Here are the next 10 of the horses that caught my eye during the 2009 turf season.
50 – Nanton. For number 50 in my list I have plumped for the remarkably versatile Nanton. His best run of the 2008 season came when he was runner up in the Cambridgeshire over 9 furlongs. In 2009 he proved that he stays a good deal further and he was rewarded for some consistent efforts in various big handicaps when beating Manyriverstocross in the competitive Mallard Stakes at Doncaster, a handicap over 15 and a half furlongs. There were also a string of excellent performances in defeat. He was 2nd in Redcar’s Zetland Gold Cup, 4th in the Royal Hunt Cup, runner up in a Heritage Handicap at Haydock, 4th in the Ebor and 3rd in the Cambridgeshire. Best suited by a strong gallop he invariable comes with a sustained late run and is at his best in multi runner handicaps.
49 – King of Wands proved a successful horse to follow with 3 wins from 5 starts. Named after the tarot card that focuses on finance and business John Dunlop’s 3 year old certainly rewarded his followers with 3 wins from 5 starts. His opening mark of 76 looked potentially lenient especially as he looked the type to benefit from a step up in trip as a 3 year old. His wins came in handicaps at Folkestone, Salisbury and Sandown. At Salisbury he beat the subsequent Ebor winner Darley Sun giving that rival weight. He also ran second to Penang Princess at Sandown.
48 – Glass Harmonium won a maiden at Yarmouth on his second start as a juvenile and was predicted to be one of Sir Michael Stoute’s better 3 year olds. In the event he probably didn’t quite live up to expectations finishing out of the frame in both the Craven Stakes and the Dante. He earned his place in this list though with a couple of creditable performances. His one win of the year came in the Hampton Court Stakes, a listed race at Ascot where he came in at 8/1. Arguably he put in an even better effort when runner up beaten a head in a Group 3 at Newmarket in mid October.
47 – Invisible Man, owned by John Gosden and running in the colours of Princess Haya of Jordan was a progressive 3 year old handicapper. He won 3 times all over a mile, a maiden at Newmarket, a handicap at the same track and a handicap at Pontefract. He was ridden by Robert Havlin each time.
46 – Spring of Fame was bought by Godolphin from former trainer Mikael Magnusson but failed to live up to expectations falling short of top class lacking a turn of foot. Dropped a little in class though he stayed on well to beat Cloudy Start in a class 2 conditions event at Newmarket. He also won a listed contest at Deauville.
45 – Bab Al Salam confirmed the promise shown when winning his only start at two when winning 4 handicaps during the season. He won at Sandown over a mile off 81 and then over a mile and a quarter off 86 at Lingfield. He then defied a 5 lbs raise in the weights to complete the hat trick at Bath. He lost his unbeaten record when a disappointing 3rd at Newmarket but bounced back to form on his final outing with a fluent success at Kempton over 10 furlongs.
44 – Stoic – Jeremy Noseda’s colt Stoic missed the early part of the season with splint problems but after an encouraging return to action at Windsor won off a mark of 84 on his handicap debut at Sandown ridden by Tom Queally. He followed up with a win at HQ under Shane Kelly and made it 3 from 4 when dead heating with Penitent in a competitive mile handicap at Kempton. He looks an interesting prospect for mile handicaps next season.
43 – Saga De Tercey made his racecourse debut in a bumper at Huntingdon winning easily under the highly promising Rhys Flint. The sort of horse that trainer Alan Swinbank does so well with the 4 year old by Sagacity duly won his maiden on the flat when odds on at Musselburgh. A second at Carlisle in a ladies race was then followed by another success, this time at Catterick when he got back up having been headed inside the final furlong. Neil Callan was on board on this occasion in a 14 furlong handicap. A highly creditable second in a handicap at York was followed by another win this time at Thirsk where he was given a fine ride by Neil Callan and stayed on too strongly for his rivals. A disappointing 8th of 10 in the Cesarewitch trial at Newmarket on his final start he nonetheless deserves his place on the list with 3 wins and 2 seconds. –
42 – Roman Republic was a typical Mark Johnston 3 year old, tough and consistent. He was highly rated as a 2 year old being sent off a hot favourite on his racecourse bow. Although he ran poorly that day he made amends on his next run and in 2009 he won decent handicaps at Doncaster and Goodwood at the rewarding odds of 6/1 and 9/2. His final 2 starts of the season, both in Heritage handicaps saw the Cape Cross colt at his best. The form of his second to Firebet at Newmarket was boosted when the winner went on finish 2nd in the Group 3 Gordon Stakes. Roman Republic then landed the Summer Vase Handicap at Goodwood in gritty fashion, a race his trainer has an enviable record in.
41 – Your Old Pal seemed to surprise his own connection when winning his only run as a 2 year old on heavy ground at Newbury where he won by 6 lengths. In 2009 he won a 7 runner listed race at Newmarket by a head from Palavicini and was then a good 4 length 2nd to Father Time in the King Edward the Vll Stakes at Royal Ascot. He ran 4 times in all during the season and with his win coming at 13/2 he was a profitable horse to follow.
Picture by courtesy of the artist Karen Davis.
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