Latest News:

Sunday 23 October 2011

Whip Crack Away !!



With what hapeened to Ruby Walsh yesterday at Aintree and all the other problems over the whip, jump racing as we knew it is surely doomed. The likelyhood of us seeing the real winner of each race is diminishing all the time. The winter weather will soon begin to take grip and with the prospect of heavy ground ahead it is going to be difficult for any jockey to be able to get their horse to complete 3 miles + at a stiff course such as Ascot without pulling up if he can only use his whip a total of 8 times without being banned. Ruby's comments after his ride at Aintree could well prove correct.

In the future long distance chases may see fewer of the better jockeys taking part for fear of getting banned for other Grade 1 races and heaven knows what will happen in something like The Gold Cup or Grand National.

Punters and Jockey's will have to rely on a horse loving the game and running on at the end of a race of it's own accord. Also counting up how many times a horse has been hit during a race before winning will surely become an integral part of form study and maybe the Racing Post could look to putting this information in their race analysis.

Horses that have historically been hit more than 8 times in a race without winning will become surplus to requirements and not fit for the purpose of horseracing and will no doubt be consigned to the knackers yard or it's equivalent.

Jockeys may well begin to ride longer in a race so that they can make more use of their legs and feet to get the their mounts moving and headgear may become more widely used to get horses more concentrated during a race
.
Lets hope some sense can be made of the mess we have got ourselves into.

Sunday 16 October 2011

Deacon Blues makes it 5 wins in a row !



Deacon Blues win in the Qipco British Champions sprint made it 5 wins a row for him at prices of 15/2, 5/2, 4/11, 5/4 and 5/2 and his inclusion in my horses to follow at the begining of the year has paid dividends for followers.

The gelded son of Compton Place once again showed that he is a much improved sprinter this year in taking this Group2 race in impressive fashion and his trainer James Fanshawe commented after the race "We had no luck with him as a three-year-old, he ran ten times I think but only won one. This year he´s won five from six and is the most amazing horse. He´s just improved and improved and takes his racing so well.  He's a wonderful horse to have in the yard. I'm not sure Johnny will have anywhere to stay when he comes to Newmarket (as he usually lodges with Frankie Dettori, whom he replaced in the saddle) but he was Johnny's ride first so I thought I'd keep it fair. It's a fantastic day and I'm really grateful to Qipco for putting up all the prize money.


There's no knowing when Deacon Blues improvement will stop as he travels through his races with such ease before being produced to win and it will surely be Group 1glory all the way from now on with the Golden Jubilee back here being one of his main targets for next year.

Sunday 2 October 2011

Sprint invasion in Paris



Qatar Prix De L´Abbaye De Longchamp (Group 1) (2yo+) (Turf) 5f

The going for todays contest looks like being the fastest we have seen at this meeting for a while and with plenty of confirmed speed merchants in the line up such as Masamah, Captain Dunne and Tangerine Trees to take them a long at a good pace the race could be set up for a late finisher such as previous Group 1 winners Sole Power or Prohibit.
The 5f course here is one of the quickest around and it is normally an advantage to be drawn close to the stands rail ie low numbers and one who may belie his odds of 16/1 from stall 5 is Captain Dunne who ran well here in May when finishing in front of Prohibit when he was 2nd to Inxile beaten just a nose on going similar to today.
Jamie Spencer returns from a successful trip away to take over the steering on Margot Did and she gets the chance to show that her Group 1 win in the Nunthorpe was not just down to the draw.
If Prohibit reverts back to the hold up tactics he showed when winning the Kings Stand at Royal Ascot he would have a favs chance as he finished in front of Sole Power there and he has since won at the track. If you fancy an ew interest then Captain Dunne could surprise.

Saturday 1 October 2011

Time to step up to the mark !



Well the sprints today give some horses a chance to prove their worth in my view as some of the contests are weakend by the Arc meeting.

Firstly Genki can show that his 4th place in the Haydock Sprint Cup was no flash of form by winning the Bengough Stakes at Ascot over 6f as all of his 8 wins have come over the distance. The going should be just about right and he has run some fine races ar Ascot in the past and was second in this race last year beaten 3/4 of a length to Bewitched being run down close home. Last time was as good a performance as he had run in his entire career and who knows he may still be improving at age 7. Elzaam and War Artist will push him close and Desert Poppy could be the surprise package at 12/1.

In the following 7f handicap Pastoral Player has really got his act together this year stalls wise and in some of the races he has been the best horse in the race but he has been let down by starting slowly and by his jockey getting him going too late. Darryll Holland gets the chance to try again following his fast finishing run in the Ayr Gold Cup and although he's a horse that falls in the middle of 6f and 7f being his distance Ascot suits. He also finished to some effect in both the the Wokingham when 3rd to Deacon Blues and the Stewards Cup when 6th to Hoof It and he deserves to win one of these big handicaps and this could be his day running off a slightly lower mark. An interesting jockey booking is Fran Berry on Below Zero who has won twice on him in Ireland. The pair finished last in the Ayr Gold Cup but his jockey hasnt been put off by that and he comes over again for another go and there could be worse 50/1 shots.

Over at Newmarket Anne of Kiev gets her ground and she should run a good race in the Listed race for fillies.

Best of luck everyone !