Plenty Of Winers Last Week And looking For More!

ALL THOUGHTS ARE MY OWN

Short and sweet this week as the other half is away with her friends and I have my job and the house, garden, (and pets) to look after – please pray for me!

First things first and what did we all make of the Irish 1000 Guineas win of Precise, and what are her chances in the Epsom Oaks which appears likely to be her next target?

At first glance it is beyond difficult to knock the form that’s for sure, putting Newmarket 1000 Guineas winner True Love to the sword by over two lengths, and as she won her classic in a faster time than Bow Echo in our 2000 Guineas there is plenty to like about her credentials for the rest of the season.

The next question has to be the step up in trip to a mile and a half at Epsom, and that’s where it gets interesting on pedigree at least.

Her half-siblings won over up to nine furlongs which I see as a negative, but her dam is a sister to Kingfisher and Temple Of Artemis who won over up to a mile and three quarters -  mixed messages anyone? If she does stay she certainly has all the class needed,  but 11/4 is way too short for me to have a bet at this stage and I will await race day for my final decision.

The day before we saw the less unexpected win of Gstaad in the Irish 2000 Guineas at odds of 4/11 when he ran home three lengths clear of Distant Storm. All the talk before the race was of how he had improved since finishing second in our 2000 Guineas, and how everyone in Ireland felt he would beat Bow Echo at Royal Ascot – but I can’t see their angle to come up with that rose-tinted view. He finished eight lengths in front of the Charlie Appleby horse at headquarters and only three clear here so I am at a loss to see that as “dramatic improvement”, and even if we assume the Godolphin horse also took a step forward, I don’t see it as anything for George Boughey to worry about if they do meet in Berkshire.   

In Hong Kong which I know is alien territory to some of you, Romantic Warrior landed the triple crown when taking the Champions And Chater Cup Sunday morning. I won’t waffle on because we will never see him race in the UK, but suffice to say he has now won 15 Group Ones, 24 of his 31 starts, and (wit for it) – over £28,000,000 in prize money. He wasn’t cheap by any stretch at 300,000gns as a yearling but he has repaid owner Peter Lau many times over and is, in my view, one of the best horses in the world today.

Lastly, and I have no idea of the average age of my readers, I wonder what we all make of the French experiment last week that saw new incentives to attract the next generation?  Bravely moving some top class racing to a Thursday evening when there is less sporting competition, adding DJ sets and plenty of post-racing entertainment NOT aimed at my generation but adding 7,000 to their normal crowd for the same card last year when held on a Sunday. Needs must when the devil drives I suppose, and apparently they were still there at 1.00am (way past my bedtime), and something along those lines may be the way forward here as well. Speaking to fellow “oldies” and all they can do is moan about the very idea, and how it denigrates racing but I don’t agree – of course I won’t be strutting my stuff until the small hours, but I can still enjoy the atmosphere, enjoy the racing – then make my apologies to wander home before the noise ramps up a gear.

Saturday racing (in reverse order – just the way I wrote them).

3.10pm Carlisle

Usually I look forward to focussing my attentions on the Group and Listed contests on a Saturday but this week we have a poor selection with just the two Listed races transferred from Haydock to Carlisle so I had better start there. Although there are no good things in this game you would have to think the David O’Meara trained Estrange is the clear form pick ahead of the 3.10pm and I will be backing the daughter of Night Of Thunder accordingly. A winner at Haydock in a Group Three last May, she followed that with a second to Minnie Hawk in the Group One Yorkshire Oaks and ended with a second to Kalpana in the Group One Champion Fillies and mares at Ascot. We do have to take her fitness on trust after seven months off, but she did win first time up last season so clearly goes well fresh, and she ought to find this level easy pickings.

2.15pm Beverley

At Beverley it was interesting to see Archie Watson is debuting Cosmic Mystery in the Hilary Needler Stakes over five furlongs and due off at 2.15pm. A daughter of Havana Grey, she was bought by new owners Wathnan Racing for 220,000gns after impressing at the Craven Breeze-Up sales, clocking an exceptional time and clearly looking the part (Yes I have seen the video). As always her inexperience will see my bet size reduced accordingly, but she is reported to be working well ahead of her debut and I can see her getting off the mark at the first attempt with Paul Mulrennan in the saddle.

1.50pm Chester

Finding a third and final selection proved a trickier task than normal and I doubt we will get rich out of backing Blake’s Monarch in the 1.50pm at Chester but I doubt he goes off favourite which makes him the value call. We have three horses here who finished second on debut with the selection one of them, and I actually thing This Moment and Pure Grit may be the better horses, but they are drawn in the eight and seven stalls respectively which is not a positive here. Ivan Furtado’s son of Ten Sovereigns ran a blinder to be beaten a short-head at Wolverhampton where he made all the running until the shadow of the post, and if the same tactics are tried today from the four stall, I can see Silvestre De Sousa reminding us all what a good jockey he still is.

Sean’s Suggestion

Cosmic Mystery 2.15pm Beverley