I’ve had a little time to go through the card today and I’ve made a few calls, but not a lot to report. I’ll be having two small bets. Cassies Choice makes a belated appearance as a 3yo in the 3.30 at Redcar – she might be an improver and the conditions look right. Equally she could need the run …
RIP Berkhamsted
I was sad to hear that my former horse, Berkhamsted, was put down on Saturday after breaking down at Towcester. Evan Williams bought him off me in the February sale at Tattersalls and immediately took him novice chasing – this was a pretty bold move by Williams as Berky was a flat horse who had only run a couple of …
Shawhill in France
Shawhill, who has run extremely well for me without winning, takes her chance tomorrow in a listed race at Le Lion D’Angers in France. It’s a fairly bold move – she’s proved that she’s a decent handicapper but she’s done nothing to suggest she can compete at listed level. I’m very happy to be taking this chance. It’s the right …
Catching up
Mon Michel ran second, ridden to sleep by a horse I suspect will turn out to be pretty decent. It was disappointing but not surprising – he’ll always be better value at long odds in a competitive handicap than as a short priced favourite in a little race. Master of the Race ran another poor race – we’ll probably stick him …
Today’s runners
Two runners today – Mon Michel in the first at Uttoxeter and Master of the Race in the last at Sandown. I’ve just got off the phone to Gary. We’re running Mon Michel because he needs this to qualify for the Jewson in October, which is his early target. If the ground is too firm then we will pull him …
One for fun
I’ve not had much time today, but the racing looks pretty grim and I’m not going to get heavily involved. I’ll be having one (extremely small) bet tonight on Squiffy in 7:40 at Southwell. Squiffy and his two full brothers are trained by Peter Cundell – collectively they have not won a race in 20 attempts. In six attempts Squiffy has …
Etoile Argentee – report
Tom has had Etoile Argentee for a while now, and we have had a chance to check her out in full. She is reasonable sized – around 15h3 but solid. She was skinny and appeared underfed on arrival, but nevertheless weighed in at 440kg – for comparison Baldovina weighed in at 410kg and Shawhill 418kg when they arrived. Both are …
One more for luck
One more horse I’ll be following today is Chain of Gold in the 2:20 at Carlisle – well entered up from an interesting stable, and rumoured to be pretty decent.
Nicky kicks off
Nicky Vaughan has his first runners today – Don Jose and Four Tel line up in the 7.15 at Thirsk. Nicky is training at Michael Owen’s stable – formerly he was assistant to John Gosden, and both of his horses tonight are ex Gosden. I’ll be watching and I wish him luck.
Thoughts for the day
It’s been half term and I’ve been away for a week with the wife and kids, with very little time to look at the form. First day back and it looks a great day for a bit of action. In the first a Leics the form of American Art, owned by art dealer Matthew Green, looks extremely solid, and most …