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Monday 30 March 2015

Weekend Review -30th March



Well it was a great start to the flat season, we didn't manage to get Dinkum Diamond into a place but on the comments below my Saturday post my brother alias "Wayward Lad" picked the winner in Naadirr.
Naadirr also features along with Tatlisu on my sprinters to follow page(see link above) and he also won at 8/1 on Sunday which was great as I have an interest in him through Middleham Park Racing.
The results on Saturday at Doncaster were certainly influenced by the weather in one way or another. The headwind was very strong and those attempting to lead struggled to last out the distance with those taking cover reserving energy and powering through at the end.
Having been to Doncaster when it's windy I know how hard the wind blows across the track and it would have been a real test for the 2yo's in the Brocklesby but Mark Johnstons Ravenhoe knew his job and started a great 2yo treble for the stable on the day with Rah Rah winning at Kempton and Buratino at Chelmsford. All three won well and it bodes well for the stable over the coming weeks as they have 127 other 2yo's in the yard. 
Johnstons treble must also have been a surprise for team Hannon losing out at Kempton and Chelmsford with their two 2yo's as you would have thought they too would have wanted to get off to a flying start with at least one winner.
Marco Botti's Moohaarib and David O'Meara's Mondialiste, who both ran well in the Lincoln, look worth following. Certainly Moohaarib would have finished a lot closer but for his wayward passage-maybe caused by the head on wind.
There were quite a few hard luck stories over the two days which I've made a note of.

Winners and Losers
This weeks winners and losers accolades go to Charles Hills and Alan King both Weekender columnists.
The "Loser" award goes to Charles Hills for not mentioning his unraced 25/1 3yo maiden winner Pandora in his stable tour and the "Winner" award goes to Alan King who was more up front with the Weekender readers and headlined 14/1 winner Chatez telling us that he had a wind operation, was progressive, should run well and that his official rating of 96 was a fair mark. 

Friday 27 March 2015

The Cammidge Trophy



The flat season starts tomorrow and the Cammidge Trophy is the first sprint to get our teeth into.

All the runners are coming back from a break so they are evenly matched on that score.

Last season the race was won by Henry Candy with Dinkum Diamond and his post 2014 race comments were as follows  "He ran some good races last year without winning. Sprinters are extraordinary and I´ve always been full of hope that he would come back to winning form. He´s only tiny, but he´s got a huge heart. I see no reason why he won´t stick around Group 3 races this season(2014). As he´s got older, he seems to cope with most types of ground".
He won this first time out last season on soft and the chances are he will have been prepared with this race in mind this time around so he could run above his 10/1 odds on this slightly better going and with the strong Graham Lee booked - he has a definite ew chance.

Jack Dexter won this in 2013 and was third last season. He doesn't have a 5lb penalty this year so has potential to turn the form around with Dinkum Diamond.

It remains to be seen whether Astaire will be better suited by this less competitive field or not. He was campaigned in Group 1 company last season but as we all know there isn't much between these sprinters and I would like to see him get a win on the board first.

Richard Fahey Heaven's Guest finished 6th of 9 last season and he has had this to say recently about his chances this year. "He has a pound or two to find with a couple of these but has come to hand quickly this year, albeit he’s still a little backward in his coat. He’s fit and ready to go".

Marco Botti - Naadirr - "He's in good form and he's working well, I would be a little concerned if the ground turned soft. We have to check the ground to make sure. He wouldn't want it any worse than it is at the moment. He's a fast-ground horse, but he's ready to run and six furlongs is his trip."

Mick Easterby - Aetna - "If it doesn't rain again, she won't run. We'll have a look in the morning. She's working very well and she loves heavy ground."

Jim Goldie - Jack Dexter - "I'm very pleased with him. Things have gone really well this spring. He's obviously not 100 per cent, but he'll be as well as he was when he won it two years ago, so I'm looking forward to it. It looks a very good race this year. There's the Middle Park winner (Astaire), the filly who won the Wentworth (Aetna) and last year's winner (Dinkum Diamond). He's a contender, as they say."

I would imagine Justice Day will lead the field along together with Dinkum Diamond and hopefully Graham Lee can keep him going to the end.

The last 10 years winners are below :

2014 Dinkum Diamond69-512/1Henry CandyOisin Murphy110
2013 Jack Dexter49-515/8FJim GoldieGraham Lee110
2012 The Cheka69-212/1Eve Johnson HoughtonNeil Callan113
2011 Jimmy Styles79-222/1Clive CoxAdam Kirby111
2010 Inxile59-517/2David NichollsPaul Hanagan111
2009 Prime Defender59-23/1FB W HillsMichael Hills112
2008 Aahayson49-214/1K R BurkeFergus Sweeney110
2007 Rising Shadow69-513/2David BarronJimmy Quinn113
2006 Les Arcs69-215/2Tim PittNeil Callan116
2005 La Cucaracha48-1116/1B W HillsMichael Hills103

Given the success of the Cheltenham blog posts I will also be delving into some other big races over varying distances as we progress through the flat season in order to try and build up a bank and of course there is the "Grand National" meeting coming up shortly.

Wednesday 25 March 2015

Sprinters to Follow



The sprinters to follow page is beginning to take shape and I will be adding to it over the next few weeks and updating trainer comments on a daily basis so please revisit to keep on top of things.

£3.00 FOR THE WEEKENDER !



It's the first week of the flat and I've just been round to my local newsagent and purchased the  Racing Post Weekender which cost me £3.00.
Although the price is up they still haven't put back in the paper "Weightwatcher" which is a useful tool when looking through and evaluating the form. What you have to do to get that element now is purchase Thursdays edition of the Racing Post which would appear to be some sort of marketing ploy to rake in more money from loyal readers.
On looking through the "Weekender" it's become like an old flat handicapper - the odd glimmer of hope but mostly nowhere !
Lets hope we get an injection of more than just ink soon !

Monday 9 March 2015

All About Winning !



We are now 1 day away from the Cheltenham Festival and I guess that most of you will have placed all of your bets.
It's A P McCoys last festival and he says its not the taking part that counts but that its all about winning. That may be so for the connections of the horses but for the punter you can get some pretty tasty odds about the places and over the last week or so I've been putting together my own list of bets with this in mind.
Moon Racer, Two Rockers and Toutancarmont are three I've sided with so far and others worthy of a mention over the next few days are :
Qewy - Sky Bet Supreme Novices Hurdle
Pendra and Ned Stark - Ultima Business Solutions Handicap Chase
Cause Of Causes - Toby Balding National Hunt Chase
Activial, Vieux Lion Rouge and Goodwood Mirage - Coral Cup
Unique De Cotte - Pertemps Network Final
Hidden Cyclone - Ryanair Chase
Camping Ground - Brown Advisory & Merriebelle Stable Plate
Rich Coast and Goodwood Mirage - Vincent O'Brien County Hurdle
Coneygree - The Gold Cup
Vioux Lion Rouge, Dell Arca and Goodwood Mirage - Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys Hcap Hurdle
Monetaire - A P McCoy Grand Annual Chase

All of the above can be backed Non Runner No Bet so you will get your money back if they don't run. O'Neill's Goodwood Mirage and Pipe's Vieux Lion Rouge and Dell Arca are a few that are hard to work out as to what their chosen engagement may be.