Reckless Abandon - Win 9/4
Clive Cox's colt was extremely brave in victory to claim the Middle Park Stakes. I was a bit worried when he was extremely keen when going down to post, but he is a quirky individual and this sort of behaviour doesn't seem to hinder him. Top jockey Gerald Mosse gave him a great ride, his shrewd tactical move to break quickly and get over to the rail from his wide draw effectively won him the race. I'm so happy Reckless Abandon's normal jockey Adam Kirby decided to jump off him and hop onto second placed finisher Moohaajm, would rather have Mosse on board any day of the week - he's class! Talk about a tilt at the 2000 Guineas next spring is absurd in my opinion. He has bags of speed, so why blunt that weapon by stepping him up in distance? He is a sprinter, no arguments. Last words on the race, unlucky Adam Kirby!!!
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| Dawn Approach |
Easiest race to watch all day. Never had any worries from start to finish. He's not the most flashy, but he's impressive in his own way. He was 6-1 ante-post with Paddy Power for the 2000 Guineas next year before the race, to my amazement he is now 7-2! I don't think that's a great ante-post bet. There are other 2 year olds who have also caught my eye this year, it looks a talented crop and there is plenty of maturing to be done between now and next May. I'm very sweet on last weeks Longchamp victor Olympic Glory. He appears to be the best of Richard Hannon's many talented 2 year olds and represents much better value at 16/1 than Dawn Approach at 7-2. However, I think Dawn Approach is a very serious prospect for next season and could well justify his 7-2 price next May. The fact he is never visually impressive is probably influencing my argument but I see no reason why he couldn't emulate his Dad (New Approach) by becoming the top 3 year old colt next year.
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| Countrywide Flame |
I am still annoyed by this race. I think he was a tad unlucky in defeat but I cannot fault the horse, he was very brave in defeat. He was given a super ride by Jimmy Quinn who at 2 furlong pole had given the gelding every chance of victory. He just couldn't get passed Kieren Fallon and Aaim To Prosper who you have to give credit to, the first horse to win the Cesarewitch twice is some feat! I think Countrywide Flame was hindered by the winner hanging into him in the last 2 furlongs, it was a major factor in explaining why he couldn't get passed him. When the front one straightened up my lad was running on again to only be beaten 1/2 length. If he had a fair run at it the placing would have surely been reversed. In fairness to Fallon he had his whip in the correct hand so you can't fault his jockeyship, it's just very frustrating. I'm going to stop talking about this now as I can feel the steam starting to gather in my ears.
Fingal Bay - Win 4/6
I said he was value at even money and I still think he was value at 4/6. He jumped impeccably and won a very cosy length. Although the race wasn't much of a contest after Poungach fell at the first, Richard Johnson seemed comfortable the whole way round and was more than happy to lob along in front. He idled in front and the threat from Tiger O'Toole was never a serious one, but don't underestimate the runner-up, he was rated 137 over hurdles. All in all, a good start and a nice way to blow away the cob webs. His next target will be a novice chase at Wincanton or at the Open Meeting next month.
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| Hinterland |
The easiest winner of the day! He was very impressive and one of the smoothest successes you will see all year. Those of you who read my blog about Hinterland ( My Hinterland Blog can be found at : http://thehorseracingblog1.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/a-season-of-promise-for-hinterland.html.) will know I thought this horse was a fantastic jumper and he proved me right today, he was as slick as you like. He will make a cracking novice chaser later in the year. I also tipped Red Riverman from the Twiston Davies yard each way at 33/1, he ran on to finish second but he wasn't carrying my money - bollocks I got a 100% return on the Hinterland win but could have had over 700% return on Twisty`s gelding ! I will gain some compensation if he was carrying yours though! Feel free to contact me through twitter if this is the case, I'm sure you'll love basking in my failures :)!
Ulis De Vassey - Unplaced 11/2
I was quids in if this horse had come home in front, unfortunately it was not to be. I didn't know much about the horse and took the punt because he was at the bottom of the handicap and unexposed. I suggested in my blog that previous winners in the race were very lightly weighted, I obviously picked the wrong one. The winner, Kitegen, carried 10-8. Oh well. When you back an unexposed horse they either normally make the shake up or are tailed off like Ulis De Vassy was here. That's the punt you take, we move on!
Golden Chieftain - 10/1 Unplaced
I really really fancied this horse! Everything about it smelt right, having backed the horse on Friday afternoon at 10/1, when I looked at the prices this morning to see the Tizzard horse at 4/1 I thought I was onto something. It was an odd race. He hit a fence badly halfway down the back on their last circuit and lost his place as a result. Joe Tizzard appeared to give him an easy time afterwards, he ran on in the end to finish 5th staying on past tired horses. It was an eye-catching run in that it felt like a prep run for a future race? I think so, perhaps the Welsh National. Watch this one closely!
Other horses on the day that I took note of were: Handazan, Regal Encore, Far West and Rigidity.
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| Rigidity |
suggested Handazan was a 'sit and watch' horse and that ended up being the case. He was very novicy at his hurdles and appears to lack experience, I suspect the run will have done him the world of good. Give him time because he may progress with more experience to be quite smart. My thoughts on Handazan can be found at http://thehorseracingblog1.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/juvenile-to-follow-handazan.html.
Handazan's conqueror, Far West from the Paul Nicholls stable, looked to be very smart too. The soft ground at Chepstow seemed to be to his liking as his action would suggest that he prefers some cut in the ground. His previous experience over hurdles was obviously to his benefit. Where Handazan's jumping was scratchy, this horse was foot perfect and he simply 'out-jumped' the Alan King trained colt. Far West looks like he may progress into a really smart horse and you would expect him to compete in top quality novice hurdles later in the year. He excites me.
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| Anthony Honeyball - Can Regal Encore Put Him On The Map? |
Any comments or views? Contact me through twitter: @JoshRWDown
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