Eyeing up the talent is a demanding task

The evenings are getting shorter and the mornings darker, a sure sign that autumn and winter is not far away! Another sign that is closer to home from my perspective is the start of the yearling sales season that commenced at Deauville (France) last week, but for me starts at Doncaster this week. This is where I will, hopefully, stock up for next season and hopefully buy some potential winners! Doncaster has been lucky for me in the past as I have purchased the likes of Summit Surge and Irish Jig there, however I came out of there empty handed last year as I was very aware of the difference between the euro and sterling. The big horse to come out of that sale was Bushranger which was purchased by the Coolmore lads for £100,000 (stg) and is now trained by David Wachman. Bushranger won the Prix Morny Group 1 at Deauville on Sunday under Johnny Murtagh who is riding on a crest of a wave just now, this was his 17th Group 1 this season, which is a phenomenal achievement by any standards. Personally speaking, Johnny is the best in the world at this moment, but I rated him as that a long time ago and I think this year he has improved to a different level. The good news, according to my records, is that I couldn"t have purchased Bushranger even if I"d tried, as the Coolmore lads wanted him regardless! Ashbourne native Mark Dwyer sold him from his Oaks Farm stables in North Yorkshire. His consignments are producing more and more top class winners every year, he is obviously becoming as good a judge of horse flesh as he was a jockey! Mark used to ride as stable jockey to the late Jimmy Fitzgerald back in the "80s and was as good a jockey as there was at the time winning races such as the Gold Cup on Forgive and Forget. Anyway, I will be over there this week in the hope of finding a star? Then we have the Tattersals yearling sale at Fairyhouse next Tuesday and the sales will continue right up until the end of November. In this economic climate I have been dreading the start of the sales, but once I get stuck into them I will enjoy them as it is amazing the things you learn every year and they do get you dreaming of the future and the potential Group 1 winners you may have seen! The older I get the more I realise that hope and optimism are the food of life (especially if you are a racehorse trainer!!) and if you are not optimistic you are in trouble! Jaysus, I"m getting very deep! That"s enough philosophical bullshit for the moment, don"t you think? As I said last week, I was going to run very little because of the ground and poor Tralee tried their best to sign off with their last meeting, but Mother Nature beat them and they eventually cancelled due to water-logging. The Curragh raced last Saturday on very heavy ground and I think we seen two very smart two-year-olds in John Oxx"s Arazan and Jim Bolger"s Galileo filly, Forest Storm. Oxx"s Anabaa colt caught my eye at Leopardstown in May when he won his maiden and I think this is a colt with a huge future, as he seems to have a lovely temperament to go with his obvious ability. The filly absolutely hacked up in the conditions race and looks to be another Galileo find for Bolger who seems to hold the key to training the Galileo progeny. We had our winner in the shape of Ballycahill, a daughter of Barathea out of the very good race mare Cache Creek. This race was named after Maureen McCormack whom I worked with for years at Peter McCreery"s yard and it was very special for me to win this event for that reason. Maureen is one of the unsung heroes in our game, of which there are plenty, and I think that this is a very good idea to name races after such stalwarts of our game and the executive should be congratulated for their initiative. Trainers and jockeys tend to get all the praise when winners come in, but at the risk of sounding like Aidan O"Brien (for which I don"t apologise!) this is very much a team game and if you don"t have a good team behind you, then you will not get very far. People like Maureen McCormack make people like me look good! For those of you that are GAA orientated, you may know that Maureen is the mother of Eddie McCormack, the ace Kildare forward of a few years ago. I suppose it would be remiss of me not to mention the fantastically talented Duke of Marmalade which won his fifth Group 1 of the season last Saturday when he landed the Juddmonte International Stakes. The race was transferred to Newmarket from rain-soaked York. Although he had a week of disruption having set off for York last Tuesday, he showed his versatility by winning, although I don"t believe it was his best performance, but it was still good enough to win! I would think that the other Irish colt and Derby winner, New Approach, ran below his best and I would expect him to improve a bit for the run. New Approach may be a stronger force at Leopardstown for the Tattersalls Millions Champion Stakes. The aftermath of the big race has re-ignited the debate about pacemakers and whether or not they are breaking any rules of racing whilst doing their job? This particular incident related to Colm O" Donoghue riding Red Rock Canyon which made the running before moving off the rail and letting Johnny through to go on and win. For me, no rules were broken, as the best horse won and Red Rock Canyon had every chance to run his race whilst no other runner was impeded. I feel that since the birth of television stations such as At The Races (ATR) and Racing UK, we have been bombarded with armchair experts who feel they have to find criticism in every race to justify their existence! Some of their work is good and very constructive, but equally a lot of it can be self-promoting and to the detriment of our sport. On this particular count I feel I can smell the odour of the green-eyed monster creeping in where people are getting a bit bored with the dominance of the Ballydoyle stable in the big races over in Britain. I"m not saying it is not frustrating, bumping into the Coolmore wall every day you go racing, it is, but is it any different than when Henry Cecil was winning everything in the past because he had the best horses? I don"t think so! Or when the great Michael Stoute was winning? No. When they were winning the press lauded them as geniuses. Well lads, like it or not Mr A P O"Brien is also in that mould, if not superior! Why not enjoy him while he is at his best because the time will come when he won"t be around and it will be someone else"s job to be burdened with the mantle of being 'the best in the business." Racing this week locally is at Bellewstown on Wednesday and Thursday and at Dundalk on Saturday where an extra meeting includes a Listed race, the Ruby Stakes over a mile. The Moyglare Stud Stakes next Sunday is the big race at the Curragh. I hope the ground dries up before that as it"s winter soft at the moment and not conducive to good flat racing. That"s it for another week and I hope this one brightens up for everyone. The fact the kids are going back to school now may mark the return of the sun! We live in hope!! n Visit the Ger Lyons website: www.gerlyons.ie