It was a reasonable afternoon for the horses covered in last night’s preview and several were involved in exciting finishes. None more so than in the Craven Stakes where Henry Cecil’s Twice Over (pictured below) just got the better of Raven’s Pass in a terrific battle. There was a similar finale to the filly’s race over 7 furlongs where Danae scored at 16/1 at the expense of the favourite Melodramatic. Over the jumps in Cheltenham’s featured race One Gulp made it 3 wins for the season under a strong drive from Dominic Elsworth. Another winner for our list to follow was Baybshambles at Ripon. This one is trained by the Barr family who have 19 horses in North Yorkshire.
It was quite a spectacular day for the horses to follow with Amanjena absolutely bolting up in the 7.20 at Kempton.
Tomorrow sees the start of the Scottish Grand National meeting up at Ayr and the powerful stables of Nicholls and Pipe look set to dominate. In the 2.20 Nicholls has Big Fella Thanks who has won both his starts under rules so far while the lightly raced Time Bandit looks the one to be on for Pipe in the 2.50.
It could be Nicholls again in the 3.25 with Herecomesthetruth, another on a hat trick. Nicholls saddles Dear Villez in the 4.00. This one has won both his completed starts this season and if he puts in a clear round will be hard to beat. Three Mirrors is likely to be the danger although the soft ground may not be ideal for him.
In the 5.45 I will take a chance with Great Approach who has whose 3rd behind Ballyfitz at Haydock in February looks solid form.
There is an evening meeting over the jumps at Cheltenham where Paul Nicholls runs Oslot in the 6.10. Oslot is on a 4 timer and seems to like these small fields. He handles any ground and should again go well.
Flight Leader represents my list to follow in the 6.45 but after showing considerable promise last season he has not been able to recapture his form this time round.
In the 7.20 I am hoping that Not Left Yet can prevail. He deserves to land a decent prize as he has had no luck in his last couple of races.
Day to Remember has some decent form on his CV but has only run once this season when finishing last at Stratford so has something to prove.
At Newbury the 2.40 has a strong line up. It is difficult to rule any of them out and I wouldn’t be surprised to see Stoneacre Lad and Dazed and Amazed run well. For my selection though I am going for Oldjoesaid (pictured below) who is from the same stable as today’s 16/1 winner Danae. He goes well fresh and could be on a reasonable mark.
John Dunlop’s Mountain Pride is cleverly named as he is by High Chaparral out of Lioness (pride of lions – get it?) The horse showed some form in his 3 runs last season winning the last of them over a mile at Leicester. The step up to 10 furlongs in the 3.15 should suit him and I would hope for a big run.
Arthur’s Girl was finishing to some purpose when 5th on her only start at Lingfield last season. That was over 6 furlongs and as she is bred to want a good deal further improvement can be expected when she runs in the 3.50 tomorrow.
In the 4.55 Houghton must be well thought of by his connections given his race entries. He only ran once last season but he is related to a variety of winners and is likely to improve at 3. The other one I like in this is Tighnabruaich, who is likely to leave his juvenile form behind him this year.
Back over the jumps Woolcombe Folly is out again in the 5.50 at Taunton having gained his first win of the season only 5 days ago. He looks likely to go in again.
Photographs are reproduced by kind permission of British 2YO Racing.
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