Can
Whilst most
horse racing fans will be fervently following the fortunes of those National
Hunt horses heading in the direction of the Cheltenham Festival, there will
be plenty of others following the training reports of those who are being
slowly but surely readied for the start of flat season, which with the turn
of the new year, isn't that far away!
Needless to say
that at the fulcrum of attention once again in 2012 will be Frankel, the
unbeaten superstar from the Sir Henry Cecil stable who will be bidding
potentially at least, to become known as the greatest racehorse ever.
No matter what
Frankel achieves in 2012, comparisons will inevitably made with the other
greats of the sport has seen, such as Brigadier Gerard, Nijinsky, Mill Reef
and Sea The Stars but there is no doubt that the four year old has the
ability and has already proven that he can be mentioned in the same breath
as them now.
Frankel however
is not the only horse to be excited about ahead of the new season and there
are many who believe that another Colt could shoot to stardom. This prospect
is currently preparing for the new season with a few warm up canters at his
equally legendary home of Ballydoyle. His aim will be to emulate the great
Sea The Stars by winning the two Colt Classic’s, the 2000 Guineas and the
Epsom Derby with a crack at the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe to come later in
the year.
The horse in
question has the perfect name befitting a potential legend, having been
given the name of the Castle from the Arthurian Legend. Moreover he had us
all excited following his
emphatic win in the Group 1
Racing Post Trophy
at
His trainer,
also a legend in his own lifetime, Aiden O’Brien regards Camelot as his much
sought after superstar and is clearly and extremely confident that he and
Ballydoyle can now emulate rival trainer, John Oxx who won everything with
his Sea The Stars in 2009. He is also confident that by the summer, he may
also be up to taking on the seemingly unbeatable Frankel over either eight
or ten furlongs and winning.
Being the son
of Montjeu, it would appear natural for Camelot to be aimed, principally at
the both the English and Irish Derbys, however, we all saw his devastating
turn of pace at Doncaster which makes him a very serious contender for the
2000 Guineas and O’Brien is far from ruling that option out. As it stands
currently, Camelot is the 6/1 favoruite for the
A top class
horse is always hard to come by; the racing world can wait for years before
one comes along that sweeps us all off our feet. However, for those of us
‘long enough in the tooth’ we can go back to those halcyon days on the early
1970’s when firstly, Nijinsky came along, followed by Brigadier Gerrard and
Mill Reef a year later. They say that good things happen in three’s, so why
not? Sea The Stars in 2009 earned his legendary status, Frankel did so in
2011 and might again in 2012 and now we have Camelot also in 2012 ready to
join the club? He is certainly one to get excited about and keep a close eye
on ahead of the Spring.