UFO Info Week-End

Dott could feel even more comfortable going into last night’s concluding session 15-7 ahead and needing only three frames from a possible

Dott could feel even more comfortable going into last night’s concluding session 15-7 ahead, and needing only three frames from a possible 13 left That’s when Ebdon started coming back at him. The 28-year-old Glaswegian knew the trophy and a cheque for £200,000 was his to give away. And nobody had ever done that before when leading by such a margin on the concluding morning. After a 17-day marathon that slowed to a snail’s pace amid a chorus of derision and snores on Sunday, the finishing line appeared in sight. The final also smashed the record for the latest ever Crucible final finish, which was 12.19am, also in 1985.
Dott has had his share of lows in his career but when he awoke yesterday morning with an 11-5 lead, the ultimate high seemed within touching distance: a first tournament victory in 12 years as a professional, and in the biggest event of all. For a contest that will be remembered for duration if not panache, it was appropriate. It also meant yesterday’s 27th was the longest televised frame in any professional event, anywhere, ever.

The time eclipsed the previous record, from the final frame of Dennis Taylor v Steve Davis in 1985, by five minutes. The 27th frame of their match took a staggering 74 minutes and 8 seconds to complete, with Ebdon, on a storming comeback, emerging the victor in that particular tussle by a margin of 65 points to 59. The 28-year-old from Glasgow, who broke down in tears when he clinched the title, had led 11-5 in the morning and then 15-7 ahead of the last session but Ebdon, the steeliest of competitors, hung on to the end, putting the pair in the record books in the process. Graeme Dott finally captured the World Championship at close to 1am this morning after staggering across the line with an 18-14 win after an epic if rarely pretty battle with Peter Ebdon.

“It’s a beautiful surface out there now,” said clerk of the course Michael Prosser, “and with some thundery showers forecast, we have no intention of watering.”Chris McGrathNap: Cross The Line (Kempton 8.24)NB: Mannikko(Bath 5.00). The one blank canvas is that of Opera Cape’s trainer Saeed Bin Suroor, who is likely to send out the Godolphin team’s first British runner of the campaign, Belenus, at Lingfield tomorrow.There are also 18 fillies left in Sunday’s 1,000 Guineas, with O’Brien fielding the favourite, Rumplestiltskin, as well as Race For The Stars (paid a compliment by the victory of Sharapova at the Curragh yesterday) and Kamarinskaya.Rain in Newmarket yesterday morning was followed by a bright, breezy afternoon, with good ground on the racetrack. Stable jockey Kieren Fallon will have first pick, with Johnny Murtagh next in line.”I’m not sure what I’ll be on because the plans aren’t finalised yet,” said Murtagh yesterday, “but a second string for Aidan is as good as a first string for anyone else.” Too right; four years ago Murtagh won on Rock Of Gibraltar, beating his stablemate, and favourite, Hawk Wing.Barry Hills, with three possibles in Killybegs, Red Clubs and Olympian Odyssey, is operating at 13.4 per cent and Marcus Tregoning, whose Dewhurst winner Sir Percy splits the Ballydoyle pair in the betting, at 13 per cent. Their strike- rates of 14 per cent, however, are eclipsed by both Terry Mills (20.6) and Sir Michael Stoute (23.5) who have Close To You and Final Verse, respectively, engaged on Saturday.O’Brien, who has won three of the last eight Guineas, may lead one statistic in the upcoming renewal, in that he still has a team of five entered: as well as George Washington, the 2-1 favourite with sponsors Stan James, and Horatio Nelson there are Frost Giant, James Joyce and Amadeus Mozart, unplaced at the Curragh yesterday. Noseda relies on Araafa, who will be making his seasonal debut.The Guineas men who have sent out most winners this term are Kevin Ryan, who brought his score to 30 yesterday and sends Middle Park Stakes winner Amadeus Wolf to the fray, and Richard Hannon, who has Asset for the big one and sent out his 24th winner yesterday. “I’m glad I got a run into him because you need to be on your mettle in a race like this.”Two share O’Brien’s winners-to-runners ratio, Hughie Morrison and Jeremy Noseda, but at least the last-named’s three winners this term have all been three-year-olds over a mile. “He’s come on for that run,” said Smart of the Danehill Dancer colt.

Smart’s candidate is his sole three-year-old success, Misu Bond, winner of the Free Handicap last month over seven furlongs of the Rowley Mile. That dubious distinction goes to Bryan Smart, on four winners from 72 runners, or 5.4 per cent. The 26 runners have produced 12 placees, including three-year-old Hurricane Run and five-year-old Ace at the Curragh yesterday.
The Ballydoyle’s maestro’s early doors strike-rate stands at 7.6 per cent. That is not the worst, though, of the 12 trainers still involved with the 18 runners left in the 2,000 Guineas at yesterday’s penultimate declaration stage.