Did you know that one of the British competitors at the 1896 Olympics in Athens delighted the home fans by reading out an ode he had written in ancient Greek at the closing ceremony?
Well, there haven’t been any odes so far but it’s been enjoyable nonetheless. Team GB (why not just call them the British Team), have won a smattering of medals and there looks as though there could be more to come yet. We haven’t had the best of days so far though with defeats in the boxing and badminton and the ladies hockey team are losing.
I have always found the Olympics fascinating, ever since I watched the Rome games when I was at school. I end up watching sports that I wouldn’t normally have much interest in. The weather in Beijing looks pretty miserable today and here at home we have lost tomorrow’s meeting at Newcastle to the rain. There are still 4 meetings to look at though so here goes.
At least the all weather meetings should be safe from the unseasonable weather and there is an evening card at Kempton Park. In the 8.25 Missioner represents my list to follow. A winner at Haydock in May his last 3 starts have been uninspiring and this will be his first try on the all weather. He drops back to a mile tomorrow after being tried unsuccessfully at 10 and 12 furlongs. He was tried in blinkers at Newmarket on his last run and I see that the headgear has been left off this time. The drop back in trip may help but he isn’t one I could give a strong recommendation for. Another horse in the race, Visions of Johanna could be interesting. He has only had 3 runs with form figures that read 221. His win only came in a small race at Sandown but the 3rd horse that day has won since franking the form. Visions of Johanna is named after rather a long song by Bob Dylan. By the way, if anyone understands the lyrics perhaps they can drop me an e-mail!
City Stable was placed on his 3 starts as a 2 year old but could only manage 7th of 8 at Leicester on his reappearance this season. He runs in the 6.45 at Catterick tomorrow. Previous comments in the form book seem to indicate that he may need a galloping track in which case Catterick may not suit. His form as a juvenile puts him up with the favourites though.
One that could run well, at Newbury in the 1.50 at a working man’s price is Tropical Strait. He didn’t see a racecourse until he was 4 last season when he started his career by finishing 2nd in a Haydock bumper. He didn’t finish out of the first 4 last season, winning twice on the all weather and running a cracker in the November Handicap at Doncaster when he was 4th behind some decent horses, such as Malt or Mash and Sandbuch. He should strip fitter for his first run of the season in June over an inadequate distance and goes to Newbury with an each way chance on ground that should suit him.
Illustrious Blue has struggled to find his form this season but he did put up a more promising show on his last run at Goodwood. Having said that though he has won 5 times at Goodwood, so he may not necessarily be able to repeat form at the Sussex track elsewhere. He runs in the conditions stakes (7.35) at Newmarket tomorrow and he is 12/1 in the Racing Post. One interesting fact about his record is that all his wins have come on good ground.
At Nottingham I quite like the look of Hawk Mountain in the last race at 4.45. He stepped up on previous efforts in his last race when he finished 3rd at Pontefract. Whatever he does on the flat I wouldn’t be surprised to see him over hurdles in the winter.
My thanks to David Hebb for the photo of Catterick racecourse.
Bye for now.
ahorse 