General Tufto showed some promise as a 2 year old when trained by Roger Charlton. On the last of his 3 runs as a juvenile he finished 5th in a race won by Tajaweed, who has since gone on to better things, winning the Dee Stakes. He has since changed stables and to be honest has been pretty disappointing but he runs in a seller tomorrow in the Catterick 3.00 where he must have a chance in a race that might not take much winning.
I put Fantasy Fighter on my list to follow this year but he hasn’t done much yet to reward my interest in him! He wore a first time visor on his last run at Ayr but lost his chance when slowly away from the stalls. He is back up to 7 furlongs tomorrow in the Catterick 5.00, and although he was last on the only other occasion he tackled that distance it may be he does need that sort of trip. He attracted a bit of market support on his last run and he may have a little race in him somewhere.
Moving forward to Wednesday I see that Mr Crystal is entered in the 3.20 at Newcastle. He ran well earlier in the season, including a win over course and distance back in May. That was off a mark of 59 and he now runs off 67 so will need a career best effort to get his head in front. The key to him may be the ground as all his 4 career wins have come on good to firm.
I have been putting Charles Parnell up as a selection regularly this season but has hasn’t come up trumps yet although he has put in some encouraging efforts. When he won at Ayr in September 2007 he was raised to a mark of 74 and although he has since run 9 times without winning he remains on that same mark. It does seem as though he may need the handicapper to relent a bit to enable him to get his head in front. Having said that the talented apprentice Jamie Moriaty replaces his usual pilot Fergal Lynch and Moriarty takes 3 lbs off. With the horse likely to get his preferred ground of good to soft he may be involved in the shake up in the Newcastle 3.50.
Birkside has done well for me this season winning 3 times, in fact he has won 13 races since May 30 last year. He is back in action again on Wednesday in the Pontefract 3.40 where, if his busy campaign is not beginning to catch up with him, he could again run well.
Baybshambles is another runner from my list to follow to have notched up 3 wins this season. He is in action on Wednesday in the 4.10 at Pontefract. He has gone up a couple of pounds since his last win at Thirsk but he has been in fine fettle and couldn’t be ruled out.
Sheer Bluff and Rossini’s Dancer represent my list to follow in the Pontefract 5.10. Sheer Bluff has been running at distances between a mile and 10 furlongs, but he is a free going sort and this drop down to 6 furlongs could be to his advantage. I see that the handicapper has dropped him 3 lbs as well. Rossini’s Dancer, like Sheer Bluff, is still a maiden. He has been a beaten favourite on 3 of his last 5 runs so is probably one to be a bit wary of. He tackles 6 furlongs for the first time and I note that the stable has won the race for the last 2 years.
Local trainer Christine Dunnett has a good record in the Yarmouth 7.05 having saddled the winner on 3 of the last 4 runnings. She is double handed this year with last season’s winner Gone ‘N Dunnett, and another that has done the stable proud over the years, Norcroft, who won the race in 2006.. Gone ‘N Dunnett has chalked up 13 career wins in all. Although a lot of these have been on the all weather he has won 4 times at Yarmouth from 26 starts at the track. Both are well handicapped on their best form.
Today’s pictures are courtesy of the artist Jane Dunn.
Next update Wednesday evening.
ahorse 