The pair of Katie Greves and Carla Ashford also took bronze. The coxless four extended their unbeaten record to 10 races with a solid performance in the face of a strong challenge from a crew consisting of half of the Dutch eight who won a silver medal in Athens last year. The margin was less than a second."It is a luxury to be sitting four or five seconds up in a race," said Steve Williams, the bow man. "He split a pastern as a two-year-old, and needed a plate and three screws inserted into a fetlock," Balding recalled. "Then after he won the Candian International, X-rays revealed a stress fracture in the same fetlock, and he needed another operation. Last year he ran the only two poor races of his life, but it turned out that he bled internally in the King George,"Balding felt suitably stricken when he returned from Singapore to learn that the horse was in the wars again - this time with a severe eye infection. Balding explained: "He developed an ulcer on the cornea and it did look as though he would lose the eye.
Fortunately, the surgeons out there did a wonderful job, and he has pretty much regained basic vision. Typically it has not affected his work or demeanour at all."It is a pity that Phoenix Reach was not himself in the race last year, as his young trainer has handled him with great adventure and assurance. Only one three-year-old contested the race last year, and once again the King George seems unlikely to match its heritage as the race to measure different generations.Trainers are increasingly of the opinion that lucrative international opportunities late in the calendar nowadays demand that the classic generation takes a midsummer break - especially if they go and discover their limitations. While Eswarah, the Oaks winner, remains unlikely to be supplemented to the Irish version on Sunday, she does retain an obvious alternative in the fillies' Nassau Stakes at Goodwood.King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes (Newbury, 23 July). Totesport betting: 2-1 Azamour, 100-30 Grey Swallow, 5-1 Bago, 7-1 Hurricane Run, 9-1 Phoenix Reach, 10-1 Gamut, Yeats, 14-1 Eswarah, 16-1 others.. There were clear glimpses of Olympic gold here yesterday as British athletes gathered for the Norwich Union World Trials and AAA Championships, their first major meeting since London learned it would host the Games of 2012. Worryingly, however, they were provided by the two medals hanging round the neck of Dame Kelly Holmes as she appeared in a public relations capacity having been prevented from running because of an Achilles tendon problem.
The team that wins the domestic league is always the best."Maintaining their challenge involved luring Frank Arnesen from Tottenham to oversee recruitment, and the Dutchman said that difficulties over trying to attract leading players to Spurs was one reason behind him joining Chelsea."I have been at a club where we were always at the back of the queue," he said. "In knock-out competitions there is always the space for a surprise, for an unfair situation. For example, Liverpool had 37 points less than us in the Premiership, but they are European champions. "It will be harder because other teams understand how strong we are. If they are the same they know they have no chance."Winning the Premiership remains his primary objective, he confirmed.
