But if he doesn't, there's always I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here, who are currently hiring. I'll get Eddie The Eagle to bring it up with him at our next "evening with Pablo" s More from Dom Joly. The banker went bust for Europe at Breeders' Cup XXII here at Belmont Park yesterday, Ouija Board, the champion filly of 2004, tried her damndest but, for once, that was not enough at racing's Olympics. Ed Dunlop's filly finished second in the Filly & Mare Turf section of the series to a horse in familiar colours if not a familiar price, Khalid Abdullah's Intercontinental, who started at 15-1. Ouija Board proved she could still fight, but the vital snap seemed to be missing. In the end it was she that was broken by a filly who zipped around the rail.
"My immediate reaction was that she could not quicken off the good to soft ground and that she needs a mile and a half," Dunlop said. "She came from a long way back and I'm very proud with the way she has run. The winner has a bit more speed than we have and, considering she was almost retired in the middle of the season, she has put up a phenomenal performance." It was a cold and inhospitable day on the fringes of the Big Apple and the ground had dried up to be good. These were perfect, excuse-free, conditions for the Europeans. But it proved to be a chill wind which brought no good for Ouija Board.The filly bearing Lord Derby's black and white colours brought a completely different form line to the Filly & Mare Turf, a race she won 12 months ago in the balmier surroundings of Lone Star Park in Texas, following success in two Oaks and a third in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe This time round she had endured an injury-fraught campaign. The result too was rather different.Ouija Board had the assistance of Jerry Bailey, the most successful jockey in Breeders' Cup history, with 14 victories However, even his input was not enough.
The filly had looked composed, even meek, in the paddock, and the blood appeared to be still lukewarm when the gates opened, Bailey had to rouse his mount after a slothful start from an outside post. There was to be no coasting.Up front, Bobby Frankel's Intercontintental had slipped into a devastating rhythm after a tardy start of her own. Ouija Board was nudged closer to the lead but she had to be nudged herself to do so. Around the final turn, Bailey put in a move, but it was not one conducted with great authority, Even so, the jockey had not yet conceded.