RACING: Aidan O'Brien has said he sleeps better when things have gone wrong because he knows what he has to do: in which case he probably had one of the most peaceful nights of his life on Saturday.
The fickle nature of the cough that has ravaged the O'Brien yard was illustrated by Rock Of Gibraltar's display of bursting good health in the Prix du Moulin yesterday.
Twenty three hours earlier, however, not many would have predicted Hawk Wing briefly touching even money in the ring before the Food Island Champion Stakes.
But then not many had predicted it would be a day from hell for the Ballydoyle powerhouse.
In the circumstances it was to his credit that O'Brien even managed to say Hawk Wing had run a good race before disappearing from the track to think about what indeed he would do next.
A second last placing and a sixth from an early pair of runners at Leopardstown, followed by another second last from Landseer at Haydock, had caused speculation that Hawk Wing wouldn't even run at all.
To add to the drama, the fear that the giant colt had spread a plate provoked O'Brien into a frantic dash to the start just minutes before the off-time. Hawk Wing's footwear was fine, however, and the inescapable conclusion is that so was his health.
If Hawk Wing was feeling the effects of any kind of bug on Saturday, then his talent really is freakish. Much more likely is that he ran the best race of his life to just fail to the enigmatic but brilliant Grandera.
Last year Sheikh Mohammed was present to see Fantastic Light beat Galileo in an epic battle of the boys in blue. He wasn't at Leopardstown this time leaving Frankie Dettori with an open stage to relish yet another tactical triumph.
Sholokhov's burning pace was ignored by all and it was only outside the furlong pole that the main players took centre stage. Best Of The Bests briefly led but Hawk Wing had him in his sights. The real drama was in behind as Dettori engaged in frantic negotiations with Grandera to go and win.
"Everybody is saying what a great ride, but he did it all himself!" said Dettori, who nevertheless performed a minor miracle to get the tempermental Godolphin star off the fence and around Hawk Wing.
"He is a horse in a million, enormously talented but everything must go right. I thought he was going, then he didn't do anything, then he went again, and it was only on the line he really put his head down," he added.
The Godolphin spokesman Simon Crisford proposed the Cox Plate in Melbourne as a possible next start for Grandera on October 26th.
That is the same day as the Breeders' Cup for which Grandera is a 10 to 1 shot with Cashmans with Hawk Wing unchanged as 6 to 1 second favourite.
"That he just got beaten is disappointing but I would still be very hopeful about the future - the spark is still there. When he came to win he was running on empty because he was a little rusty," reported Michael Kinane.
Dress To Thrill will be making a trip to the US before that, for the Queen Elizabeth Cup at Keeneland on October 7th, after keeping her unbeaten record for the season in the Matron Stakes.
