h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Being a racing fan I was thrilled to be at Epsom to see Frankie finally pop his Derby cherry. To hear the roar of the crowd as the short priced favourite Authorized stormed into the lead made all the hairs on my neck stand up. If you listened carefully you could hear the bookies whimpering.

I am a huge fan of Frankie; despite the fact that the only time I met him he was incredibly rude to me. But he is exceptionally talented, a great statesman for racing and he works his tiny tiny a*** off. But I was saddened to see that most of the news was about Frankie and to a lesser extent the trainer Peter Chapple-Hyam rather then the real star of the whole event, Authorized himself.

Yesterday I was talking to a Racing Post journalist who I found myself standing next to. He said that if Frankie didn't win, he would go home about half an hour after the race. If Frankie won he reckoned he would be at the course for a least three hours afterwards. Yesterday was all about Frankie. But his win only came because his employers, Godolphin, did not have an obvious Derby horse and agreed to release him from his exclusive deal to ride for them. Indeed it is looking like he might be free to ride Authorized again as they are not sure they have anything good enough to be entered in the races Authorized is being aimed at.

Godolphin, despite having all the riches of Dubai to throw at the sport, have had a lean few years recently. Their last Derby winner was in 1995 in the glorious chestnut shape of Lammtarra. Godolphin's crazy decision to boycott the progeny of stallions owned by Irish bloodstock operation, Coolmore has denied them and Frankie a credible Derby horse as well as countless other prestigious race victories.

That might sound like a bold assertion but the Racing Post noted that the majority of Derby runners were either sired by Coolmore's top stallions, or had a Coolmore stallion as a grand-sire. If they weren't so short-sighted who knows when Frankie would have won his first Derby. He probably would have been riding for them yesterday.

Authorized on the other hand, is a horse that would have started a short priced favourite even if I had been riding him. I would be so bold as to say he probably would have won too! He is head and shoulders above his generation of three year olds, with the possible exceptions of those who through injury or stud duties remain unknown quantities. We do know how good Authorized is. He now has a Racing Post rating (their guide to a horse's ability) as high as any Derby winner in the last ten years. He is rated a whole ten points ahead of last year’s winner and my personal favourite, Sir Percy.

Frankie gave Authorized a good ride yesterday, but not great. I believe the horse could have finished further ahead of the field then the winning margin of 5 and a half lengths. The pace of the race was fast, but Authorized was further off the pace then he should have been in the middle of the race. Thus a lot of his electrifying acceleration was in effect wasted on making ground that he should have had in hand.

He is a worthy winner. I have no doubt that Frankie will win other Derbys, but that was Authorized's only shot. He will probably run two or three more times this year and then will be off to stud. I doubt his owners will be as brave as the owners of last year's winner, Sir Percy and campaign him as a four year old. His stud value is just too great.

But that is all by-the-by. The main story is that at the 15th time of asking, Frankie finally won the Derby.

This racing fan, at least, thinks yesterday belonged to Authorized.

Since writing this, Frankie won the French Derby equivalent.

Well done Frankie.