It's a shame top stables dominate Dewhurst

Racing is a rich man's game, but often none the better for it.

The concentration of power in the sport surrounding a few top outfits has led to the disappointing state of the Darley Dewhurst Stakes at Newmarket on Saturday, where the stables of Aidan O'Brien and David Loder account for eleven of the sixteen accepters for one of the season's regular highlights.

Granted, the re-match between Godolphin's Dubai Destination, trained by that faction's two-year-old expert Loder, and O'Brien's Rock Of Gibraltar, coowned by Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, after they were split by a length in the Champagne Stakes at Doncaster, will be intriguing, but the lack of other opposition to them is regrettable.

The seven-furlong, £200,000 twoyearold event, first run in 1875, has been won by seven different stables in the last decade, but that looks set to change in the next ten years with the dominance of O'Brien's Ballydoyle empire and Godolphin's world-wide network. The sport is becoming overshadowed by their amazing strength in depth, funded by bloodstock fortunes and seemingly limitless coffers.

Excellence in any sport is to be admired, but it does give one a little lift when something from a relatively minor stable upsets the "big two" for once. However, having said that, it is remarkable that neither O'Brien nor Loder have ever won the Dewhurst.

That could change at the weekend. O'Brien left eight of his in at the declaration stage and Loder has a trio. Other trainers who are chasing the prize are Sir Michael Stoute, with York Acomb Stakes winner Comfi, Mick Channon with Parasol, Epsom handler Terry Mills, represented by Where Or When and Nick Littmoden with Prince Tulum, a maiden.

O'Brien said: "Rock of Gibraltar remains a very strong possibility. He is getting better with every run."

After being beaten by Dubai Destination on Doncaster's Town Moor, Ferguson's colt went over for the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe meeting and ran away with the Group One Grand Criterium at Longchamp.