There is some decent rcing under both codes on Friday, but I will start over the jumps with Cheltenham’s first meeting of the new season.
Champion Trainer Paul Nicholls runs his “new signing” Marodima in the novice chase at 2.55. This one showed plenty of ability last season when trained by Oliver Sherwood winning twice over hurdles. Owned by David Johnson he looks an interesting recruit for Nicholls.
Former top jockey Ben De Haan trains a small string at Lambourn and his runners are always worth a close look. One of his best horses is Classic Gold who won convincingly in May at Huntingdon. He has been given a break and runs in the 3.30. As long as the ground doesn’t turn out to be too soft he should go well at a price.
The 4.05 looks competitive and you couldn’t rule out any of the 9 runners with any confidence. Always Waining has the benefit of a recent outing and ran well in 3rd behind stable companion Iron Man last month at Market Rasen.
In the 5.50 Trucker’s Delight represents our list to follow. He showed somefair form in bumpers when ridden by his owner Barry Connell, winning at Stratford and finishing runner up on two occasions. I am hoping that he will pay his way as the season progresses but he probably needs further than tomorrow’s trip and will be best suited by handicaps. The one I really like in this race is Snap Tie. He had a slightly disappointing campaign last season but has always looked like a horse with plenty of ability. His trainer has always held him in high regard.
There are quite a few runners from our list to follow on the flat – so here goes.
We are 3 handed in the 3.10 with Blue Ksar, Illustrious Blue and Al Tharib. Illustrious Blue has a quite remarkable record in that he has raced on ground officially described as “good” on 9 occasions and won 7 of them. That I suppose has to be a tip in itself! In fact he has only ever won on good ground. Of his 6 wins in the UK 5 were at Goodwood. Al Tharib has won over further and I wonder if he will be ridden positively to make this a test of stamina? Blue Ksar ran rather disappointingly last time when beaten at Ascot but that was a Group 1 contest and perhaps he just isn’t up to that class. This race might be more to his liking and he gets my selection. Incidentally Blythe Knight, from our jumps list to follow contests this but has to give weight away all round. This will probably be his last run on the flat before he starts his hurdling campaign.
Short Skirt is the class act in the 3.45 having finished 3rd in the Oaks last year. She has been off the track for 363 days though but if fully would up she would be hard to beat. Her trainer is quite capable of getting a horse ready after a long layoff. For those interested in such trivia Short Skirts full sister Shorthand also runs in this race.
Cape and Salsa Steps are our runners in the 4.20. Cape has been a disappointment and I am beginning to lose faith. Salsa Steps won a maiden last time out on firm ground. She doesn’t have the form for this contest strictly on the book but she is lightly raced and is a possible surprise package if handling the ground.
We also have a couple of runners in the 4.55. Artimino has put up some very solid performances this season. He was 4th of 30 in the ultra competitive Britannia Stakes and ran with credit at Newmarket last time. As result of his consistent form he is probably high enough in the weights but you couldn’t rule him out. On this occasion I prefer Kafuu though. Kafuu has only raced twice and has presumably had some sort of injury problems but he has shown plenty of potential when we have seen him. He could just be better than a handicapper and off a low weight and with a good draw he looks interesting.
Star of Light runs in the 5.30 but would need the ground to dry out to give him a realistic chance I would think.
Lastly we have one list runner at Redcar. Spume is a bit difficult to figure. He has popped up once this season at 8/1 but hasn’t really looked like troubling the judge on his other starts. He runs in the 5.40.
See you tomorrow night.
ahorse 