I’ve been very busy this week with work – no time to bet and no time to blog. Annoyingly I missed out on backing a horse I’d been waiting for for a long time – Zaskar trained by Tom Dascombe is a lovely filly with a real turn of foot, and she went in in the week. Of course I’d rather be busy than not.
After a long chat with Pete and Tom Goff I decided to keep Bouguereau in the Derby. His last run was an irrelevance as he lost a shoe – he’s working better than he ever has before, he has stamina in spades and he’ll like the softer ground that we’re likely to get. He isn’t a group 1 racehorse, but with conditions in his favour I’d expect him to give a pretty good account of himself (although a win is unlikely).
It’s a slightly odd Derby this year – there’s a lot of unproven types and it could be a weak field. With further rain forecast I doubt Henrythenavigator will line up. Casual Conquest is a likely supplement, but like some other (including Tajaaweed) he’s big and doesn’t look ideally suited by Epsom. Doctor Fremantle probably comes in and I’m hearing news of at least one other late supplement.
I’ve heard Himalya is big news at home (running Doncaster 2:35) but that’s in the price now. Tom runs Shiva Adiva tonight and I think it will take a decent one to beat her. Patkai really ought to win at Haydock having had poor luck running up against good horses.