Latest News:

Saturday 23 June 2012

Big day for Black Caviar



Well the day is finally here when we can witness Black Caviar for ourselves and see those salmon pink and black caviar spots coming up the straight at Royal Ascot, hopefully to a resounding victory in front of Her Majesty.

It will be a fantastic day for all those connected with the horse and if she can handle all the different elements that make up a horse race then she should be well on her way to victory. The opposition will try their best to give her a good battle but realistically they will all be running for place money.

When we have watched her in the past she has travelled supremely well and won with any amount in hand and we are unlikely to see her taken out of her comfort zone once again.

It will be interesting to see what her splits are for the 6f just to see how they compare to Frankel on tuesday. He was able to run the 5th furlong in the Queen Anne Stakes in 11.26 and the 6th furlong in 10.58 which was remarkable considering the whole of the Kings Stand field at no point in that Group 1 sprint was able to better his 6th furlong time.

The only two who have any chance of getting anywhere near her in my view are last years winner Society Rock and Krypton Factor who is better than he showed last time.

We also have the Wokingham later in the afternoon and 28 should go to post for this. The draw will obviously play a big part and Maarek, Palace Moon, Waffle, Mac's Power and Desert Law should all be in with chances in what is a very competitive sprint.

However it is a day to sit back and enjoy another champion take the stage in Black Caviar.

Thursday 14 June 2012

Up a bit, down a bit



On 28th May at Haydock Athenian won a Class 6 6f Handicap on the AW at Kempton for Sir Mark Prescott off a mark of 61. In the process she recorded a speed figure of 72 so remains open to improvement and the handicapper has raised her 10lb to 71. She beat Copper Falls by 4 lengths after staying on strongly.
Sir Mark was quick to get her out again and he ran her at Chepstow on 4th June in a C5 over 6f in which carried a 6lb penalty and she won by 1 3/4 lengths from Ficelle, staying on strongly in the closing stages. She was then sent to Newmarket on 8th June to contest a C4 over 6f and finished 2nd beaten 1 1/4 lengths by Charlotte Rosina were she was carrying a 12lb penalty. The 3 runs may have had an effect and the winner by Chosir was eased close home to win.

At Ripon on 29th May Dutch Rose won the Class 5 6f handicap by a nose from Springheel Jake, the first and second recorded top speed figures of 76 and 81 and were raised 11lb and 4lb respectively, so the second has room for improvement.

At Ayr on 31st May Galician won the Class 4 6f handicap for Mark Johnston by 3 lengths from David Barron's Profile Star and has been raised 8lb to a mark of 88. It was the usual gritty response that you get from a Johnston runner and no doubt she is capable of better still from her revised mark.
She was a dissapointing 5th however on 6th June at Ripon.

At Haydock on 1st June Excellette won the Listed race over 5f by a neck from Spirit Quartz and has been raised 3lb to 101. There were some decent sorts behind but the time of the race wasnt anything to get excited about.

The Dash at Epsom was as competitive as ever and was won by Stone of Folca by half a length from Desert Law and a further 3/4 length back to Catfish in third.
The winner has been raised 7lb to 100, the second 5lb to 102 and the third 1lb to 89 and after the race John Best commented on the winner "Great ride by Luke and I believe not only was it the first time the race has been won from a stall lower than 9, but also the fastest time recorded electronically for any 5f race! We will almost certainly take our chances at Royal Ascot, although that will be a huge step up"
In behind there were drops in the handicap for :
Jamesway 1lb to 84
York Glory 1lb to 95
Captain Dunne 3lb to 102
Sohraab 1lb to 89
Living it Large 2lb to 87
Dickie's Lad 1lb to 93
Arctic Feeling 1lb to 87
One of hose that ran well behind was Confessional in 5th.

At Newmarket on 2nd June Lui Rei won the Class 2 handicap over 6f by a short head from Baldemar with a further neck back to Swiss Cross in third.
The winner has been raised 6lb to 103, the second 2lb to 84 and the third 1lb to 95.

At Musselburgh on 3rd June Bajan Tryst for Kevin Ryan won the Class 2 Scottish Sprint Cup  over 5f by a length from Bryan Smart's Flash City with a neck back to Burning Thread in third.
The winner has been raised 5lb to 101, the second 2lb to 83 and the third 1lb to 92.
"Bajan Tryst is a very good horse and he always has been. He loves being fresh. This was the plan for a long time. It was a blessing in disguise that the stall opened at York last week and he couldn´t run - he came here really fresh and well". - Joe O´Gorman, trainer´s assistant

Tuesday 5 June 2012

Up a bit, down a bit - 27th May 2012



The week beginning 21st May started with Ladyship winning for Sir Michael Stoute at Leicester in a Class 5 Maiden over 6f. This daughter of Oasis Dream was dropped back in trip here and duly won by 3/4 of a length from Henry Cecil's Tickled Pink and looks capable of progressing up the sprint ladder off her revised mark of 86.

At Windsor the 3yo Wicked Wench won for Jo Hughes in the Class 4 Hcap over 5f by a length from Kyleakin Lass and her trainer has since commented "the ground was better at Windsor and she romped home. She's gone up 7lb since then but the way she won suggests she can win off 81".
Behind Indian Tinker has been dropped 3lb to 76 after finishing 12th with her rider reporting that she was denied a clear run and was never travelling thereafter. Kevin Ryan's O'Gorman finished 10th and can be expected to improve on this as most of his stable do after their first run back.

Lucky Dan improved to win the Class 5 handicap at Chester over 6f beating Song Of Parkes by an impressive 3 1/4 lengths with a further 3/4 of a length back to Red Cape in third. The winner goes up 7lb to a mark of 70, however he recorded a speed rating of 72 so could still be ahead of the handicapper.

On the same day Beat The Bell won the Class 4 Handicap over 6f at Goodwood for Jamie Osborne and in doing so beat My Kingdom by 3/4 of a length with 3 1/4 lengths back to Aye Aye Digby in third. The winner recorded a top speed figure of 83 and has been raised 6lb from 74 to 80. The second rec a top speed figure of 86 and has gone up 3lb from 79 to 82.

At Haydock Bated Breath won the Temple Stakes and race is summed up the BHA below :

TEMPLE STAKES WELL UP TO STANDARDThe most prestigious 5 furlong race of the season so far, the Group 2 Temple Stakes, was run at Haydock on Saturday and it looked a decent renewal opines Chris Nash. 
Bated Breath beat Sole Power by a neck with a further 3 ½ lengths back to Spirit Quartz and Borderlescott. The winner went into the race as the highest rated on a mark of 118 which he achieved when placing in both the July Cup and the Haydock Park (Betfred) Sprint last year.
Both of those races were over 6f but he showed on Saturday that he does not lack for pace over the minimum trip in lowering the track record time. The second is a solid performer over 5f on quick ground having won the 2010 Nunthorpe and the 2011 Temple in such conditions. He ran to 115 when winning this race last year and arrived here with that same rating intact. I have no reason to believe that he hasn’t run the same race again.
As a result I have the winner running to 116 – a shade below his very best form but a very decent figure for his first start of the year. This level also fits really well with the 3rd and 4th who arrived rated 106 and 105 respectively and in finishing only a head apart would both have run very close to their official marks.
The winner may well stick to 5 furlongs next time out with the King’s Stand at Royal Ascot mentioned as his likeliest next race thereby avoiding a clash with Black Caviar who is probably to be seen in the 6f Diamond Jubilee at the Royal meeting. 
One would imagine that Sole Power would also show up in the King’s Stand and provide one of the biggest threats to Bated Breath again.


Over at York Richard Gust's Dancing Freddy got up by half a length to beat Catfish with just a nose back to Bathwick Bear in third and a further half length to Celerina in fourth. The inner goes up 4lb to 91, the second 2lb to 90 and the third who was 2lb out of the handicap 4lb to 90. Pre race Brian Meehan stated that Catfish had matured physically over the last 10 months and could run a big race, albeit that she could be a little ring rusty.

Finally in the Class 3 Handicap on the same card by the in form Ronald Harris's Powerful Wind who beat Last Bid by 1 1/4 lengths with half a length back to Profile Star in third. The winner has been raised 6lb to 90, the second 2lb to 94 and the third 2lb to 80. In behind Pea Shooter dissapointed in finishing 6th and has been dropped 2lb to 85.