Racing: Cecil's Lady takes revenge on Sheikh

"When you've had enough of me, you've only got to say so," Henry Cecil told Wafic Said after the Oaks here yesterday. "Other people have." At that moment, you suspect, somewhere nearby, Sheikh Mohammed's ears started to burn.

This being the genteel world of the turf, Cecil went no further in his reference to the Sheikh's decision to remove all 40 of his horses from Warren Place last autumn. But then, he knew very well that a few minutes beforehand, Lady Carla had done the talking for him.

Cecil's filly started second-favourite for the Oaks at 100-30, behind the 7-4 chance Pricket, who was trained last year by one H Cecil but now runs in the royal blue of Sheikh Mohammed's Godolphin organisation. Four times in the last 14 months, Godolphin has won a Classic with a horse which Cecil used to train, but any possibility that they might make it five disappeared all of three furlongs from home.

Lady Carla had looked ill at ease on the descent to Tattenham Corner, but as soon as she found the long home straight opening up in front of her, Pat Eddery's mount sprinted clear of her field and did nothing but increase her lead all the way to the line. The judge's verdict was nine lengths, and Eddery's whip had been as idle as any of the sunbathers stretched out on the infield.

"I didn't look round until the furlong marker," Eddery said, "and I was just amazed. In all her races when I've picked her up she has really gone. She's really good."

Just how good will only become clear when Lady Carla is tested against the best colts from both her own and last year's generations, perhaps in the Irish Derby at the Curragh later this month, a Classic which two recent Oaks winners, Salsabil and Balanchine, have added to their Epsom success.

Lady Carla would need to be supplemented for that contest, something which would present no problem now that yesterday's pounds 200,000 first prize has been added to Wafic Said's already prodigious wealth.

However, Tim Bulwer-Long, a bloodstock agent who conducts much of Said's business at the auctions, pointed out that the owner already has a "secret weapon" entered for the Curragh. He would go no further on the fairly reasonable grounds that it would then no longer be secret, but close study of the Curragh entries suggests that could be a horse to watch.

Cecil has now won two of the three British Classics run so far this season, having taken the 1,000 Guineas with Bosra Sham, another filly in Said's ownership. He was also the last trainer to win both the Derby and Oaks in the same season (through Slip Anchor and Oh So Sharp in 1985), and with two of the first four in today's Classic betting also running for Warren Place, he is little more than a 5-2 chance to do so again. It has certainly been a remarkable rise from the adversity of last season, and one which the crowd around the Epsom winner's enclosure clearly appreciated.

The trainer chose an intriguing mixture of metaphors to describe his recent progress. "Racing goes in roundabouts and is a great leveller," he said. "You are up one minute and down the next. We'll have to sit down and think about her next race. I'll talk to Mr Said and give it a bit of time. I'm very grateful to Mr Said for his loyalty, and I can't tell you how much I'm enjoying it at the moment."

Epsom's idiosyncrasies usually throw up a few hard-luck stories, but yesterday at least there could be no excuses for the also-rans.

"Pricket was running and travelling well turning for home but then the other filly kicked and she just stayed on," Simon Crisford, Godolphin's racing manager, said, while Peter Chapple-Hyam, whose Camporese was beaten half a length for third by Mezzogiorno, probably spoke for many of his colleagues.

"The Irish Oaks is a possibility for her," Chapple-Hyam said, "but I wouldn't want to meet Lady Carla again." By contrast, the next racecourse appearance by Cecil's unbeaten filly will be eagerly awaited by all racegoers. All, that is, with perhaps one notable exception.

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