KieranPackman

Why do maidens so often form part of a Placepot? Kieran Packman gripes about that and other things that that have annoyed him since the Flat returned.

'...someone has unfathomably decided to put a race full of unraced three-year-olds as the second in on the card. Fair enough, if that's your attitude, I'll keep my potential levy in my back pocket.'

At last, some proper Flat action. The Craven meeting. Top trainers. Jockeys raring to go. Punting to be done. I think I'll have a crack at the Placepot. Oh, hang on, someone has unfathomably decided to put a race full of unraced three-year-olds as the second in on the card. Fair enough, if that's your attitude, I'll keep my potential levy in my back pocket.

The Wood Ditton is the race in question and its place in the racing calendar at all is surely debatable, given it only appeals to those who've braved the various gallops of the land in the hope of a miniscule edge. But to stick it in the middle of the card is just infuriating. It's made worse by the fact that the opening race that precedes it has eight newcomers amongst a field of a dozen.

Maidens have their place, it would be ridiculous to suggest otherwise, but surely their place is at the end of the card whenever possible? I can't see any reason why this shouldn't be so. As I write this, on an average Tuesday afternoon, Lingfield have two divisions of a maiden and two divisions of a handicap. The handicaps are races 7 and 8 with the maidens at the start. I'd welcome someone with more common sense than I commenting below and explaining why this is the norm. As it is, the Placepot is regularly underbet (by me at least), for this very reason. No.2675 on the to-do list for the snowed under Racing For Change team.

While I'm in a whining mood, how about jockeys that follow pre-race instructions even when events are completely conspiring against them? Step forward Liam Keniry who got into some good old 'my dad's bigger than your dad' aboard the well-treated Cool Strike on Sunday as he wanted to lead, but so did Neil Callan aboard Callisto Moon. Net result, they ruin each other's chance and set it up for the stamina-laden Sherman McCoy.

And, finally, one of the oldest debates in racing, does a tie mean you are a better all-round human being? Apparently so, say the management at Thirsk racecourse. Despite representing a runner on the card, I wasn't allowed in the viewing area I wanted as I'd neglected to wear a neckpiece on a sweltering Spring day. Very tempting to return wearing a tie and nothing else and see what reaction you'd get. In my case I fear it'd be pity, primarily.

With Harbinger an absentee the racing world will be looking at the Aussie horse with the American name to light up York's Ebor meeting, but can he justify the hype? Kieran Packman sketches the scene

"Wins at Royal Ascot in the Golden Jubilee and then in Newmarket’s July Cup, resoundingly underlined Starspangledbanner’s status as one of the leading sprinters in the world. His current Timeform rating of 128 is bettered only by Sacred Kingdom (130) amongst the leading global sprinters."

With Harbinger an absentee, leaving behind him a string of unanswered questions and unfulfilled hopes, the spotlight provided by York's Ebor meeting will now fall on sprint sensation Starspangledbanner, the 3.55 favourite for the Nunthorpe Stakes.

Roots in Australia have been almost a pre-requisite for sprint success in recent seasons, as Choisir, Miss Andretti and Scenic Blast have all made their mark at the highest level in Europe having previously blazed a trail in the Southern Hemisphere.

Dual Australian Group One winner Starspangledbanner has therefore followed a well trodden path, though his exploits in his native country included a Caulfield Guineas win over a mile, which makes his drop to the minimum trip in the Nunthorpe such a cause of intrigue.

Unlike, say, the aforementioned Choisir, Starspangledbanner's two top-level successes on these shores have not been achieved through blistering pace, rather resolutely maintaining a relentless gallop that has drawn the thrust from his rivals.

Those pair of wins, both over six furlongs, first at Royal Ascot in the Golden Jubilee and then in Newmarket's July Cup, resoundingly underlined Starspangledbanner's status as one of the leading sprinters in the world. His current Timeform rating of 128 is bettered only by Sacred Kingdom (130) amongst the leading global sprinters.

York's five-furlong track can be covered by the very best in around 56 seconds.
That is a test of sheer speed, matched only in Europe by the Prix de l'Abbaye at Loncgchamp on Arc day and therefore represents a real test of the horse's champion sprinter pretensions and a rare genuine examination of his trainer Aidan O'Brien's now customary analysis of his big guns that 'this horse has a lot of speed'.

Like almost all European Group Ones, O'Brien has history with the Nunthorpe, a race currently sponsored by his Coolmore associates. Stravinsky and Mozart both left their mark, winners in 1999 and 2001 respectively, whilst One Cool Cat left little but a hole in punters pockets in 2004, beaten into third as favourite in a career that never quite lived up to, admittedly high, expectations,

Much of the aftermath of Starspangledbanner's July Cup victory was taken up with prolonged debate about the tactics adopted aboard him by Johnny Murtagh in the opening furlong, as he made an early dash for the far side rail (a move Murtagh was penalised for).

Tactics will again be the cause for much discussion prior to the Nunthorpe. Starspangledbanner's recent wins have come when bullying his opposition from the front, but it's dubious whether he has the basic pace to adopt such a position in the Nunthorpe, certainly without the risk of having little left for a final furlong surge. But if they elect to avoid the early duel, will he react amicably to restraint? Plenty to ponder at Ballydoyle.

Though it is Starspangledbanner who undoubtedly approaches the race with the most to gain, as rare indeed is the potential stallion whose CV includes top-level gains from five furlongs to a mile, there are plenty of appealing subplots.

Equiano has been resurgent in 2010, impressively landing the King's Stand at the Royal meeting before going down by just a neck in the July Cup. His natural speed will likely count for that bit more back down to five furlongs at York.

Another contender from the July Cup frame, Kingsgate Native, will have his supporters on the basis that he endured a rougher passage than the first two home, whilst John Best's Stone Of Folca bids to achieve what Kingsgate Native himself managed for the yard as a juvenile, in scooping the big pot in receipt of the generous two-year-old allowance.