It was nice to see Sam Thomas have a couple of winners today. That will no doubt do his confidence some good. One of his winning rides was for Venetia Williams on the ex German Lightning Strike in a beginner’s chase. Quite a decent hurdler it will be interesting to see how far he can go over fences.
Tomorrow the jumps action comes from Exeter and Sandown and there are a few talking points that we can have a look at. Can you look at a talking point? Oh well, you know what I mean.
In the Exeter 1.00 Franchoek looks likely to start favourite. I was beginning to wonder if he might be a little tricky to place as he looks just below the very top class but will always be saddled with plenty of weight in handicaps. Sure enough he is set to give lumps of weight away tomorrow which might take some doing in the likely heavy ground. He has plenty of stamina and the class to beat his rivals tomorrow but he won twice on good to firm on the flat so heavy going could be a problem. He is a tough, genuine horse and I hope he wins but I would not take a short price about him.
In the 1.35 No Panic represents my list to follow. I was quite impressed with his effort when 3rd behind Hell’s Bay at Chepstow but I have the feeling that he prefers a sound surface so the going tomorrow could be a problem.
One that will like the ground is Ballygalley Bob in the 2.10. He hasn’t shown much in his two runs so far this season but the stable are in form now and this extreme test of stamina might be what he needs.
Sir Winston finished last on his seasonal reappearance but I am hoping for better things from him tomorrow in the 3.20. He is the sort of horse that could improve with time and I would give him an each way chance.
There are three runners from my list to follow in the 2.00 at Sandown. Junior has been really disappointing this season. He looked a horse to follow on the back of his close up 3rd in the Coral Cup last season but he remains a novice after 3 runs since. On official ratings he ought to win this but he has been expensive to follow which does tend to make you a little wary. It is possible that he doesn’t like soft ground so that is something to keep in mind. On Raglan Road cost £320,000 at the Doncaster spring sales after winning his sole point to point and then scoring in a bumper in Ireland. After winning on his UK debut at Hexham he was runners up to a smart Paul Nicholls horse, and the 3rd in that race has since bolted up. Grizebeck cost 75,000 gns at the sales and quickly rewarded his connections by winning at Bangor. A case could be made for all three but my preference is for the Howard Johnson runner, On Raglan Road.
In the 3.10 I would give Mokum an each way chance as long as the ground is not too testing.
The 3.40 is quite a difficult race to weigh up. There are 3 that I like, Buffalo Bob, Quaddick Lake and Pterodactyl. Buffalo Bob showed improved form when 2nd at Folkestone last time out and that run puts him in with a good chance here. Quaddick Lake has to be honest given his supporters very little encouragement this season. I have a feeling that he is capable of better things though and with the stable showing signs of running into some form I wouldn’t rule him out. Pterodactyl, a winner on the flat in France, was runner up at Leicester last month and should come on for that run. The Venetia Williams/Sam Thomas trainer/jockey combination were successful today and Pterodactyl is my tip in this race.
Today’s pictures are by kind permission of the artist Maura Clarke.
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