I thought the Craven yesterday was a proper horse race. Raven’s Pass and Twice Over slaughtered what looked to be a decent field in a very smart time – they could turn out to be two very good horses, and the 2,000 could be a real strong race this year.
I backed one of Tom’s last night – Firth of Fifth – in the 7:50 at Kempton. He was comfortably beaten by Mullionmileanhour, conceding three pounds and winning in a good time. Mullionmileanhour goes into the Ascot notebook (despite the dodgy name…).
Two runners at Newbury today, and a very real chance of a double. My thoughts;
Skid Solo is a very nice 2yo – he goes really well at home and would be the best of our juveniles at the moment. Ideally he’d want 6f, but with the ground fairly testing (which he will handle no problem) the trip should be fine. The only possible downer is the weak performance of Rayvin Mad in the week, casting slight concerns on the quality of Pete’s 2yos. I’m not that concerned – I think Skid Solo will win.
Bouguereau prefers it on the firm side of good, and the ground today could be a minor issue – he will handle it though as he showed last time. On known form he has the comfortable beating of everything in the race, but with three Dante/Derby entries in the field there are obviously improvers here, and he may not have it all his own way. He’s a very decent horse and a straightforward one. He’ll probably take it from the front and try to make all, and it’ll take a very decent animal to get past him – I’m hopeful.