Camelot's Derby Double

It was good to see Camelot follow up his facile Epsom Derby success with victory in the Irish equivalent on Saturday afternoon at the Curragh.  It was harder work this time around with Aidan O'Brien's colt having to dig deep to beat Born To Sea and there were certainly signs that his Epsom run and the softer ground had perhaps caught up with him.  He will now be given a rest until the St Leger in September and may just have a racecourse gallop before running at Doncaster.  If he were to be successful there, he would be the first colt to complete the Triple Crown since Nijinsky in 1970...that would be a fantastic achievement and would certainly add lustre to the beleaguered Classic.

There are four flat meetings taking place today with a blank day for the jumpers, although On Khee does represent the stable up at Windsor this evening under Jim Crowley.  I have spent many a happy evening down the years at Windsor racecourse, so let's hope that our mare can rekindle some of those memories tonight..  The other action takes place at Pontefract, Wolverhampton and Ffos Las and I see that the runners on the eight race card at Wolverhampton are competing for just £26,000.  If the tracks are not making money (and I am sure that the owners aren't), then who is making all the money out of racing?!

*****

I thought that Spain were fantastic in the final of Euro 2012 last night as they demolished Italy 4-0, although I was amazed to learn that Fernando Torres had won the Golden Boot!  Spain have now become the first team to win three major championships in a row - they looked a class apart from their opponents and were certainly worthy winners.

*****

What a great golf tournament at Royal Portrush.  It is the first time that a European tournament has been a sell out on all four days.  Jamie Donaldson, who was a 66/1 chance at the start of the week won his first championship on the tour.  His putter must have been hot, because it looked to be on fire as he sank crucial putt after crucial putt!

*****

Could someone please explain to me why so many people seem to be surprised by this latest banking scandal?  Surely if this sort of thing had involved ordinary members of the public the police would have been involved and there would probably have been a few jail sentences handed out for fraud.  A few of the big cheeses will probably resign and the whole sorry mess will be swept under the carpet.