It was certainly a good weekend for our list to follow which yielded 8 winners. The fact that 7 of the horses were winning for the first time this season was down in part to the recent change in the prevailing going at most of our tracks.
Strategic Mount and Star of Light both certainly appreciated the faster ground, while Sunley Peace was another to benefit from the better ground. Ground apart I think he basically outstayed his rivals anyway and seemed to get better the further he went. He has previously shown his ability over a distance of ground when 5th in the Queen’s Vase at long odds. I was starting to give up on the well bred Alleviate but given an uncontested lead and under a canny ride from Neil Callan he was another to lose the maiden tag in a staying handicap. Alleviate is a half sister to the recent Goodwood Cup winner Allegretto.
Halicarnassus won his second race of the season in a muddling race for the Rose of Lancaster Stakes at Haydock. He has a turn of foot and seems at his best in small fields on fast ground. Our 6th winner on Saturday was the mare Passion Fruit who came from last to first with a sweeping run to win at 14/1. Eagle Mountain and Al Qasi were our list winners today.
We have a couple of runners at Thirsk tomorrow.
Spume has been most disappointing and I see that he has left Sir Michael Stoute. He runs in the 7.25 and it is hard to drum up a case for him unless the fast ground, which he has not encountered before, does the trick. Deserted Dane has already earned his keep on my list with a win at 20/1. He seems to handle any ground and is 2 lbs higher in the weights since his last win which came at Carlisle. He runs in the 8.25.
See you tomorrow.
ahorse 