The Turf | 26 July 2008

I once bought a house from a chap who insisted that Shakepeare’s entire output had in fact been penned by Francis Bacon. Be that as it may, Bacon did come up with the odd pithy insight, as when he argued, ‘Wives are young men’s mistresses, companions for middle age and old men’s nurses.’ Lately, I have been putting Mrs Oakley’s companionship qualities to the test with a trapped sciatic nerve, which has made me about as much fun to live with as John McEnroe at two sets down and serving to save the match.

Fortunately, the saintly Mrs O is blessed with a realism that deserts her only when faced with a decision on which dress or shoes to wear for major social occasions, a decision which is rarely completed until the hour most others are actually arriving at the event. When I am seized by the urge, for example, to attempt home repairs she insists, ‘For God’s sake, go away and write another article while I employ a professional.’ This time it was the reminder that a limping man who skipped up the stairs as fast as I did after his third large consolation whisky was unlikely to be suffering from anything terminal which brought things back into perspective.

Realism is a quality you look for in trainers, too, and there was plenty of it on display at Newbury last Saturday. With three consecutive victories under his belt, though not at enticing prices, Thurloe Thoroughbreds’ Corrybrough has so far been the star of our Ten to Follow this season. But in the Group Three Uplands Racing Hackwood Stakes Corrybrough could only finish second. It was a case of ‘the operation was a success, but the patient died’. Or as trainer Henry Candy wryly put it, ‘It was a very valuable exercise.