BLYTHE KNIGHT AGAIN
There were a few moments of anxiety for trainer John Quinn before a stewardsâ enquiry confirmed that the eight-year-old Blythe Knight had opened the 2008 Derby Festival in exactly the same fashion as he had a year earlier, with victory in the Group Three Juddmonte Diomed Stakes.
The worrying moment for connections came in the final furling when Blythe Knight and second-placed Alexandros came together. âThe second horse wobbled a bit too and looked out on his legs,â said the trainer.
âGraham Gibbons said that Blythe Knight rolled a bit but he won on merit. He maybe idled a bit in the closing stages but Grahamâs pulled him off the second.
âYou would have to say, looking at the replay, that he won on merit but you are always a bit wary when thereâs a stewardsâ enquiry. Horses roll around a bit more here when they do get tired and the chips are down.
Blythe Knight did not always appear the winner. âIt looked for a moment (in the straight) as if he wasnât going to get out, but when he got out he sluiced them.
âHe came there nicely to win his race. These old horses know more about racing than we do,â said the trainer.
Blythe Knight has been successful under both codes, including winning a Grade Two hurdle at the John Smithâs Grand National Meeting before success in this race at Epsom last year, but the trainer will be single-minded in future.
âHe won the Lincoln for us two years ago and then he didnât win on the Flat so we took him jumping. He won a couple of novice hurdles and a Grade Two at Liverpool .
âThen we brought him here last year before finishing third in a Group race at Longchamp and then I went back hurdling with him. He was disappointing in the Fighting Fifth Hurdle but then he was second in the Kingwell Hurdle to Katchit, which was a good run. Then I ran him in the Champion Hurdle where he didnât seem to stay in the soft ground.
âHe finished second to Smokey Oakey in the Lincilon, trying to give him 18lb which is nigh on impossible. He ran well in a Listed race really well and two Group races. On his last run he ran off 112 carrying top-weight and he ran really well. He doesnât let you down.
âThatâs the end of the jumps. We put him in the Champion Hurdle and he was found wanting. We were never going to trudge him round in handicaps,â he said.
Possible plans include a Group race in Germany. âThereâs nothing for him at Ascot and the course doesnât bring out the best in him. Weâll take him to places that he likes. He likes travelling,â said Quinn.
