Camelot was not fully fit.

As a long time paddock wallah I suppose I have as much right to venture an opinion on Camelot and his defeat in the St Leger given that this was the first horse to venture a foray at the Triple Crown since the peerless Nijinsky in 1970.

As it was Nijinsky himself who first fired my interest in Horse Racing it was poignant that Camelot should be the one to try and follow up who to this day, is the best horse I have ever seen and the bench mark by which I judge all other racehorses.

Camelot only had two runs last term and it was at the Guineas Meeting that I first clapped eyes on the son of Montjeu. With all the hype, and following on from St Nicholas Abbey whose three year old career had fallen apart at the Guineas, it was to be expected perhaps that this might be another horse of straw. But as soon as he appeared it was obvious that this was the real deal and I said as much in my Blog on the Guineas Meeting stating "Camelot is all class and won in spite of the conditions. He is difficult to fault on any point and is a superb specimen". High praise indeed. He followed by winning the Derby with ease.

However when I first saw Camelot in the pre parade at Doncaster today my first impression was that the horse was gross, was carrying too much condition and lacking definition on his stomach muscles. Aiden said himself that he feared he may have left too much (condition) on him. Together with a lay off of some 77 days it remains for me to conclude that the best chance of taking the Triple Crown in 42 years has been left on the Training Grounds.

Horses can put on condition during an aggressive campaign, At Goodwood before the Sussex Stakes one time, the Bookmaker Simon Roberts, son of Dudley Roberts, asked me if Giants Causeway had lost condition and run up light. I confirmed quite the opposite. GC had put weight and condition on and looked 'big and well'. I reported this to Sportsadviser who then relayed it on the Internet. Some time after, Aiden OBrien confirmed that the horse had put on some 40 kilos in weight.

The difference with Giants Causeway was that he did not not have a break and was pursuing a full campaign thus ensuring race fitness.

The gallop with Fame and Glory shown on ATR looked more window dressing than searching gallop and the inference is that Aiden has been too lenient in his preparation of Camelot and is the one to carry the blame for the horses' failure to carve his name in the Turf's Roll of Honour.