ARTIC Copper, aka the Dail horse, had its first outing in the 3.30 maiden hurdle at Navan on Wednesday of last week. It came in ninth in a field of 24 and, while no one knows where the money came from, the betting was backed down from 33s to 25s.
Quidnunc's on course source says that very few of the 17 strong secret syndicate of Oireachtas members turned up to see their horse beaten by 10 lengths because Jack Lynch had just died, and it was busy anyway in Leinster House. Wearing the green of FF, the blue of FG and a yellow cap for the PDs (Labour eschew such pursuits) Artic Copper was seen to be going good towards the finish and was staying on up the hill. It was thought he would have liked another two furlongs, but syndicate members can see for themselves- a private viewing of the race video is planned for Leinster House next week. An experienced commentator said the horse showed great promise, which is just as well, since its lengthy training with Noel Meade led to some members of the Grand Alliance threatening to stop their monthly cheques if it didn't run soon.
Indeed they have had it so long that original suggestions for names included Four More Years and Objective 1. Now some are getting carried away with the optimism which affects first-time owners. When one was heard to speculate that Artic Copper could even run at Ascot, a no-doubt envious non-syndicate member in Leinster House quipped "the only way that horse will ever get to Ascot will be pulling the queen's carriage."