Fate - or at least some handy race timing - meant I was in fact able to watch the Belmont Stakes on Sunday morning before jumping in the car to drive to Oamaru for the Waimate Racing Club's meeting.
With 1000m to go, you could almost sense history in the making. American Pharoah was cruuuuuuising - and it was a relief to see how easily he conquered his only genuine rival, Frosted, in the straight. I wasn't able to watch the aftermath immediately, but caught a replay later that night. New Yorkers are boisterous at the best of times, but the sound coming from the 90,000 racing fans there was pretty awesome to hear.
. . . an American?
Now what for American Pharoah? Will we see him race again? Maybe the Breeders Cup meeting later this year could be his swansong. You would imagine his owners won't waste much time getting him to the breeding barn, and with his value estimated by some pundits as getting near $US100 million ($NZ142 million), you can hardly blame them for protecting such an asset.
Now I just hope it won't be another 37 years before we have our next Triple Crown winner.
Forbury fighting fit . . .
Reports from Forbury Park yesterday are excellent - and well ahead of schedule - following repair work to the track after last week's flooding.
The weather played its part for Forbury Park staff and contractors and just four days after the work was started in earnest, the track was back being used yesterday morning by local trainers.
General manager John Ayoub said the feedback from the trainers was positive, suggesting the track was good condition.
After getting the tick from national track manager John Denton, Forbury Park will be good to go for next Thursday's meeting.
. . . following flooding
John Ayoub said the main reason why the track was repaired so quickly was the efforts of Otakia Transport contractors, who seemed ''in tune'' with what the club needed to do, and assistance also came in the form of a grader from Southroads The irony was not lost on John on Wednesday, though, when he looked out the window to see the water tanker out on the track doing its job. Just a week earlier, water was the last thing they needed.
Lazy fiver
Catkins fell short of the tough 2015 Lazy Fiver standards last week, running second at Brisbane. I rate Prince Of Pops a good chance from his barrier draw of 1 in race 4 at Alexandra Park tonight.
• Check out Matt's two-minute racing tips videos on www.odt.co.nz every Friday
