I will continue the saga of the 2009 flat season with a look at horses numbered 61 to 70 on my illustrious top 75.
I have never considered the Royal Hunt Cup as being a lucky race from a tipping point of view. This year though it was nice to be right for a change thanks to the Jeremy Noseda trained Forgotten Voice. The winner of a Lingfield maiden on his only start as a juvenile in October ’07 he then got injured and didn’t reappear until winning at Kempton in April ’09. Although the winning margin was only a short head the form book described it as “cosily” and it was all of that as he was ridden with the utmost confidence to get up in the nick of time. For me this marked him down as a potential Hunt Cup horse and after another easy win on the all weather at Kempton Forgotten Voice went off 4/1 favourite for the big race. Always in command he won readily by 2.25 lengths. From a rating of 82 at the start of the season this win left him on a mark of 112 and from then on he was difficult to place. Highly tried for the remainder of the season his best run was when 3rd in the Group 3 Joel Stakes at Newmarket. He had broken my Royal Hunt Cup hoodoo though and earned the number 70 slot.
For number 69 I have chosen another Jeremy Noseda horse. There were a number of factors that endeared me to an unraced 3 year old called Plymouth Rock. He is by Sadler’s Wells (pictured below) for start and he also held a Derby entry so was clearly well thought of. He is also a half brother to Martin Pipe’s hurdles winner Big Eared Fran and was the subject of some encouraging reports from knowledgeable sources. After all that how could I fail to tip him on his racecourse debut? His success at 15/2 in a Windsor maiden was one of my few selections for unraced 3 years olds so I was “dead chuffed.”
Dig Deep is the sort of unpredictable sprinter that will occasionally crop up at a big price and as he is very unlikely to repeat the performance for a while you follow him until he wins and then drop him rapido. As it turned out Dig Deep was predictably unpredictable winning once from his 10 starts at 16/1 the win coming on his 7th run. On a sad note he was ridden by Jamie Kyne when he won. The deaths of young apprentices Jamie Kyne and Jan Wilson in the Malton fire cast a shadow over the racing season
If you have never been to Alicante I can strongly recommend it. Sunshine, sea, sand etc. Very nice. I was partly attracted to the horse called Alicante because I like the town, but also because he had the look of a typical potential improver from Sir Mark Prescott’s stable. His programme as a 2 year old was classic Prescott – 3 runs all over sprint distances and within the space of 18 days. Alicante started the season off a lowly rating of only 61 and when tried over middle distances managed a couple of wins taking handicaps at Yarmouth and Hamilton to earn his place at number 67.
Hillside Lad is one of the lesser lights to make the top 75. Trained by Ralph Beckett he ran 4 times as a 2 year old winning just before Christmas on the all weather at Lingfield. Given a rating in the low 70s I decided to follow him on the basis that his handicap mark did not look unreasonable. In the event he had to drop down to a rating of 64 before he got his head in front but he was worth waiting for as his win came at 16/1 in a Salisbury sprint handicap. He was well ridden by Jim Crowley who grabbed the stands rail which probably made the difference. He makes the list on 66.
For the number 65 slot I have chosen another Ralph Beckett horse in Penang Princess. She was another to show some promise as a juvenile and earn what looked a workable handicap rating. In May she ran a very creditable second to subsequent Cesarewitch winner Darley Sun at Nottingham and went on to win handicaps at Sandown and Kempton.
Redwood is at number 64. He made plenty of appeal as a horse to follow being by High Chaparral out of a daughter of a French Oaks winner. Trained by Barry Hills he had won his only start at two in an autumn maiden at Newmarket. He provided my list to follow with an early season winner when landing a listed contest at Newmarket in mid April. His only other run was when disappointing in the Dante where he only beat one home.
It always pays to keep a close eye on Dandy Nicholls’ runners in sprints. In 2009 I followed his 4 year old Cape Vale who won a couple of handicaps as well as finishing runner up in two races. He won at Ffos Las in July giving me my first winning tip at the new Welsh track. The second win came at Haydock in September with trainer’s son Adrian Nicholls doing the steering. Cape Vale is at number 63 in the list while number 62 Dark Mischief won on the same Haydock card, half an hour earlier. The Henry Candy trained 3 year old bookmarked his season winning first time out at Newmarket and rounding his season off with that victory at Haydock.
Jeremy Gask took out his trainer’s license with the South Australian Jockey Club in 1997, starting with just one horse. He was in the top 5 trainers every year for the last 5 years in South Australia, winning races at all levels. In his final season there he won 50 races with 30 horses. He has made a good start as a trainer in the UK and I have chosen one of his, Street Power for the number 61 slot. Having won 3 times on the all weather (twice at Kempton, once at Lingfield) in January and February he looked a horse going the right way and worth following. He duly ran up a hat trick in the summer months with a win at Ascot on turf sandwiched between a couple of handicaps at Kempton where he has won 4 times in 5 starts.
The picture of Sadlers Wells is by courtesy of the artist Lisa Miller.
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