Epsom Report:Only Light Shift denied Aidan O'Brien a one-two in the Vodafone Epsom Oaks to go with the one-two he collected in the earlier Coronation Cup but since Light Shift is trained by the legendary Henry Cecil everyone else at Epsom yesterday had to be happy with bit-part status. Cecil will get no better tribute than the fact that everyone was happy to do just that.
It was seven years since Love Divine provided the master trainer with the last of his 23 former classic victories and since then the mercurial Cecil has had to endure the sort of personal and professional crises that would have tested even the hardest souls.
Cecil has always purposefully cultivated a slightly dandyish and befuddled persona but the teak-hard resolve behind the colourful ties brought him back to the classic peak in style yesterday as Mayo-born Ted Durcan steered Light Shift to a hugely emotional success.
Her half-length defeat of Peeping Fawn with the gambled on All My Loving in third, and two other Irish runners in fourth and fifth, provided Cecil with an eighth Oaks, a total to match that of Alec Taylor in the early part of the 20th century.
Statistics, however, couldn't capture the warmth expressed for a man fighting stomach cancer and whose best hope for a return to the big time had been thought to be the favourite Passage Of Time. She faded in the straight though and it was left to Durcan to pounce on Light Shift.
"It's quite overwhelming really, almost embarrassing," said Cecil in reaction to the reception from the huge crowd. "This means a lot. It's lovely to be back again and I'm delighted for Ted who's a marvellous jockey and a great friend."
It was a first classic for Durcan, a former Jim Bolger apprentice, and a champion in the UAE, who said: "Once I lit her up, she got there even quicker than I expected and we were left in front for longer than I wanted. But once the second got to me, she picked up again. She's special, and so's Henry. He's the best in the world to ride for."
Aidan O'Brien was quick to congratulate the man who denied him a Group One double ahead of his assault on today's Derby.
In what may be a signal of things to come this afternoon, it was Scorpion rather than the shorter priced Septimus who picked up the third Group One of his career by holding off his stable companion's renewed effort in the Coronation Cup.
Scorpion's career had appeared to be on a downturn since his 2005 St Leger win but O'Brien said: "Mick (Kinane) said he blew up at Chester and obviously he has come on a lot for that run. He sweated up but he's that kind of hot-blooded horse, a free-sweater. You'd be more worried about him not doing that than doing it."
Immediately afterwards, Scorpion got quotes of as low as 5 to 1 for the Ascot Gold Cup for which his stable companion Yeats, who did the double in 2005, is favourite.
