Having become involved in small scale racehorse ownership in the last few years, there is now a much greater understanding of something my late father once said to me at the time of his own foray into similar territory.
“A middling one will break you”. Translated – a horse that runs a good race every other time. As in, if a horse continually runs poorly, you can enter it in the sales. But the steed that runs well every so often will prompt the ‘Ah, we’ll give him another chance’ judgement.
Put another way, it’s the hope that kills you. A bit following certain dart players. Exhibit A: Brendan Dolan. Having looked as good as he ever has on a big stage against Tavis Dudeney, the Fermanagh man would’ve been entitled to fancy his chances against Ryan Searle.
The latter is one of this writer’s favourite players to watch. Firstly because he has his own limitations, being slightly visually impared. Mostly, though, because of the pace at which he slings his arrows.
There could be no greater anathema to that methodology than the History Maker. Well, currently on the circuit. He’d still look like a sprinter compared to Terry Jenkins and, Lord help us, Justin Pipe.
Of course one would have loved to see the Irishman progress, but, in terms of entertainment value going forward, Searle will be a much better watch.
However, using the same metrics, it was a big disappointment to see the enigmatic Dutchman Dirk Van Duijvinbode drop out so early. He who is an aubergine farmer away from the oche can always be relied upon to score heavily. A plethora of missed doubles, though, saw him being pulled up by the roots and tossed out of the tournament by James Hurrell before Germany’s Ricardo Pietrezcko eventually saw off the admirable but flunky Dave Chisnall to wrap up Act I of super Saturday.
Unfortunately, and I use that word with the best intentions possible, discourse about the evening session is likely to be dominated by Jonny Clayton’s bypassing of Dom Taylor* but there were other outcomes that should or at least could have raised eyebrows and loosened lips.
Not least the conquering of 2023 champion Michael Smith by Neils Zonoveld. Now, there’s no doubt the latter is one of the movers and shakers in the sport at present, but, when one considers what Smith has been through away from the oche, he can take heart from how he has performed towards the tail end of the season.
Then, to conclude the opening day of second round action, Stephen Bunting underlined just why he is the fourth best player in the world at present when efficiently disposing of the challenge of the admirable but wayward Nitin Kumar of India.
*Dom Taylor disqualified. Separate post to follow on same.
Leave a Reply