The flat season has been a bit slow to get going generally and our flat list to follow has suffered from a bout of seconditis. Degas Art (14/1), Gandalf (9/1) and Obe Brave (12/1) have all finished runners up, plus a few others. Still, in the words of Bob Dylan we will just have to “keep on, keepin’ on.” The national hunt season moves into its last week with some big races from Tuesday onwards but for Monday’s preview I am going to give you 10 flat horses to watch out for. Starting in the 2.10 at Pontefract, The Italian Job is of interest. Sprint bred, the dam won over 6 furlongs and the sire was a top sprinter. I think this is one to watch although not necessarily on her debut. Tim Easterby trains.
Pontefract 2.40 Karlani is the first of 6 runners from our list to follow today. Karlani had 3 runs as a two year old, all over a mile, finishing 3rd in the last of these. He is bred to appreciate a trip though as his half brother ran against Monet’s Garden over fences on Saturday, and off a low rating should be able to make his mark in handicaps. Starts off his 3 year old career stepped up to a mile and a half.
3.10 Exmoor, Ice Planet and Zomerlust are our 3 runners in a competitive sprint. Exmoor has already had a run this season, when 2nd behind old Idle Power at Folkestone. He has only had 7 career starts so may well have scope for improvement and comes from a stable that does well with sprinters. He is a half brother to Million Percent, a horse I have mentioned in these pages from time to time. Four year old Zomerlust has only won twice in his career but has plenty of ability and I am hoping that he can improve on his winning tally this season. He ran particularly well when 4th to Machinist in the Ayr Silver Cup last season and should have ground conditions to suit. I like him. Ice Planet caught my eye last season when swooping late down the rail to win at Doncaster. He went on to collect in the valuable Great St Wilfred handicap at Ripon and seems to act on any ground. Trained by sprint specialist Dandy Nicholls he is one to watch this year. I am quite keen on the chances of all three and in these cases I usually let the draw bias decide for me. Pity is that I am not convinced that the draw makes much difference at this track. They should all handle the ground OK.
Turning to Windsor I will start with an interesting 2 year old maiden at 6.00. Hoh Mike and Stagehand are worth a close look. Hoh Mike is a half brother to a couple of 2 year old winners while Stagehand is a half brother to a horse that won on its debut at this track and trainer R Millman has an enviable recent record with his juveniles.
In the 6.30 Snark represents our list to follow. This colt was considered to be his trainers best 2 year old last season but suffered from sore shins and only ran twice. The second outing resulted in a taking performance to land the spoils on the AW at Lingfield in November.
7.00 Fluerescent is the last of our “listers.” She was a promising 2nd in a Yarmouth maiden last season and looks the type to improve this term. Another interesting runner in this race is Otelcaliforni, who had one run last season and was the subject of some encouraging reports. Back tomorrow when the preview will include a look at day 1 of the Punchestown Festival.
ahorse 