Rounding The Horn

Flagships are essentially exercises in vanity. But that doesn't mean they're wrong. Vanity mightn't be particularly attractive but it's interesting to ponder how much achievement there would be without it. So news that plans for the Curragh redevelopment - Irish racing's new flagship - are shortly to be announced is good news. Maybe it is a vanity thing but God alone knows the Curragh could do with being tarted up. Right now HQ isn't so much luxury liner as leaky punt.

Exactly whose vanity is being stroked by the redevelopment is another interesting question, one that will certainly be pitched by those who reckon €55 million could be better spent on something less concrete.

Sceptics might even still have in mind the €70 million proposed to be spent on the Curragh a decade ago before the economy took a dive. A particular niggle then was that a vast new development to cater for large crowds was essentially catering for a single occasion - Derby day. Now at least there's 'Champions Weekend' to add to the mix, and how many days a year is Croke Park, for instance, crammed? Twice for definite: maybe one or two more if the Dubs are on a roll.

It's not as if the flagship urge is unique to Ireland. The French authorities are going down a similar route at Longchamp. And if money is to be spent it might as well be directed at something tangible rather than pouring it into yet more prizemoney, much of which winds up with a select ownership elite, some of whom are now actually ponying up to turn the flat, bald, unprepossessing Curragh into a slick eye-catcher anyone in the world would be proud to be seen with.

Those who take pride in braving the likes of Thurles in February without so much as an anorak will no doubt sneer but if Irish racing is to show off it might as well be with something constructive and tangible. And maybe there will be naming rights which can be sold to the highest bidder a la Arsenal and the Emirates, or Lansdowne Road and the Avivia: who wouldn't want their name on a flagship.

He isn't charismatic in the mould of Frankel or Sea The Stars but there can be little doubt now about Golden Horn being an outstanding champion in his own right. Only the greats tend to win both the Derby and the Arc and John Gosden's star has won both with authority. Maybe the charisma thing is just due to the Dettori factor: attention inevitably is drawn towards his jockey.

You can see why though. Behind all the showmanship, that Arc ride emphasised once again how Dettori possesses a natural talent to compare with any jockey who has ever perched on a thoroughbred. No one saw it coming how he might combat a wide draw by racing even wider but it is such instincts which only the great jockeys possess.

However Dettori had to have the horse underneath him and Golden Horn always looked in control. Great horses such as Nijinsky and Troy found the Arc a step too far and while Golden Horn may not be an attention grabber, it will be fascinating to see how the handicappers rate him in the cold light of day. That exalted mark given to him for the Eclipse got flak at the time but certainly looks bang on the money now.

It is intriguing that he could be asked to run again in the Breeders Cup Turf in Keeneland which might be the first unreasonable thing asked of him all year.

There's a touch of juju about harking back nearly 30 years to Dancing Brave famously getting turned over in America. But it's a cold hard reality that the US is a different racing culture. It's also getting towards the end of a long and arduous campaign. It's also 4,000 miles away. Golden Horn mightn't need to be at his absolute best to win it, and such a win would be the cherry on top of a wonderful season. But defeat would be an anti-climactic tone that such an exceptional colt hardly merits.

Last week's Goffs Orby Sale got a lot of attention as Ireland's premier bloodstock sale generated four millionaire prices including one €2 million yearling bought by Moyglare. Having covered a few of these things, such prices which always grab the headlines, in turning provoking experts into tut-tutting about how such exceptional individuals don't reflect the overall strength of a sale. It's the median that's crucial, they always argue; that's the real barometer of a sale's strength.

So how come there hasn't been too many headlines about the 2015 Orby median being 11 per cent down on last year at €62,000. Instead the 'C' word has been employed - consolidation - which in 'morkoting' vernacular is the equivalent of a shrill scream of desperation. Still, since 92.1 per cent of statistics are famously made up on the spot, none of it probably matters too much.

And finally, talking of boats, Kieren Fallon reportedly couldn't meet his commitments at Tipperary - including what turned out to be a Group 3 win for Sovereign Debt - because he got "stuck on the boat coming over due to an electrical fault." He got fined €500 for his trouble too.

This is hardly the first time Fallon has encountered travel difficulties in what was once a truly flagship career. Sadly it now seems to be sinking fast. For a man with a pair of Arc victories on his CV, Tipperary on Arc day will hardly have been a thrilling prospect anyway. Not making it at all had heads shaking.