Gosden - heaven sent?

The stories which emerge from horse racing must be entertaining to watch from afar, none more so than this week's war of words between John Gosden and Adam Kirby. Gosden claimed that Kirby's riding was not appropriate for Royal Ascot and compared his style to 'winter all-weather tactics'.
Looking at the specific incident, Kirby did nothing wrong in holding his position throughout the race at Ascot which meant Gosden's horse, ridden by Frankie Dettori, was slightly unlucky in defeat. What really rattled me though was Gosden's patronising manner towards Kirby, calling him 'boy'. What kind of man is this?! I think his high horse has got a bit too big and yes, training this year's Derby winner gives you a certain amount of respect, but there is no need to make yourself look ignorant.
As to the all-weather comment, I had to laugh - Gosden's Derby runner-up Jack Hobbs won a Wolverhampton maiden in December last year so racing on an artificial surface can't be that bad!

You can be guaranteed that the fame and glory wouldn't go to my head should I train a winner at Epsom at anytime of the year - never mind the Derby! So onto this week's runners we go.
We have a trio of raiders hitting the track tomorrow including two at Windsor. Silver Alliance was an easy winner in the fog at Brighton last time and the handicapper hasn't take any chances by hiking him up to a career high mark. Silver is hardly getting any younger but he is more than capable on his day, as he showed last time. Whether this will be his day again is probably a question you should ask the horse as he decides when he wants to win!
Accompanying him to the Royal track will be Harry Bosch. He won well at Bath three runs back but hasn't had the rub of the green since. He is still well handicapped and has good course form so I expect him to be thereabouts come the business end.

Limerick Lord (Ross)

Completing the trio is Limerick Lord at Wolverhampton. He made a pleasing debut for us at Newmarket last week and I have no worries about running on the all-weather as his best form seems to be on it. He is in top form and the small step up in trip will be ideal. I hope he can be in the frame.

We then have a few easier days before heading to Doncaster on Friday.
Veeraya has been badly handicapped for a long time now so it makes sense to try him in a claimer where he should have a better chance at the weights. Having said that, at the entry stage there is a horse rated 95 in the race so maybe claimers aren't an easy option. He is a bit of an enigma as he has plenty of ability but doesn't often show it at the track, however, Adam Beschizza seems to get the best out of him and he will hopefully be on board.
Also travelling up the A1 to Town Moor is The Ducking Stool. She has dropped to a good mark now and seems as well as ever so I think a return to form isn't far away. All her wins have been at Yarmouth but she is more than capable at other flat, left-handed tracks.

Duke Of Diamonds (Adam) & Veeraya (Caitlin)

Although running better last time, Dakota City has been a bit disappointing for us this season. I think he is being a bit lazy and riding him at the front last time certainly helped. As a trial, I galloped him in a visor yesterday and it showed instant results with him travelling very well and galloping a lot better than usual. Hopefully this is the key to him and I'll be putting them on him next time he runs.

Dakota City (Mark) & Attain (Ross)

We have had a couple of two-year olds run already and the later maturing types are now catching up by doing some faster work. Little Orchid is a filly I've always liked and she continues to please me. Seven furlongs will probably be her starting point and she is only a few weeks from making her debut.
Big Bang has come on leaps and bounds over the past month and will be ready sooner than I once thought. He is still pretty green but is learning all the time and will visit the racecourse in the near future.

Big Bang (Caitlin), Veeraya (Ross) & Little Orchid (Megan)

Although it's nice to have a proper summer for once, the dry period is delaying Vastly's comeback as he needs some juice in the ground to protect his fragile legs. He is just ticking over at the moment and is ready to run as soon as there's some suitable ground about.

Vastly (Tess)

Moment To Dream is another who has been on the sick list recently but her comeback is slowly coming together. I'm very grateful to her owners for being so patient with her as I don't want to rush her and knock her back again. She is improving with every day and it won't be too long before she is doing faster work.

Moment To Dream (Caitlin)

THREE TO FOLLOW UPDATE
Bethan's second place means Steve Moore strengthens his position at the top of the rankings but there are still plenty of others hot on his tail.

Steve Moore	17
Malc Shields	14
Mark Rimmer	14
Ros Cousens	13
Megan Digby Baker	12
John Birkett	12
Julie Feilden	9
Geoff Roberts	7
Barbara Walton	7
Gordon Hill	7
Shelley Birkett	7
Adam Beschizza	7
Jim Stevens	7
Poppy Feilden	6
Brian Reilly	6
Eddie Partridge	6
Jonathan Kinge	6
Rita Aspland	6
Sam Feilden	6
Steve Springford	6
Ryan Moore	6
Julia Feilden	6
Liz Moore	6
Dave Morris	6
Paula Smith	6
Jason Coote	6
Sophie Collington	6
Steve Clarke	6
Chris Shirran	6
Phil Collington	6
Rachael Shucksmith	6
Rob Weston	6
Dave Barnett	6
Allan Forster	3
Bill Burgess	3
Linda Wright	3
Stephen Broadley	3
Martyn Clark	3
Trevor Fuller	3
Dominic Lisle	3
Barry Hine	3
Lee Cousens	1
Tina	1
Carol Bushnell	1

PLUS 29 OTHERS ON ZERO POINTS