AND ANOTHER THING…

April 2009

READING BETWEEN THE LINES

I LIKE Reading Between The Lines  – as a title I mean. I thought I would try it out as an alternative to And Another Thing to see if my words flowed differently with a change of emphasis. This is merely a trial you understand; it does not mean that I am dumping my former epithet. I might even alternate between the two alter egos to see if it brings me out of my shell a little, allows me to emerge from the closet for a while. Not that I am gay, in truth I am not even remotely happy at present. The Scots have a word for it which, not being fluent in Scottish, I cannot spell. So I will just say it phonetically. It is dreek. As it is Scottish National Day at Ayr, I thought a word from the same language that gives you neeps, tatties and haggis might be appropriate. Trying to master a semi-abbreviated tongue seems easier than solving the Scottish Grand National.

Yesterday I was at Newbury and it was more like the Hennessy meeting than the first Flat meeting of the year. The runners swirled out of the mist down the straight and many of them went up and down on the spot as if they had just clouted the last ditch. Although I lent the bookmakers some of my cash, which is always galling when you have suffered for your art as well, I came away with a few definite pointers for the future.

If you are prepared to get blobs of rain on your glasses and shuffle from one foot to another to stamp out the chill, paddock watching is rewarding. Spotting horses that are not fully fit and then seeing them run with a great deal of promise is a sure-fire way of recognising future winners. Of course, each of us that pursue such a path is convinced they have seen something missed by others. They may not have missed it but chosen to ignore it based on the fact they knew more than you did. That is the game – the game of reading between the lines. And reading between the lines is something of a British pastime, so it is something we are accustomed to. How many times do you have a conservation with an Englishman and then have to slip away quietly to decipher what was intended? Contrast that with the upfront approach of the Americans. They seem capable of bluntly expressing what they mean in two minutes whilst we bluster all round the houses to intimate at a point. We use such phrases as, just remind me, or, so to recap. Our American cousins seem to hit the nail on the head and move on.

So I read between the lines at Newbury yesterday and came to various conclusions which appear in Track Notes. There is a small race in Lofthouse, Sonny Red should win a big handicap, Brief Encounter is of interest next time, Candy Ride and Dhushan look nailed on for their maidens. What’s that? You thought the same but didn’t have to stand in the drizzle to arrive at such conclusions. Well, good for you!

There is more reading between the lines required today. Trainers make statements in the Racing Post as to the chances of their runners. They use a kind of code which is universal in racing circles and once cracked can be easily translated. They say they are looking forward to running their horse. That means they think it will be fun day out for all concerned until the bills arrive. We all look forward to plenty of things, most of which never materialise.

Then there is the trainer that gives with one hand and takes with another. He will love the trip but I am not sure about the ground means he probably won’t win.

I have him as fit as I can for his first run translates to he definitely won’t win.

He really is better of six than today’s five means he is being prepared for something else.

I couldn’t be more happy with him is not quite the dollop of encouragement it sounds. Being happy with a horse is distinct from thinking he will win.

No, give me the Mick Easterby approach. I laid this ‘oss out for two years. He is sixteen pounds lower than he should be, is in the form of his life and I am having my bollocks on him. How many bollocks do you get for the pound by the way? What with deflation and the crunch (no, not a good choice of word in the same sentence I know), I suspect they have dropped in value somewhat. However, it still equates to a serious wager.

No such luck with the clues today. The always-informative Saeed Bin Suroor (why does he call even hacks sir?) suggests Shaweel will improve for the run.

Brian Meehan tells us nothing about Neshri except that he has a Guineas entry.

Marcus Tregoning doesn’t really wish to run Finjaan on poor ground – which is what he will get. He as good as tells us it won’t win, but sums up by saying he likes the horse a lot. Does that mean they will be sharing a whisky tonight and having a game of backgammon?

Reading between the lines, there is a lot of it about at this stage of the season…