He has a flamboyant name, and if his riding style is anything to go by, it suits him down to the ground.... Teenaged Frenchman Mickael Barzalona won the Epsom Derby on the Andre Fabre trained Pour Moi in sensational fashion over the weekend, flying home out wide to get up in the final bound (pictured). Amazingly, the Montjeu colt made that winning bound with Barzalona standing bolt upright in the irons, whip aimed skyward to tickle the angels' toes. To any detractors who might have considered hi
He has a flamboyant name, and if his riding style is anything to go by, it suits him down to the ground.... Teenaged Frenchman Mickael Barzalona won the Epsom Derby on the Andre Fabre trained Pour Moi in sensational fashion over the weekend, flying home out wide to get up in the final bound (pictured). Amazingly, the Montjeu colt made that winning bound with Barzalona standing bolt upright in the irons, whip aimed skyward to tickle the angels' toes. To any detractors who might have considered his celebration just a touch reckless and premature - and perhaps understandably so, given that the winning margin was so narrow - Barzalona might cite the words of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, the Franco-Swiss philosopher whose ideas resonated so strongly during fervent Tennis Court Oaths: "The person who has lived the most is not the one with the most years, but the one with the richest experiences". Indeed, given the bravery he displayed in the saddle, one gets the impression Barzalona wouldn't have batted an eyelid if confronted by bloodthirsty sans-culottes or the guillotine's emphatic edge... Good on the kid, I say, for if it rendered an already incredible race even more spectacular. But if he'd fallen off? "Off with his head!"
In other weekend highlights, Carlton just managed to get the job done for us in Round 11 FOOT$IE, kicking 11 goals to 1 in the second half to prevail by 62 points. Unfortunately however, my sneaky play on Kurt Tippett for 'Most Goals For The Round' at $21 was thwarted by an inaccurate 3 goals 5 behinds in front of the big sticks...