Events / Graham Cunningham / 07 August 2009 /

Supporters say it's a harmless bit of fun designed to bring racing to a wider audience, while critics argue team events have no place on a big day's racing. Yes, folks, it's Shergar Cup day again. Racing UK analyst Graham Cunningham is no great fan of the Ascot bunfight and fixes his gaze on Haydock, Newmarket and the big current news stories in his weekly blog.

Plaisterer can lay it down to her rivals in the Haydock showpiece

Now I don't want to argue about this, but the Shergar Cup just isn't for me.

Colleague Simon Rowlands may have undergone a Damascene conversion about this Saturday's international extravaganza at Ascot - and it really is amazing how having a runner entered for the event can change your view on these matters - but the idea of six half decent handicaps with a posse of Ascot virgins and the chance of reserves leaping in at the last minute just leaves me cold.

For what it's worth, I suspect Polly's Mark may not be the handicap blot her Newbury win suggests in the 1.45. Docofthebay rode the favoured inner rail at Goodwood and also offers win and place lay potential in the 2.20, while Yes Mr President looks a solid place bet in the 2.55.

Haydock and Newmarket probably offer more tempting betting races, though winner finding won't be easy at either venue.

On balance, I may well swerve Haydock's Rose of Lancaster Stakes (2.40) for the simple reason that the horses with the best form - namely Duncan and Campanologist - ran poorly with no obvious excuses at Newmarket last time out.

Bookmakers will be keen to get Dancourt beaten in the totescoop6 Handicap at 3.15, but Sir Michael Stoute's gelding is progressing fast based on his commanding Sandown win and still looks fairly treated despite an 8lb hike.

Sweet Lightning will have plenty of supporters again after meeting all the trouble that was going at Goodwood last week, but it wouldn't surprise me to see Plaisterer emerge as the each way value option here.

Chris Wall's filly has the odd kink - including a tendency to flash her tail - but she's thrived over this trip recently and the turn of foot she showed to power clear of the bang-in-form Shaloo Diamond at Doncaster last time left a lasting impression.

Down at Newmarket, it will be fascinating to see how Godolphin's recent purchase Long Lashes fares on her first run since leaving Jessie Harrington in the Sweet Solera Stakes at 3.00.

A highly encouraging Curragh debut success suggests she will go very close indeed, but Henry Cecil's Chachamaidee moved like a smart filly for a long way in Royal Ascot's Albany Stakes and the way that form has worked out suggests she is a big danger to all here.

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Three men in a boat.......but will it be smooth sailing for Michael, Bert and Tom?

Ambition is a highly laudable quality and Lord knows racing needs all the ambitious new projects it can get to raise its public profile during these straightened times.

But what do you make of Michael Owen's assertion that his newly forged link with Betfair founder Andrew Black can result in Tom Dascombe challenging to be champion trainer within five years?

At first I assumed it was just a throwaway line made in jest. Yet the more I read through Brough Scott's gushing two-page Racing Post feature the more I realised that Owen, Black and Dascombe all genuinely seem to think it can be done.

Black says "I don't see any great impediment to stop us shooting for the No. 1 spot," while Dascombe insists that "we want Group 1 winners from a Group 1 establishment."

But what are the chances? Dascombe has made swift progress since he started training late in 2005, but talking about a man who has trained just two British Pattern winners as a potential champion sounds wildly optimistic even before you factor in the little matter of needing a yard full of at least 150 very expensive well-bred horses to have any chance of making a dent in the domination of messrs Stoute, O'Brien, Hannon and Johnston.

On a different tack, it's hard to look at Dascombe without thinking that he would have fitted in nicely as a third member of the Proclaimers has he not turned his hand to training.

I have absolutely no doubt that he would walk five hundred miles to live up to the lofty title ambition of Owen and Black.

But I will walk five hundred more - barefoot across broken glass - if he comes anywhere near to achieving it by 2014.

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Topping's dream is a nightmare for racing

If I ever end up on Mastermind then you can bet 1.01 with confidence that racing politics will not be my specialist subject.

However, the news that William Hill and Ladbrokes are taking their internet betting operations abroad in order to minimise their tax burden really began to grate on me as this week has worn on.

It wasn't so much the fact that big businesses want to find ways to make more money that grated - more the brazen way in which Hills chief executive Ralph Topping seemed intent on blaming everyone bar himself for the decision to head offshore.

Topping probably has a point in describing racing's leadership as "a rabble," but he is well wide of the mark when calling the move to stage the Derby on Saturday "a numpty decision" and really showed his true colours when insisting that racing should realise it is a mere betting product rather than a true sport to rival the likes of the Ashes and the FA Cup.

It's hard to envisage anyone with such a view going out of his way to help racing to any real extent, but what should the sport do in response to the projected loss of around £5m in Levy payments?

Better brains than mine need to provide the answer to that, but it wouldn't do any harm for newspapers and television channels to start restricting the amount of print and airtime given to the omnipresent PR representatives of firms who head offshore.

For example, the Racing Post devoted the first three pages of its Friday edition to the news that Ladbrokes are heading offshore but sugared the pill to one of its biggest advertisers with an adjacent and blatant puff piece about a punter who could win £1m if Red Merlin wins the Ebor to complete his £250 ante post treble.

"Both we and the punter are set for a fortnight of sleepless nights," said Ladbrokes' incorrigible PR spokesman David Williams.

I don't know about the punter, but I've often wondered how Williams, Topping and the rest of their merry gang sleep at night.

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Fallon countdown filled with the same old contradictions

In case you haven't noticed, the remarkable Kieren Fallon will return from his latest suspension caused by cocaine abuse on September 4th.

And don't we just know it. Fallon has long been a riddle wrapped in an enigma and his preparations for a return to the saddle have featured a typical rash of inconsistencies.

First, he used a two-page interview in the Racing Post to insist that he plans to "let his riding do the talking" from now on.

Fair enough, but since then Fallon has blown any notion of a low profile by starting a weekly column in the Weekender and conducting lengthy video features with both the RP and ATR.

In addition, Fallon insists he is thrilled to be back on the British scene but adds he will have no hesitation in jumping ship to America unless prize money improves.

And, last but not least, "King Kieren" says he would love to bid for another jockeys' title but would be even more up for the fight if someone puts up a massive cash prize for the winner.

A decade or more of reporting on his triumphs and disasters have taught me the dangers of making predictions about Fallon.

But I will make one. This is a man who seems to find ever more inventive ways to have it all then throw it all away. It would be folly to assume this latest phase will be any different.

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