It’s a great day’s racing but for me the day starts and ends with the first race. Winker Watson makes his long awaited Ascot appearance, and I’ve told pretty much everyone I know to get on. I’m a star if he wins and a my name is mud if he doesn’t. I think the world of the horse. The reports from Pete paint …
Ascot day 2
Some good racing, but I probably won’t go. US Ranger will be all the rage in the Jersey with good reason – no bet for me. I’m told that there is considerable stable confidence behind Nannina in the second, but she won’t appreciate any softening of the ground. If the ground is right I’ll be backing her. The Prince of …
Post Mortem
Henry the Navigator was my only winner of the day, but he only scraped home – if he’s the best that Ballydoyle have it’s good news for Winker. Miss Andretti won in an unbelievable time – Dandy Man may have been unlucky and Enticing ran very well and if progressive could be the real deal one day. The two group 1s were …
Thunderbolt tonight
Thunderbolt Jaxon runs in the 9:00 at Yarmouth tonight. I definitely give him a chance – he is capable and performs well at home but he isn’t straightforward and always seems to throw his races away. He’ll come right one day, and maybe today is the day.
Ascot day 1
A good day ahead. Winker ducks the first to go for the Norfolk. I’ve heard very strong reports on Henry the Navigator who is apparently the best of O’Briens by some way. He’s probably the best horse in the race, but he is favourite and O’Brien has seen a number of his leading lights beaten in this race over the …
Baldy disappoints
I was very disappointed with the way Baldovina ran on Sunday – she never looked like getting into the race. She’s been doing some eye catching work at home and in time I thought she’d become one of the stars of the string, but on the basis of that run she’s not going far. I’m hoping that something will come up to …
Update from Tom’s yard
I went to see Tom Dascombe on Thursday, and welcome Shawhill back from France. The RP rated her run 99, and Timeform gave it 95. We’ll continue to aim her at listed races or better. Baldovina was well and she may run tomorrow. We’ve been trying to get a run into her for a while, but she keeps returning dirty …
Ascot looms…
…and I’m beginning to get excited. Winker is extremely well and we’ve been arguing the toss with Pete all week as to which race he’ll go for. It’s looking like we’re going for the Norfolk on Thursday. Major Eazy will run in the Windsor Castle on Tuesday, and Frankie is taking the ride. He’s run in the best 2yo company …
Today’s bet
I’m having a small bet today on Coyote Creek, who impressed me when third behind Shawhill a couple of runs back. He’s been third since then – he was unlucky that day and I think the trip was a little short in any case. He should go well today – I’d have a decent bet if he was more of …
Shawhill shines
I’ve had an enormous number of second places this year, and there haven’t been many that I have been genuinely happy about. Shawhill’s courageous second place in France, clobbered close to the line with a decent gap back to third, is one I will remember affectionately for a long time. Taking a horse abroad is not easy. We took Shawhill across on the …