be no shortage of high-class company. However good a horse may be, there will be several in that stable capable of stretching him on the gallops, at even weights. This is one of the reasons why Murless horses need fewer races than some of their rivals. It explains why, for instance, a horse like Royal Palace can come out for the first time in the Two Thousand Guineas, make the Derby his next engagement, and win them both. Paddy’s Progress, you can be sure, will be equally well prepared. Just for the record, those four-year-olds he has been cutting down to size include Connaught (second in last year’s English Derby) and Timmy My Boy (second in the French Derby). If any further proof of Newmarket confidence was needed, it eomes with the switching of stablemate Caliban from the English to the French Derby. Odds Cut Caliban, beaten by a head by Prince Regent, the best of the French three-yeai>olds at Longchamp, would surely have been in there with a chance at Epsom. But his stable quite clearly rate Paddy’s Progress the better horse. The desperation to find a

rival choice is reflected in the sudden betting fluctuations of the last few days. Stoned, for instance, won the Nassau Stakes and has his odds cuts overnight from 33-1 to 16-1. So it goes in what is probably the most open Derby of my time. Stoned, by the Nearco horse Nearctic, is at least bred to stay the mile and a half. Judging by the way he went at Kempton, I have no doubt that he will do so on Derby Day. Magic Touch

Prince Regent may not be the best contender to come over from France in recent years, but he is a pretty useful one just the same. No matter the margin, he has won his last two outings in reasonably high-class company, and if the Epsom going becomes firm, he will be one they will all have to beat. But Belbury is, to me, the most interesting French challenger this year. For this is a horse that has the potential to win, providing Roger Poincelet can find the magic touch.

I still remember all too well the way Poincelet brought Psidium through the field in the 1961 Derby. I was on Pardao, the thirdplaced horse that day, and in with a chance until Psidium loomed up alongside. I understand that Poincelet plans to ride a similar kind of race on Belbury, but this could pose problems. We have a big field of moderate horses- this year, a combination that could mean a rough race, and it will be no easy matter to come through from the back. This could give Piggott problems,

too, if he plana the type of race he rode on Rlbocco and Sir Ivor in his two previous Derby outings, making the late, late run. Easy Trial Understandably, no big questions were asked in Ribofllio’s Tuesday trial and, all in all, he went reasonably well. But it has nevertheless been a makeshift Derby preparation, and one that in a normal year would rule him out of the reckoning. Still, this is not a normal year. If Ribofllio is only fourfifths the horse we believe him to be, he can still bring Lester home.

But if the gremlins are still at work on this son of Ribot, it must be Paddy’s Progress and the two Frenchmen, Prince Regent and Belbury, for which hope burns brightest.