Sunday sees the final day of the Ascot festival while there are some valuable two year old races at The Curragh so let’s see if we can unearth a winner or two.
The 12 furlong handicap that starts the proceeding off at Ascot at 2.05 looks an open race but Young Mick is likely to be a popular choice with punters. If you favour the course and distance winner approach Young Mick is certainly the horse for you as he has 4 C & D successes to his credit. These wins all came in 2006 however and his last win was two years ago in the Group 3 Cumberland Lodge Stakes. He likes fast ground and Ascot is clearly his favourite track. Apart from his quartet of wins there in the past, he has run well at the Berkshire course this season, finishing 4th and 2nd in valuable handicaps.
There are 3 runners whose fortunes I have been following during the season, Pevensey, Birkside and Kensington Oval. Pevensey has had an in and out season and at times has looked a far from straightforward ride, and he seems to run alternate good and bad races. He has won on good to firm and soft ground and he does have a couple of wins over course and distance on his record. He has tended to get behind early on in his races but he is well capable of winning this if things drop right for him.
Birkside has won 13 races since last May so clearly doesn’t owe connections anything. He is only a pound higher than when winning at York at the end of July and would be no forlorn hope as long as his hectic schedule is not starting to catch up on him. Kensington Oval has only ever run twice. He won on his racecourse debut at Sandown over 10 furlongs in maiden and then missed the break in a listed race at Ascot on good to firm. He could be a bit of a blot on the handicap especially as the extra 2 furlongs tomorrow is likely to bring out further improvement in him. My main concern about him would be the ground. He won on good to soft, and his brother, Ask, has never won with an “F” in the going description.
There are just 5 runners in the 2.40 which could turn into a tactical affair. Sixties Icon is possibly the safest bet in this race although I am also hopeful that recent Kempton winner Ajhar will run well for a stable that has supplied the winner of this race 4 times in the past 9 years.
I suppose I should be supporting the Hughie Morrison trained My Kingdom in the 3.50 given his connection to the name of my site. He certainly won impressively enough at Brighton at the start of the month while Blown It has been highly tried and could be interesting at a big price.
Godolphin have had a wretched season by their standards and I see that their 2007 Arc 3rd Sagara will be sporting blinkers for the first time in the 4.25. He certainly seems to have regressed this year and as he is probably suited by soft ground anyway I think he is best watched for the time being. Sandbuch is a very consistent performer and rarely runs a bad race and given a true run race here he could go close.
The only runner from our list to follow up at Musselburgh is Peruvian Prince in the 4.45, while over at The Curragh my selections are as follows; 2.20 Hail Caesar, 2.55 Soul City & 4.15 Luminous Eyes.
Graham and Andrea Wylie have given jump racing a real boost in recent years and they will be hoping that their star performer Inglis Drever can make it a 4th win in the World Hurdle come Cheltenham in March. In the meantime though their should be plenty of winners for the Wylie/Johnson/O’Regan team and they have a fancied runner in the 4.00 at Market Rasen tomorrow. Nosferatu is by the same sire as Inglis Drever and won on the flat when trained by Amanda Perrett. He could well be on an attractive handicap mark over hurdles.
The jumping season will be gathering momentum in the coming weeks and of course there will be various “guides” to the new season coming out. One that I can recommend is “Jumping Prospects” that is written by Merseysider John Morris. In his book John gives details of his interviews with a wide range of trainers and the comments have certainly helped me to find some big priced winners down the years. Follow the link below for more details.
http://www.jumpingprospects.co.uk/
One of the highlights of the 2007/8 national hunt season was the Grand National triumph of Comply or Die. Now the 2009 Aintree feature may be some way off yet but Christmas will be with us soon enough. The Spinal Injuries Association has commissioned a rather nice painting by the artist Katie Scorgie for one of their Christmas cards this year. As you will see the card shows Comply or Die at Becher’s Brook. This card and others are available online from http://www.spinal.co.uk or by telephoning 01462 735 745. Obviously a very worthy cause.
Acknowledgements: My thanks to "Howden Joe" for his photo of Market Rasen, and the artists Karen Davies (top picture) and Katie Scorgie (Comply or Die picture) for allowing me to use their work (see links for more information on both artists).
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