YOU know when Ryan Moore is grinning from ear to ear and cracking jokes that you’ve witnessed something extraordinary.
The world’s best jockey is a man of few words, but every now and then a horse will make him as chipper as Charlie Chaplin.
Paddington carried on his winning run in the Sussex Stakes
Paddington is one of those cherished few.
It wasn’t so much his win in the Sussex Stakes that bought a beaming smile out of the rider – and all the Coolmore ‘lads’ for that matter – it was the way he won it.
Because if ever a horse had an excuse to chuck in the towel and say, ‘not today, guv’, it was now.
If you sent a duck out in the sort of weather that lashed Goodwood on Wednesday you’d be accused of animal cruelty, for goodness sake.
It was grim down south and the ground was bordering on heavy by the time the £1 million feature of the meeting came around… lightyears away from Paddington’s ideal surface.
Then, having towed the field along to halfway, Moore must’ve been having kittens when Frankie Dettori rushed big rival Inspiral up on his inside to try and take him out of his comfort zone.
Dettori knew if he was to cause an upset he was going to have to do something unexpected, but as a result the ‘big two’ were going flat out a long way from home.
That lung-busting battle would have finished a lot of horses off – and Inspiral paid the price by finishing out the back of the telly.
But Paddington didn’t just keep going, he actually pulled away again as French challenger Facteur Cheval tried to cause an almighty shock.
For all Aidan O’Brien’s success, only a handful of runners from Ballydoyle over the years have been truly adored by the British public.
Giant’s Causeway, the original iron horse, was one of them, globetrotting Highland Reel another.
But this lad has already developed a big following – maybe it’s his working class roots.
After all, he started his campaign in a handicap on a bleak March afternoon at Naas – not the typical starting point for a potential champion.
Since then he has become a winning machine, even though he races with a head carriage like someone peering over their neighbours’ garden fence.
He’s even been compared to legendary sprinter Michael Johnson – who lowered world records like they were going out of fashion despite running as though he had a broomstick up his backside.
Whatever works – his jockey certainly couldn’t give two hoots.
Moore smiled: “This horse would win on six inches of snow.
“I was never worried about the ground, he is so tough and he really wants to do it for you.
“It’s a hard to compare, but the feel he gives me, he is probably as good a horse as I’ve ridden. I think he’s exceptional.
“We have thrown a lot at him and he has handled everything – you saw the damage it did to Inspiral trying to take him on.
“We got racing too far out and she was beaten two furlongs out. But he still had more in the tank at the line.”
The question now is, where next?
It appears this horse could win everything from the July Cup to the Cesarewitch, such is the depth of his talent.
O’Brien will let the dust settle before making a decision, but the Juddmonte International at York, for which he’s now 2-1 favourite, is the obvious choice.
He said: “He is thriving with his racing, every race he is getting heavier and putting on muscle which is unusual.
“Today was a tough race but knowing the horse he will probably take it with a smile on his face.”
There were plenty of happy faces earlier in the day, too, when Big Evs bagged the Group 3 Molecomb for popular trainer Mick Appleby.
The speedy colt attracted plenty of admiring glances after his win at Royal Ascot – and owner Paul Teasdale was offered an eye-watering £1 million for a 50% stake.
But the horse is named after his good pal Paul Evans, who sadly died earlier this year, and he is not for sale under any circumstances.
That’s good news for Appleby, who is now eyeing a potential crack at the Group 1 Nunthorpe Stakes at York in a few weeks.
He said: “He’s a very tough horse and he has really stuck his neck out to win today.
“He’s got an entry in the Gimcrack over six furlongs, but we are going to seriously think about supplementing him for the Nunthorpe.
“It’s great for the yard to have a horse of his calibre, we’ll celebrate this one.”
Smiles all round, then, though none were bigger than merry man Moore’s.
