Notebook – Next time out *** New feature ***
I am currently waiting for the following horses to reappear as all impressed me on their last run; Crack Away Jack, Lordsbridge, Pakineo Des Pictons, Merrydown, Door Boy and Snap Tie.
The BBC ran a feature during their coverage at Ascot yesterday on the effects of the credit crunch on different areas of the racing game. Perhaps not directly attributable to the current financial problems, but a sign of the times nonetheless is the demise of Superform. This organisation ran an excellent formbook/ratings service and also published annuals for both flat and jumps. Follow the link below to see why they decided to call it a day.
Looking back to Saturday’s racing I was impressed with the attitude shown by Pettifour in winning at Wetherby in the West Yorkshire Hurdle. Paddy Brennan gave the horse a super ride to get the better of Mobaasher who had travelled the better of the two approaching the last.
In the handicap hurdle at Ascot won by Sentry Duty, Blue Bajan put in an eyecatching performance doing his best work at the finish. His next assignment is likely to be the Greatwood Hurdle at Cheltenham.
The national hunt racing tomorrow comes from Plumpton and Warwick.
David Pipe had a fairly lean time of it by his high standards in October. He has had a couple of winners recently and can add to his tally in the 2.00 with It’s Tough who won at Perth in September. There are some other interesting runners in the “national hunt” novice hurdle. Henrietta Knight introduces Ballycarney who has some form in Irish point to points while Buffalo Bob was 5th in a hot looking race in April and showed some promise.
The 4.00 bumper at Plumpton was won by today’s hurdles victor Shoreacres last season. My fancy tomorrow is Dalmation trained by Chris Wall who is better known for his exploits on the flat. Dalmation, a son of Mtoto, was 3rd at Huntingdon in a bumper on his debut last November despite running green. He was then 4th at Stratford after being hampered in running.
Classy hurdler Afsoun makes his chase bow in the 2.40 at Warwick tomorrow. He has always looked like an ideal type for fences and he will surely win races over the larger obstacles. He could possibly be vulnerable first time out though, especially as he is inclined to get a bit worked up in the preliminaries. Alan King’s Oh Crick has the benefit of a recent run and could benefit should the Henderson runner slip up.
In the concluding bumper at Warwick (4.10) Madame Mado looks the sort of horse her trainer excels with. She is a half sister to the smart jumper Le Volfoni and is my selection while Braybrooke Lady could run well at a bigger price.
Wee Giant is a half brother to 6 winners and showed some promise on his debut run at Nottingham. He runs in the 2.50 at Wolverhampton and is the only runner that catches my eye on the flat tomorrow. While of the subject of the flat I was pleased that both my tip for today’s racing, Tarkheena Prince (15/8) and How’s She Cuttin’ (5/1), were winners. At the time of penning these ramblings I see that the first of my Irish selections, Solwhit, has won at 9/4.
Today’s pictures are courtesy of the artist Alison Wilson.
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