Another champion beguiles British

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33521, 30 April 1974, Page 8

Another champion beguiles British

.V Z. Press Assoctatton — Copyrtgld ■ LONDON. A horse to match Nijinsky, or even Mill Reef, is being hailed in British racing circles, and he is yet to start in a classic.

On Saturday a big Ameri-can-bred three-year-old colt with a white star on his bay forehead will bounce out of the gates in the Two Thousand Guineas at Newmarket burdened with a reputation second to none.

Apalachee is the name the Irish trainer M. V. O’Brien believes will become synonymous with horse-racing genius, and support for that opinion is coming from all quarters.

“This looks a champion if ever I saw one . perhaps I the greatest of them all,” [writes T. Forrest in the Sunday Express. | “His proven status as the I No. 1 two-year-old and most promising three-year-old in I Europe has been earned without even stirring him out! of an indolent stroll.” The colt bv Round Table out! of Moccasin, earned a feature in Sunday’s supplement ■ ;in The Observer, where Hugh ■ ' Mcllvanney took up the fan-! fare. “Apalachee is so pre- | cocious that it seems he must i have come from the womb at a canter in other words, he can run, perhaps faster over the classic distances than any horse we have seen around British courses for generations.” The Two Thousand Guineas [win tipped for Apalachee Is considered just a forerunner to the Derby for which the horse is already clear favourite on the merits of wins such as last year's Observer Gold Cup.

O'Brien, who owns a 28 per cent share in the horse, points to Apalachee's unique striding action as the source of his para ivsing speed. “1 have never seen a horse with an action like this one,’ said O'Brien “ENORMOUS" STRIDE “When he is galloping, his stride is the most enormous I have ever known, longer even than Nijinsky's, and that was extraordinary. “He never loses rhythm.’’ added O’Brien “His hind legs come under him and drive him forward with tremendous power and co-ordination ” When the field lines up at Newmarket on Saturday. Apalachee will have England's most celebrated active jockey in the [saddle, L. Piggott. If Piggott reaches the win- ! tier’s circle the team will have set the first, of what many consider will be a long string of records. Piggott will then have equalled Fred Archer’s score of 21 victories in British classics. But it is Apalachee, not his jockey, who has been called “as handsome and imposing and graceful as Muhammad Ali.