TDN Weekend December 2016 Issue 9
Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/920057
Let's fast-forward a bit. The fleshy second act of this movie definitely needs a scalpel. The handsome colt is sent to be trained on the western coast of France, near the mouth of the Loire, by Alain Couetil – not so much a surname as an indifferent hand in Scrabble – and then there's very little for the three friends to do for the next couple of years but pay the bills... and wait. That, right there, is the romance of racehorse ownership. Midway through his three-year-old season, Tiberi- an, as he's been called, breaks his maiden – then wins again in a muddy test in the middle of France, the beaten horses all carrying famous colours: Aga Khan green, Wertheimer blue, a flash of Juddmonte pink. A sterner challenge – and a great day out, always one of the priorities, especially with Julian – is arranged. Tiberian will run on Arc weekend in the big staying race for three-year-olds, the Group 2 Prix de Chaude- nay. The rank outsider, Tiberian slides through late to claim second behind the hot favourite, Vazirabad, a son, curiously, of Manduro, one of the bluer-bloods Caesar The Teaser does the dirty work for at the Haras du Logis. The following year, Couetil tried to make Tiberian into a Champion stayer, the highlight of his summer being a tilt at the Ascot Gold Cup. Ju- lian, whose mother had recently died, wore the tie presented when she received her MBE for services to boys' football, hoping to be able to share the sto- ry with the Queen when she handed over her trophy. It was not to be, Tiberian finishing down the field, though we did leave Ascot with an unforgettable memento: a team song, debuted in the pre-parade ring to the up-turning of more than a few top-hatted noses. All together now, and to the tune (sometimes only approximately) of Dusty Springfield's Son Of A Preacher Man…