Royal Ascot

I see she's got Royal Academy in her pedigree. I'll never forget watching the Breeders Cup on the telly [when Ch 4 used to show it]. Royal Academy had been a bit of a disappointment up to then even though Vincent O'Brien had always said how much he reminded him of Nijinsky. Lester Piggott had come out of retirement, and they flew home up the outside. It's one of thoseracing moment that will stay with me forever. Sometimes I just fall for a horse for no reason. I saw a horse called Madame Dubois win a race, and the girl who looked after her stood in the winners enclosure holding her, and I found myself go all weepy. I wrote to her, and she told me that the lad who had looked after her had died whilst riding out and that she had taken over. They always felt that he was looking down on her; she never won by much but they felt he was pushing her across the line. She told me how much the horse meant to her, how kind she was and what a good listener. Soon afterwards she raced in France [and won] and I never heard any more about her. Until, that is, I discovered the internet. I found out about the foals she had produced, but she was no longer being used for breeding. Alarm bells rang until I somehow spoke to someone on a racing forum who had a field at the back of their house in which Madame Dubois and another old racemare were living. It was so Black Beauty .

Don't know phoenix , but they both have Northern Dancer in their pedigree.
Frankel twice even.
One of B.C's grandfathers is/was Nijinsky..

What do the think the progeny would be like if she had a foal by Frankel?

Crimson , what an idea for a rematch , anyway for your intelligence Goodwood is on 31 July / till 3 Aug , at the moment things look fair for us vis a vie the "nips " however , if D D decides they will come earlier so be it . yo ho !

A few people on my racing forum who were there said she looked a tad lame after the race and others said she looked awful in her coat as well. Some mares like Ouija Board, Snow Fairy and Goldikova globe trot[ted] all the time and thrived on it but maybe Nellie didn't. At least [thank goodness] she's still in one piece. A pity the mare she only just beat couldn't fly out to Australia for a rematch. That would be quite sporting imo.

I didn"t know about Cav"s muscle damage . mind you when you think she flew all the way over from Aust. it isn"t a total surprise and also surely horses get jet lag same us ?

Oh heck; I've agreed to do some afternoons at work in July [I usually only work mornings] and had forgotten to check the racing calendar before I agreed. I nearly offered to work on Olympic Torch afternoon as well but came to my senses in time. My kids got used to me screaming at the television over the years, especially when Dessie was running. I just sat crying before, during and after Black Caviars race . At least they've found a reason for her poor performance [muscle damage] and she'll race again in a few months. Perhaps I should get interested in a sport that actually makes me happy . However, when a beloved horse wins I'm on cloud nine for days.

Do hope C B will carry on I think she is great ! for you "horseracers " out there don"t forget we have Glorious Goodwood to look forward to in July , there is only one downside for and it is very small , we have the D D coming for the annual holiday by the coast so you can bet your bottom dollar it will be the same time , D H can"t shout at the screen to cheer his horse as it makes "nips " upset but hey ho !

Think she'll still do Ascot and the National. She's a freelance these days.

have to say Claire balding looked alot better today , but we will miss her and willy when it goes over to ITV next year . Had two winners today so I am even for the week . Didn"t back Orchid as i felt it was a foregone conclusion , but having said that it was a nose to nose job,

Scary moment for the owners and trainer. She has shown she can be beaten and I think the jockey will be kicking himself for dropping his hands too soon. Retiring her unbeaten is probably the safest option given what she's worth. Lovely horse.

I felt sick before the race and even sicker afterwards. Going straight back to Australia and talk of retirement. Not sure what happened, but it was the 7f softer ground horses that were getting to her. If it was the jockey then my partner says that, if the news media are hard on our sportsmen here, they're even harder on them over there. Interesting to see the fall out from all this. I'd've been bitterly disappointed if she's got beat, but at least they had the courage to come here in the first place. She was a picture though, wasn't she? We've seen some beautiful horses this week.

Blimey, that was close. I was expecting Black Caviar to leave the others standing. Over confident jockey?

Clare Balding is wearing a satellite dish on her head today. Is this BBC's new technology?

Yes; she very tactfully amended a point made by that royal historian lady today, and did it in such a way that she didn't make her look silly.

I think Clare Balding is brilliant - she really knows her horses and racing but also does her homework on other sports on which she commentates. She never puts other presenters down and is always makes interesting and intelligent comments. She is professional but not stuffy and I love the way she steers Willie gently back on track when he either forgets a name or the point being made!

I just got back from work in time to watch the racing, but was so tired I fell asleep just before the Queen's horse won. Thought Clare's hat was awful; she looked really nice yesterday. When one of my favourite racehorses, One Man died many years ago I wrote to Clare; she had just started working for the BBC and she handled that day very well, even though she was as distraight as the rest of us. I had a lovely letter back from her, and have followed her career with interest ever since. Like most racing folk she was always ready to have a chat about the days racing. I liked the dark horse that won one of the early races, the New Approach filly [can't remember her name]. I always like the dark ones!

Willie Carson and Rishi Persad together make an interesting picture!

And, now we can all look forward to Claire ( Balding ) at Wimbledon.

MERLOTGRAN , On this time I have to agree the hat didn"t really "go" sometimes she gets it right and others it goes a bit haywire , I wonder does she have a stylist , just me but perhaps she should ,

Nice one, Nonu. I missed most of Ascot today but got home just in time to see the Queen's horse win and yes, it was a lovely moment with the D of E.
Clare Balding's hat looked like one of those things people used to put over their spare loo rolls in the eighties.

Goody goody I got two winners today , which chuffed me no end . I backed queenys horse in the 5 oclock and felt it might have a chance as her previous runner this week lost ., also Michael Stoute has not done well so far so he has to come in a bit . She looked good and it was great to see her in the winners enclosure , also to see her receive cup from "Phil" Lovely Dear !!!! smile

I would give anything to see her. A good racemare is so special and we've been spoilt over the past few years; Oiuja Board, Goldikova, Zenyatta and now Black Caviar. I will be a complete wreck on the run up to the race and will scream her home. I don't think any other sport has those magic moments, and the beauty of flat racing is watching the generations; I can still remember Urban Sea running in the Arc and then seeing her sons winning Derbys and Arcs themselves is so special. For some reason I looked up Kauto Stars race record tonight [there was more talk of him retiring] and it was just win after win and all grade 1's. I can hardly believe that it is all coming to an end; only seems like yesterday that I was complaining about the bookies taking bets on whether or not he'd fall in the Gold Cup [when no one thought he could jump!].

Black Caviar, Crimson ?

Yes, I had one of those days today. German winner [I always keep an eye on foreign invaders because they often get overlooked]. Dermot Weld never sends horses on fruitless missions, and I've backed Colour Vision before when he was with Mark Johnston. I do like long distance flat handicaps because the horses come back year after year and I get very attached to them. Frankels little brother is running tomorrow, Noble Mission. Can't wait for Saturday, though .