Diary: September 6 2008

I am penning these notes on Friday afternoon on the assumption that the meetings scheduled for the weekend go ahead. With heavy rain forecast in the north I would imagine that Haydock, and possibly Thirsk as well may be in doubt. Anyway, here’s hoping. When trying to find winners we will clearly need to look at horses that don’t mind the mud.

Starting at Haydock there are 3 that I fancy for the sprint handicap at 2.35. Quiet Elegance is a half sister to the high class sprinter Reverence. She has only had 4 runs in her life, winning the first 2 before being tried at Group and Listed level without success. She is lightly raced and should be suited by the conditions. Regal Royale has won 4 races this year, the last 2 of these coming in soft ground. He has winning form over 6 furlongs which could be significant tomorrow in such testing conditions. My selection though is Green Park who has slipped to a winnable mark, has won twice in heavy ground and comes here on the back of an encouraging run at Beverly where he was 2^nd from a bad draw.

The big race of the day is the Betfred Sprint Cup at 3.10. Reverence won this two years ago and has a record of 2 wins from 3 runs at Haydock Park. He has not maintained his form since his very successful period a couple of years ago but showed distinct signs of a return to his best when a strong finishing 3^rd to Green Manalishi at Chester last month.

There are 3 runners from my list to follow and they all come into the race with some sort of chance. Knot in Wood is a decent handicapper and won well at Hamilton earlier in the season edging out Baby Strange and he put in a fine effort when 4^th in the Wokingham. He has come up short in Group company in the past though and may not be up to this standard. Utmost Respect is a proven mudlark and recorded his first win in Group company at Newcastle this year when getting his favoured conditions. He had Reverence back in 5^th that day. The 3 year old Corrybrough has only raced 7 times in his career and has only finished out of the first 2 once, and that was on his latest run at Deauville where he was ridden at the back and given too much to do. He sometimes gets caught for early pace but is a strong finisher and he likes soft ground.

The other runner I like in this is Al Qasi who returned to something like his best form on rain softened ground at Newbury when 2^nd in the Hungerford Stakes. I have concentrated on the home contenders but there is a strong overseas challenge. The French Raider African Rose is strongly fancied on the basis of her second to Marchand D’or at Deauville in the Prix Maurice de Gheest last month. Utmost Respect and US Ranger were 4^th and 5^th respectively in that race. The ex Spanish Equiano won the King’s Stand at Ascot but that was on fast ground. Based on his running when 2^nd to Marchand D’or at Chantilly he has a bit to find with African Rose. If pushed for a selection African Rose would probably be my choice.

The 3.40 is a competitive handicap over 14 furlongs which will take some getting in the ground. Tim Easterby has Bollin Felix in this, a course and distance winner in heavy ground. Pippa Green is a 4 year old without too many miles on the clock and he has won on soft ground. Carrying top weight over a trip he has not tackled before just makes me a bit cautious about his chances though. The other one I like is Peter Bowen’s hurdler Souffleur whose mark of 82 may well underestimate his ability given the improved form he has shown since running over hurdles. He stays and does not have much weight. The booking of Jamie Spencer to ride also looks promising.

Tarkheena Prince and Trip the Light have both more than justified their places on my list to follow. Tarkheena Prince has won at 7/1 and 6/1 while Trip the Light has recorded 3 wins. Tarkheena Prince is more likely to be suited by the testing conditions tomorrow in the 5.15.

We should at least be sure of some racing at Kempton Park tomorrow. The London Mile handicap at 3.25 has attracted a competitive field, and I have come up with a short list of 3, Formation, The Fifth Member and Premio Loco. Formation undoubtedly has plenty of talent but does give the impression that he is a bit of a quirky character. He has been running mainly over 10 furlongs but drops back in distance tomorrow. He was 3^rd at Great Leighs on his most recent outing, and while I would certainly not rule him out, the other two are more reliable. The Fifth Member has had a most consistent season and has not been out of the first 4 on his last 6 runs. He was runner up to confirmed mud lover Zero Tolerance in heavy ground at Haydock last month and had earlier won twice on the all weather. He should again give a good account of himself but for my selection I am going with Premio Loco who was a winner over course and distance at the end of July in a race where the 2^nd, 3^rd, 4^th and 5^th have all won since.

Rhuepunzel  is out of a mare called Fairy Story, hence the name presumably. She won 3 times last year but has been off the track for a while and has moved stables in the meantime. I think she will be worth keeping an eye on for the remainder of the season but she may need her run in the Kempton 4.30. It is also worth noting that her wins all came in small fields, which may or may not be significant.

There are two runners from my list to follow in action at Thirsk. Inspector Clouseau, who runs in the 3.30 has not lived up to the promise he showed last season. He is without a win in 4 attempts in 2008 and has something to prove now. He has run well at Thirsk before though, albeit on fast ground and he has dropped a couple of pounds in the weights since his last run. Paul Mulrennan rides him for the first time.

Moheeb is trained by Ruth Carr who took over the trainer’s license from her grandfather David Chapman earlier this year. Moheeb probably qualifies as the least successful horse on my list having failed to win in 14 starts in 2008! He has finished 2^nd or 3^rd 5 times though, and most recently was runner up to Handsome Falcon at Ayr, only beaten a neck. He likes soft ground and deserves to get his head in front.

Dan Chillingworth, who runs in the 9.20 at Wolverhampton is named after a footballer who used to play for Cambridge United – I am not sure who is current club is. Dan Chillingworth the horse has been knocking on the door, with form figures of 232 on his last 3 starts. He did well from a bad draw last time at Kempton and is another deserving of a change of fortune.

That is about it for now. Today’s paintings are by kind permission of the artist Ruth Buchanan (see links for other examples of this artists work)