Mike Cattermole on the week's big racing stories

CRYSTAL OCEAN LOOKS LEGER NATURAL

In spite of a chastening week on the tipping front, there was much to enjoy at Goodwood last week.

Even so, watching any race during this particular meeting is always exhilarating because of the way this beautiful track is laid out and also because there is always no quarter given on the tactical front. There is always something to talk about.

It was a good week for Sir Michael Stoute, with Expert Eye looking very exciting in the Vintage Stakes, Poet’s Word graduating to Group company in the Glorious Stakes but especially Crystal Ocean’s romp in the Gordon Stakes.

This was the tenth time that Sir Michael has won the Gordon and this one looked to be in the class of recent winners Ulysses, Conduit and Harbinger as opposed to the likes of the long forgotten Alexius and Kazaroun.

Stoute had described the colt earlier in the season as not mentally ready for a test like the Derby, which he had duly missed after running what had looked a good trial in the Dante Stakes.

The trainer’s expert eye and patience look like being borne out – yet again – as Crystal Ocean is beginning to look the part now. He moves like a good horse and is clearly growing up fast judging by the way he dismissed a smart rival in Khalidi, who had finished ahead of him in the King Edward VII Stakes.

As far as trials for the St Leger go, this was just about perfect and although we have yet to hear for certain that Crystal Ocean is heading for Doncaster, that has to be the place for him, surely, as he will take an awful lot of beating if he shows up.

His family is riddled with good middle-distance performers and he is a half-brother to Hillstar who stayed a mile and a half well and he was by Danehill Dancer. Crystal Ocean is by Sea The Stars and the chances of his staying that bit better must be very high indeed and yet he is by no means short of pace.

For me, he would be in a different class to Stradivarius and Capri and could do what Conduit did, win the Leger and then drop back in trip and take on some of the best middle distance races as a four-year-old.

If he gets the green light for Town Moor, don’t expect the 9/2 to last very long.

BATTAASH LOOKS A BIT OF A FREAK

Even though there were doubts, shared by yours truly, regarding the ground for Battaash before the King George Stakes at Goodwood, his starting price of 9/2 was startling. In time, when we look back at this race, that SP will surely raise many an eyebrow.

The progress that Battaash has been made since he has been gelded last June has been phenomenal. Every time he has run since, he has improved. His two-and-a-quarter length defeat of Profitable on soft ground gives us a direct form comparison to Lady Aurelia, who had beaten Clive Cox’s sprinter by three lengths on good to firm at Ascot.

Their head-to-head in the Nunthorpe Stakes at York in a couple of weeks is going to be something. I have already suggested in this column that Harry Angel ought to be supplemented, too. Imagine! Harry Angel is top of the class at the Cox yard, so I wonder what the trainer makes of the form lines?

Physically, Battaash is nothing to look at and is rather ordinary, being neither big, muscular nor imposing – indeed, not at all sprinter-like. The powerhouse that is Lady Aurelia is going to dominate him in the paddock at the Knavesmire but those differences will not be apparent on the track where they both share the ability to run very fast indeed.

Meanwhile, Caravaggio certainly has the looks but seems a shadow of the horse that won at Royal Ascot after suffering a second successive defeat in France on Sunday.

Aidan O’Brien has said that the son of Scat Daddy came back very sore in front from Deauville and hinted that his feet are a cause for his below-par run. I wonder where we will see him next.

DAYS OF AMATEUR STEWARDS LOOK NUMBERED, BUT WHY NOW?

There is a “consultation period” going on right now within the BHA to consider replacing the extensive team of raceday amateur stewards - volunteers who are advised by professional stipendiary stewards - with professional stewards in 2019.

I found this somewhat ironic as “professionalism” shines throughout the work of the nationwide team of the 97 unpaid officials.

These tend to be people who have a deep background, knowledge and experience in racehorses, many as owners and breeders or as ex-jockeys. They are usually from a privileged background and therefore in the fortunate position to be able offer their services to British racing completely free of charge.

Their love of the sport is obvious and I have yet to meet a steward who is not passionate about their work.

You can imagine – and understand - that this latest proposition has not gone down too well with them. I am sure they feel a touch insulted or at least underappreciated. (I wonder whether some of the younger stewards might apply to join the professional ranks?)

The days when stewards were mocked for being out of touch, and just out for a boozy lunch and a bit of fun among old Army chums have long gone. You rarely see headlines about controversy from the stewards’ room now because the standards in the past two decades or so have become extremely high.

Jamie Stier, head of Regulation at the BHA, has said that “now is the right time to look at alternative models” but the justification of the timing and need for this, given the success of the current regime, I find hard to understand.

However, I do appreciate that there must be ways of keeping things modern and moving forward with efficiency and consistency on integrity issues kept paramount. This new idea, though, is obviously going to cost the BHA several hundred thousand pounds a year to run once all the sums have been worked out, involving the training and recruitment and paying of new staff.

More money of course has been unearthed through the recent capture of a share of off-shore betting turnover and this might be the way they see this new structure being financed.

At the moment, it is hard to get away from once again stressing the fact that the current system is not broken and is extremely economical.

I can’t imagine another industry where the services of 97 experts in their field, who are called upon daily, come completely free.

MILLIE’S KISS CASE SHOULD HAVE BEEN DEALT WITH BY NOW

Millie’s Kiss, the Charlie McBride-trained three-year-old filly who infamously ran in and won a two-year-old race at Yarmouth, at least took part in the correct company at Windsor on Monday night.

In the racecards and newspapers, the form figure of “1” sat there beside her name, even though it is now 11 days since the Yarmouth debacle.

It is blindingly obvious that, as a three-year-old, Millie’s Kiss had no right to run in a two-year-old race. The betting side of this has been dealt with, with bookmakers paying out on the first two past the post on July 27.

But how there isn’t a rule or override where the BHA can immediately act and disqualify her is, frankly, ridiculous and embarrassing.

You shouldn’t have to wait for an official hearing several days later to sort something out like this.