Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
JUST IGNORE THE ANORAKS, ENABLE IS A TRUE GREAT
NO SOONER had Enable retired on Monday than the clever Dicks came out of the woodwork to tell us the great mare wasn’t all that.
Racing has more than its fair share of know-it-alls, desperate to pour cold water on the passion that fires this great sport — and I have no wish to join the trainspotters’ sad and bitter band.
The naysayers argue that, for all her achievements on the racecourse, Enable’s rating doesn’t entitle her to be considered among the true greats.
With regard to the numbers, since when were handicap ratings the sole metric of what makes a great racehorse?
At her peak, Enable had a mark of 128 on British Horseracing Authority figures — that’s 12lb shy of Frankel whose 140 perch crowns him the greatest of modern times.
But the number crunchers can’t tell us of her exploits.
A record three triumphs in the King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot, as well as top-level success in England, Ireland, France and America.
A comeback from injury to land a second Prix de l’arc de Triomphe, only to be robbed of a record third victory — more than likely — by bottomless ground at Longchamp.
These are what brings the racing world to its feet. Not numbers on a computer screen.
It’s also a fact that ratings measure the worth of a performance — not the athlete responsible for it.
To capture her second King George, Enable, who was in receipt of a 3lb sex allowance, got the better of a stirring fight with Crystal Ocean by a neck.
Does the rating of that race — that she was 2lb inferior to the runner-up — really tell the true story?
Sepia-tint merchants also dredge up the fillies and mares of yesteryear — the likes of Sceptre and Pretty Polly.
We might as well contrast Wanderers, who beat Oxford
University 2-1 in the 1877 FA Cup Final, with Jurgen Klopp’s titlewinning Liverpool side.
Comparisons between the generations are meaningless. Progress in sports science, notably with training methods and nutrition, have seen to that.
To show the absurdity of such juxtapositions, consider that, before she won the 2,000 Guineas and 1,000 Guineas — she also landed the Oaks and St Leger— Sceptre was beaten in the 1902 Lincolnshire Handicap.
Pay no heed to the anoraks. Enable has earned her place in the Pantheon.