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Wednesday 26 February 2014

The timing is right ?



We have now have at our disposal on the All Weather at Lingfield furlong by furlong times supplied by Turf Trax. These will be recorded and provided free of charge until Good Friday and they make interesting reading and provide another tool for finding winners. You can get the times by looking at the Turf Trax website.

Last Saturday we had some top quality sprinting at Lingfield and this blog picked yet another winner in Tarooq who at 5/1 won as expected and in doing so he cracked the 1 min 09 barrier for 6f for the second time in as many runs and was only 0.19 outside his own track record.

As a result Tarooq rating was raised by 1lb to 105 and his jockey Graham Gibbons said after the race “Tarooq loves it at Lingfield and he knows his way round. They didn’t really go a million miles an hour for the first furlong and then took off up the hill, so I got him at it a bit coming down the hill. We always know that he is going to finish his race. They went a million miles an hour when he broke the track record here last time, which teed up the race for him, but they didn’t go off quite as hard early on today. Coming on the inside is the shortest way around. He is definitely worth his place in the line-up on Finals Day. He is going to be taking on pretty much the same horses and will take a bit of beating.”.
The second Rivellino performed above expectations, he was the improver in the lineup and even his trainer thought he needed to improve further to figure and he did just that and only failed by a head, recording a cracking time in the process. He has been raised 6lb to a mark of 104 and he looks capable of winning over the next few weeks and beyond if not meeting the winner.
Hoof It had a change of tactics with Jamie Spencer in the saddle, he helped force the pace when Tarooq broke the course record here in December and this time he was out the back and came with a wet sail in the latter part of the race to finish 3rd a further head behind the second. In doing so he recorded a decent set of figures over the last 4f and he could be capable of picking up another big pot back on turf.
The Irish raider Rummaging stayed on strongly up the straight and recorded a better time than the winner over the last 4f and looks sure to be winning soon whilst last years winner Ladies Are Forever warmed up for future targets.

In the following Class 3 sprint, also over 6f, Multitask came with a storming run down the outside to beat Random Success by three quarters of a length. He has been raised 5lb to a mark of 72 and that leaves plenty of room for improvement as he managed to cover the last 2f quicker than anything in the Listed Sprint and he must be kept on side.

There's a decent Class 2 5f sprint at Lingfield this Saturday so keep a look out for my post.
Good Luck !
 

Saturday 22 February 2014

Cleves Stakes not barren for Barron !



The Listed Cleves Stakes kicks off the day at Lingfield at 1.45 for sprint fans and it looks a cracker !

David Barron has won the race twice in the last 5 years from just 3 runners and today he has the fav in Tarooq and also Hitchens who finished 5th the last time he contested the race in 2011.

The 8yo Tarooq is a worthy fav based on his win in December when 0.67 secs was smashed off the course record. Normally you see a couple of a hundredths of a second taken off a sprint course record but this was over half a second and in my view was one of the best if not the best races we have seen on the All Weather.

Not sure we will get the same pace today as those who forced it there are not in contention this time and I would imagine Ballista will take them along.

Tarooq though won by one and a half lengths LTO and that was only his second run with the stable and his jockey said afterwards that they hadn't done much with him. That race was probably a fact finding mission and I would imagine he will be tuned to the minute today and hopefully Graham Gibbons can get the gaps where it matters and similar to his peach of a ride LTO.

As we know you do need a slice of luck as well as ability to win a lot of these sprints on the All Weather as apart from the 5f at Southwell all AW tracks have a bend and Lingfield's bend into the straight is particularly sharp and usually leads to bumping and interference as jockeys try to make their move.

There are of course others in the race - this is no walk in the park by any means and last years winner Ladies Are Forever is in opposition - however it looks as though she may be warming up for her next run although she often runs well FTO. Rivellino is an improver but his times at the track have come no where near what Tarooq recorded and he will need to improve again. Hoof It is 8lb better off at the weights with the selection Tarooq so looks as though he will also be in the front 3 come the winning post and Jamie Spencer is up and another 8yo Hawkeyethenoo could make up the tricast if Graham Lee can avoid trouble better than LTO over 7f.

Good Luck !

 

Tuesday 4 February 2014

The Scarlet Pimpernel !



Abi Scarlett won at Southwell today and is now 5 from 5 at the venue and she looks to be right back to her best and there's every chance that she will land her sixth when returning to the track and that might be this coming Sunday over 7f.
Today's task was harder than her selling success on the 23rd January when she beat Prince of Passion by 5 lengths in a fast time for the track, although it was wind assisted.
That earlier win wasn't lost on trainer David Nicholls on the day and he tried to buy Abi Scarlet after the race but there was a "gaff" by the auctioneer Richard Aldous and the 5yo mare was not sold much to Nicholls annoyance.
Today she was 1lb out of the handicap and she was allowed to go off at the generous odds of 8/1 if you take into consideration the time she recorded in her selling success. One thing is for sure we are unlikely to see her in a seller again for a while.

Saturday 1 February 2014

In a Muddle !



Great article in today's Racing Post on Ron Muddle who pioneered All Weather racing in this country. At the age of 97 he is bored rigid with the lack of a project and is presently looking into buying and regenerating Folkestone racecourse. There is a lesson for us all to be had in reading the article as Muddle's enthusiasm for life shines through in bucket loads.

With all the racing going ahead today we can look forward to the West Wales National at 2.40pm at Ffos Las. Mountainous looks to have a task that belies his name in having to shoulder 11.9 on heavy going and although the track is flat, which should help, he has it all to do to beat best part of the field who have a stone or more less than him to carry. Smoking Aces looks to be an improving sort for Jonjo O'Neill and Emperors Choice gets the chance to run off his last winning mark on going upon which he excels, all three chase wins on heavy.

Good Luck !