DAVID CARR
Weblog: What do you mean the Wi-Fi doesn’t work? The life of a Racing Post reporter
Will Junior abstinence be rewarded?
It’s been like one of those cruel psychological experiments they run on young children. Can they resist temptation?
Put a chocolate in front of them. Tell them that if they leave it alone they will get two chocolates when you return. Then leave the room.
Apparently it is a sign of intelligence in a child if they have the brainpower not to give in, to rationalise that the best policy is to leave the chocolate alone – no matter how tasty it looks – and to wait for an even bigger reward.
On that basis, the folk at Middleham Park Racing are clearly very bright sparks.
They’ve resisted the lure of all kinds of goodies this season with Junior, a runaway winner at last year’s Cheltenham Festival who’d have been favourite for just about any handicap chase he’d run in this winter but who has remained serenely in his box at David Pipe’s yard.
Because their minds are fixed on the two chocolates.
The Grand National is the aim and the best way to blow his chance would have been to run him, see him show decent form and then watch him rocket up the handicap.
That worry is over now as the weights are published tomorrow.
But these are real rational, not-for-tempting guys and one and a half chocolates is not enough when you have worked out that you could get two.
First prize in Saturday’s Betfred Grand National Trial at Haydock would buy plenty of chocolate but nothing that might risk his chance at Aintree, such as slogging through the Merseyside mud, will be countenanced.
The self denial looks set to go on as a conversation with racing manager Tim Palin today revealed that his preferred option would be just one prep run – which could even be in as low-profile an event as a jumpers’ bumper.
It will all be worth it if Junior comes home in front on April 14 – I bet there would be very little sign of self denial on that particular evening in Liverpool.
But what the feeling would be should he suffer the fate of many a National fancy and fall at the first fence does not bear thinking about.
Incidentally, Palin broke new ground with the way he got rid of me – apparently the fire alarm was ringing so he thought he had better get off the phone and investigate. Might have sounded like an excuse to end our chat but I could actually hear it myself. Hope all was well.
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