INFLIGHT TAKES WING

by Alistair Murchie

I have a share in a couple of two year olds this year, both fillies, one trained by Tom Dascombe at Lambourn and the other by Ralph Beckett at Whitsbury, once home to the famous Desert Orchid.

The Tom Dascombe one has done nothing of note in three races, possibly as a result of being branded with the dreadful name Fongalong, but the Beckett filly has given us great fun for our modest investment. I'm really not all that keen on her name wither - Inflight, which sounds a little like an airline catering company, but never mind.

She has run six times this year, starting off with an undistinguished ninth place on her debut, but managing two seconds, a fourth and a fifth in her next four outings. A headstrong filly, she had been keen to take the lead early in her races, but then faded in the last furlong after looking likely to win, so Ralph decided to give her a month off and train her to settle behind other horses on the gallops at home.

Come her latest race, a pretty modest affair it has to be said, the plan was to allow others to make the running and then pounce and it worked like a dream.

Only five were entered for her race at Brighton, despite the £5,500 prize on offer and two of those were withdrawn before the off because of the hard ground, so a field of three took to the course and she started second favourite at odds of 7/4.

Her exotically named young Brazilian jockey Nelson de Souza allowed the other two a three length lead until two furlongs from the finish, then loosed the reins and she took off. There is no finer, or indeed rarer, sight for an owner than to see your jockey, sitting quiet as a mouse while the other, jockeys are throwing the kitchen sink at their nags and getting nowhere. Inflight, urged on by her ridiculously over excited owners, strolled away to win by four lengths and the prize was ours.

It's hard to describe the thrill of owning a winner. Once can understand why the breeder, the trainer and the jockey should be delighted. After all, they are closely involved in the horse's life, whereas we simply pay the bills and turn up on the day, but thrill it is, be it the Derby or a three horse race at Brighton.

Can she do it again? She's pencilled in to run at Kempton on Wednesday 23 August,

so if you see she’s won again you can imagine the spectacle of a group of respectable middle aged owners made of themselves as they shouted her home.

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