Well Kauto Star made it 4 out of 4 in the King George. His critics are quick to point out that the challengers he will face at Cheltenham from across the Irish Sea were absent and that his jumping at 4 out and at the last was not very pretty. He was too good for his rivals at Kempton though and he once again quickened away from his field in taking style. Will he get away with similar jumping errors at Cheltenham? Probably not, but against that going left handed should suit him and at Cheltenham he will be given a more patient ride. Just at the moment I would not take a very short price about him for the big one.
There were mixed fortunes for the horses on my list to follow. Both Monet’s Garden and Straw Bear were bitterly disappointing on Boxing Day, with no obvious excuse. Looking at today’s racing Rasharrow jumped very sketchily and did well to grab 4th in the end. He will need to jump a good deal better than that if he is to compete at the top level.
I gave Lord Sam a write up in my Boxing Day preview and I was particularly pleased to see him show great resolution to land the handicap hurdle at Wincanton. He has lost his way in the last couple of years but had been showing signs of a return to form.
The list to follow had its successes. Kauto Star of course, Ungaro and Troll on Boxing Day and Nickname, You Sir, Halcon Generlardais, Voy Por Ustedes, Merdeka, Alderburn and De Valira today.
I probably overlooked the obvious when not tipping Halcon Generlardais as he had serious claims on stamina, jumping and liking for the ground. I allowed the trend factor to rule my choice as not many have carried more than 11 stone to victory in the Welsh National. In the event Alan King’s ex French gelding was always going well and his jumping was a key factor. He was given a very nice ride by the underrated Wayne Hutchinson.
Voy Por Ustedes gave Alan King an across the card big race double with an impressive win in the Desert Orchid Chase at Kempton.
The focus tomorrow is firmly on Leopardstown which stages the valuable Lexus Chase. Before that though there are a couple of runners from our list in the Grade 1 novice chase at 1.30. O'Muircheartaigh was pulled up at Fairyhouse 3 weeks ago but before that had beaten Knight Legend at Punchestown and that horse later ran a good race at Ascot. Mossbank was 5th in that Fairyhouse race. The form of that race is working out well and I expect the winner, Cailin Alainn to follow up.
Strangely Brown represents the list in the 2.00. Recent efforts have not been encouraging and he is one to watch at the moment. Ruby Walsh has the ride.
The Lexus Chase at 2.35 has a small but very select field. The Listener and Beef or Salmon are the runners from our list to follow. The Listener ran a cracker when giving Star de Mohaison plenty to do on the first day of the month. My preference though is for course specialist Beef or Salmon who showed his well being with a win over hurdles recently.
In the bumper at 3.40 I fancy Siegemaster who is a half brother to Our Vic.
There are 2 jumps meetings in the UK, at Catterick and Leicester.
The old Racing Channel used to do a video of horses to follow. They did a tour of the country asking various trainers to name their horse to follow. It used to yield quite a few winners. I remember a horse called Hugo de Grez being featured on one of those videos some years ago now. He is quite an interesting horse for a number of reasons. Of his 9 career wins 6 have come at Carlisle. Brian Storey rode him in 5 of those wins and having retired from the saddle now trains him. Hugo de Grez runs in the 1.20 at Catterick tomorrow. Do I think he will win? He has some claims as he won recently and is not on a bad mark. Being a Carlisle specialist I am not sure that Catterick is necessarily going to suit him – he has never actually run there before.
The Dukes Speech (2.20) was 3rd behind Straw Bear and Conna Castle at Aintree over hurdles last season and I had hopes he would do even better over fences this season. He showed some promise wjen 3rd at Kelso last time out and shouldn’t be far away. Howard Johnson’s Lennon, unbeaten over fences is going to be hard to beat though, especially at a track that should suit his front running approach.
Elverys may have been unlucky at Musselburgh last month as he was a faller when going well 4 out. He can gain compensation in the 2.50.
An unusually large number of my list to follow are yet to appear this season and I know that some have been injured. I will draft in a few reinforcements over the next week or so starting with Secured who runs in the 3.00 at Leicester. He is a half brother to Mister Mustard and won over hurdles in January. I am hoping he will pop up at a decent price at some stage to justify his inclusion in the list.
The Elite horses – part 2
I started looking at some of the horses belonging to the Elite Racing Club yesterday. Tonight I want to consider the chances of some of the national Hunt horses that should be appearing in club colours during the second half of the season.
When the current campaign began my main hope was probably Kadount. If you go back a couple of years he had some very smart form in his novice chasing season. He was mixing it with the likes of My Will, Ashley Brook and Fota Island. He failed to win last season and seemed to have lost his sparkle. A move from Alan King to Lenny Lungo followed and I could just picture Kadount returning to form in some northern handicap chases. It hasn’t happened yet, in fact he has only has one run when he was pulled up over hurdles. I remain hopeful though.
Penzance won the 2005 Triumph Hurdle but wasn’t able to add to his tally subsequently over hurdles. He has now been sent novice chasing and won a small race in May. Since then he has been placed a few times and has taken on some of the better novices but he is looking a little hard to place.
Trompette was an import from France and is with Nicky Henderson. This mare looks on a reasonable hurdles mark and she won in February and March last season, both at Plumpton. She looks the sort that could land a handicap hurdle between now and the end of the season. Henderson trains the veteran Dancing Bay who has done the club proud over the years. He now also has Dancing Bay’s half sister Spanish Lace. This daughter of Hernando won on the all weather at Wolverhampton and as the saying goes “could be anything!
Rehearsal is a nice dual purpose horse with Len Lungo who doesn’t want the ground soft so he could be one to look out for in the spring.
One I am particularly looking forward to is Roi de L’Odet who is with Nicky Henderson. This one had plenty of flat form in France before coming to the UK but has been injured ever since I joined the club.
I will be back tomorrow night with the 3rd and concluding part of this feature.
ahorse 