Racing: Old legs again do superb job

Age can dim class, but it can't totally eliminate it - certainly not in the case of King Keitel. The rising 11-year-old was not entitled to win at Te Rapa.

He had run out of racing room halfway down the home straight on Saturday, but you had the impression there was not a lot of forward propulsion if room presented itself. Wrong.

If you could transfer the guts King Keitel showed in the closing stages into every horse, there'd be 75,000 at the races every week.

Trainer Paul Jenkins is simply waiting to find a suitable retirement home for the old bloke and it's difficult to believe someone would not want such a wonderful animal to play around with, if they had the appropriate environment.

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You would hope the video of Hayden Tinsley's winning ride on Sea Shells at Trentham on Saturday is saved and regularly shown to apprentice schools.

It's about balance in the mud and allowing the horse to do its work without beating the fur off it all the way up the home straight.

Tinsley's effort was artistry. It's the old line that a whip is the last resort of a good rider and the first resort of a bad one.

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How unusual was it to see Noel Harris 10 lengths in front on Kiwi mare Anne Carina in the middle stages at Eagle Farm on Saturday. The usual Harris footprint is storming home late to catch the leaders in the final 200m.

Harris had to waste to ride the Graeme Sanders- and Debbie Sweeney-trained Anne Carina and was rewarded with the winning ride in the A$60,000 Gallagher Stakes.

Sanders says he will consider running the Danske mare in the Ipswich Cup.

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Don't drop off Irish Rover too quickly. On the surface his distant fourth at Trentham on Saturday looked a disgraceful performance, but don't be surprised if he quickly puts that behind him.

The old bloke is too talented and resilient to be at the bottom of the stack for long. The abortive trip to Australia clearly bottomed him, but he'll bounce back.

Like a lot of ageing horses, he probably doesn't need that really heavy footing now.