Dubai: Could Cavalryman be the horse to end Saeed Bin Surour’s wait for a first Melbourne Cup victory?
I can feel the excitement and anticipation at the very thought of it, but then my mind comes up with all these ifs and buts.
It’s still a nice feeling all the same.
Sport is full of great stories that keep you engaged and ever so often a special one comes along and absolutely takes your breath away.
For me right now Cavalryman is one of those extraordinary stories in the wake of his two incredible wins this season in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Newmarket and the Goodwood Cup on Thursday.
Horses like him don’t come along too often, and while he might not be a great horse by any stretch of the imagination, he’s unquestionable a horse that you could so easily fall in love with.
I’m a romantic, always have been a romantic, and I believe that it’s very much ingrained in my personality. I feel like anything is possible if you believe.
We all love our champions, our Mohammad Alis, Peles, Sachin Tendulkars, Usain Bolts, but we also have a special place in our hearts for those sportsmen who can once in a while come up with what you term special. The kind that produce something extraordinary to take our breaths away and leave us speechless.
It happens in film, literature, music, but mostly in the big, beautiful world of sport.
Watching Cavalryman in the Goodwood Cup absolutely took my breath away. I was bowled over by his tenacity, his rectitude, his passion. It was amazing to see what an eight-year-old warrior can do given the right stage, the right partner and the right occasion.
There was so much to like about this wonderful horse and so much to admire.
Even Kieren Fallon, who has ridden hundreds of great horses, was staggered by Cavalryman’s performance and described him in one word — tough.
I would say tough as nails, the kind of horse that can fuel your dreams. I’m pretty sure that Saeed must have had Australia on his mind, as soon as Cavalryman crossed the finish line after waging a head-to-head battle with stable companion Ahzeemah.
I’ve known Saeed for so many years that I’ve come to understand what makes him tick.
Saeed loves a challenge and never, ever gives up. He’s been though highs and lows in his colourful career but he’s always remained consistent, whether he’s winning or not. He’s a real battler too, although you could never tell by his calm demeanour.
I know that he has always wanted to win the Melbourne Cup, but he’s been realistic to know that it takes a special kind of horse that can win a race that heavily favours locally trained horses. If you horse has been achiever then the handicapper will slap him with a massive weight penalty, and if he’s not, then he does not stand a chance against the Australian horses who are trained to run messy races like the Melbourne Cup, where the horses seem to dawdle for most of the two mile trip.
So where does that leave Saeed and Cavalryman?
For sure if he does go to Melbourne he won’t meet a sympathetic handicapper. And even if he does have the turn of foot and can handle any ground, he would still have to run out of his skin. And at eight-years-old can he?
Yes.