ONLY the best of the best are inducted into the hearts of racing fans as true greats.
In a world when footballers only have to kick a ball in the right direction a couple of times to earn the prefix ‘legend’, it’s rather refreshing that those who get their pleasure from star players with a better dress sense are more selective when manning the greatness gates.
Entry to such an exclusive club is understandably exacting. The conditions might differ depending on which bar room membership is being discussed in but the standards are universally high. Enable’s application has been argued from Paris to St Pancras ever since her gallant, but ultimately unsuccessful, attempt to win an unprecedented third Arc De Triomphe.
Heartbreak for Enable! The history-seeking mare is collared close home and Waldgeist is the 2019 Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe winner! @paris_longchamp #QPAT pic.twitter.com/JMb3hcD3WB
— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) October 6, 2019
They have queued up to use her length and three-quarter defeat to Waldgeist as the crustiest of French sticks with which to beat Khalid Abdullah’s superstar.
Good but not good enough to be great seems to be the verdict of those who crown their champions with complex mathematical equations better suited to Bletchley Park. In short, greatness? Computer says no.
Dancing Brave and Sea The Stars are two other Arc champions trotted out as the benchmark with which to judge those applying to join Flat racing’s ‘hall of fame’. Two terrific horses with super records, no doubt. But neither raced on beyond three so neither took on the next generation when the weight allowances for age would have been turned around.
That is a glaring gap that cannot be ignored and a column where Enable gets a double tick. She also gets that against the King George and the Yorkshire Oaks, as well as the Arc. It’s not impossible she will be given the chance to win her second Breeders’ Cup, as well.
Add in the Oaks, Irish Oaks and the Eclipse and it’s clear only the most contrary would suggest we’re dealing with anything other than one of the greatest horses.
Perhaps, when her racing days are over, the hard-hearted ratings crunchers will mellow. Absence tends to make the form grow stronger as the yearning for the good ol’ days make horses of yesteryear seem better with every passing Derby.
Enable day today, the best racehorse I think I’ll ever see in my lifetime, possibly of all time, dotting up one last time
— Ryan Blatchford (@RyanBlatchford) October 6, 2019
But there’s no need to wait. Enable’s record stands up to the best.
Her ratings – be they official or from racing sages Timeform – suggests she’s much of a muchness with the likes of Crystal Ocean and Battaash.
In the race for the prestigious Cartier Awards horse of the year Enable is even behind Magical, a filly she has beaten no less than four times in the last 12 months.
The numbers might not add up in that respect but when it comes to counting the hefty sum of Enable’s trophy cabinet it is more than enough to confirm she is one of the greatest we’ve ever seen. Her ten Group 1 wins – the equal of Frankel – includes some of the world’s top prizes and, with fingers firmly crossed, she might just get the chance to better the top-prize tally of Sir Henry Cecil’s peerless champion.
That Enable – running in the same famous green, pink and white colours of Frankel’s owner Khalid Abdullah – couldn’t quite pull off that feat in Sunday’s Arc de Triomphe was more down to circumstance than anything else.
Enable's record! let this sink in! she will forever be remembered ❤
2 Prix de l’Arc Triomphe
1 Breeders’ Cup Turf
2 King George & Queen Elizabeth Stakes
1 Coral-Eclipse
1 Epsom Oaks
1 Cheshire Oaks
2 Yorkshire Oaks
1 Irish Oaks pic.twitter.com/RmQVsppI7W— MayTheHorseBeWithYou (@MayTheHorseBeW1) October 6, 2019
Frankie Dettori must have been delighted with the way he was able to get across from stall nine to secure a perfect position in fourth at the end of the back straight. Her trademark burst two furlongs from home was as potent as ever and it was just the strong pace in stamina-sapping gluey ground that made her vulnerable to Waldgeist – fourth behind Enable in last year’s Arc – in the final stages.
Some suggest Dettori might have made his move too soon but that’s the way the pair have killed top-class fields for more than two years. His only possible mistake might have been in allowing Enable to drift over to the far rail considering most of the winners on the star-studded card, including Waldgeist, made their final charge more towards the middle of the track.
It’s been pointed out that Waldgeist was also giving the 3lbs mares’ allowance to Enable. This has, no doubt, been something that has held her back in eyes of the ratings compilers during her fantastic career.
There has to be a case, in this age of equality, for doing away with that weight difference in Group 1 races. It wouldn’t be the worst idea to make all top contests level weights regardless of sex or age as it would give a huge incentive for the best colts to race beyond their Classic season.
On Sunday we saw two even better reasons for older horses to be kept in training. They are called Waldgeist and Enable.
