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Nathaniel - that's more like it! Very good performance - will be hard to beat in the Leger.
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Solar Sky - ahhhh!! So near and yet so far. The irony is I have backed SDS to win jockeys title! Great run though for a horse only having 3rd start over that trip on that ground.
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Plato should make up for it tonight. Loves the soft, stays all day and still well handicapped. Grab the ew 4's while you can
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A better day but could have been oh so good if Solar Sky had held on. Was counting my money as he swept into the lead but the winner clearly had plenty more to give and those Mark Johnston horses never go down without a fight. Still it was a great effort from Solar Sky on only his 3rd start and he would be an outsider for the Leger after that.
He will have to improve some though if he is going to get anyway near Nathaniel. So impressive wasnt he? If the ground is soft on Leger day he will surely be very hard to beat. That maiden at Newmarket last August looks extra special now! With the ground now even softer tomorrow it will be best to tread carefully but I like the chances of Passion For Gold even more now that the rain has come and he has to be good each way value at 12-1. The other horse I like is Bewitched who has good form on soft and beat Zoffany last time out. |
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Forgot to add the horse I have been waiting for all week Modun! He is a group horse in a handicap but my worry is the ground. His half brother Patkai didnt really act on it so I will probably wait and see if he drifts. He may still be good enough anyway although Johnny G's Taqleed finally DOES have his ground.
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My man SDS flies to Newbury tonight for one ride in the last. Either he is seriously committed to pleasing MJ or State Opera has a massive chance at a big price.
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What a day! The battle of the heavyweights! SYT verses Workforce, Haye verses Kiltchko, and two grunting Eastern Europeans.
So wasnt going to have a bet in the big one today but could not believe B365 were still going 2's this morning about Workforce! A Derby and Arc winner against a horse that has still yet to prove he can handle the best of British. Trip and ground are my worry but it really is D day for SYT today and the pressure will surely be on them. I think Workforce has a superior turn of foot and see him winning going away by a length or so. Should be a great race either way with 3 wonderful horses. Elsewhere I flagged up Vita Nova earlier in the season as a potential Group horse and she gets the chance today in a race that looks weaker then the listed one she so narrowly lost the other day. She was gallant in defeat that day and meets nothing if the same calibre so should win well. My last bet today is Chilled who should be forgiven his last run at Chester when he was badly baulked just when he was due to challenge. He was heavily backed that day and I take him to make amends today. Should be a good one! |
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Unbelievable Vita Nova! I'm sorry it may not have been his fault this time but TQ is all over the place at the moment. Lost all confidence.
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What a great day's racing. A case of what might have been for me but enjoyed it none the less.
A vintage Eclipse that will live long in the memory and won by a brilliant horse in So You Think. I hold my hands up and admit to getting it wrong - no excuses for the runner up. 2 out I thought I had it right as everything went to plan for Workforce and I thought he would pull away, but SYT was that little bit more forward today. A superb performance and I think even my machine Frankel would struggle to beat this horse over 10f. Workforce lost nothing in defeat and ran a great Arc trial today. Vita Nova was the unluckiest loser I have seen in years. Simple as that. Watch for her next time though - she is a serious filly this. Chilled won easily at a nice price. |
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Delighted for Timepiece and Tom Queally. Always very highly regarded and won really well under an excellent ride. I had a very good word at the start of the season for Royal Peculiar in the maiden but seems friendless in the market.
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So a great race in prospect on Saturday and surely one of the best renewals for years.
I had 3 value ante post bets – Midday ew at 25’s, Nathaniel ew at 12’s and Workforce win at 4’s, and I am pretty pleased with my position but I have to admit that, if I hadn’t already had a bet, I would struggle to pick the winner as there are plenty of positives and negatives about all of them. Workforce is a worthy favourite as he has his trip and ground but does he have his track? Personally the track doesn’t worry me but what does is the fact that it will only be 3 weeks since the Eclipse. He is a horse who has in the past seemed to need time between his races and I don’t think this race was part of the plan originally. Once Teddy went public about him being a certain runner if the ground was right, that 4-1 was too tempting but I am convinced that Stoute was not otherwise overly concerned about making this race. 9 times out of 10 at this time of year we would be racing on Good to Firm and Workforce wouldn’t be running and I think they are running now simply because they feel it would be silly not to. However the main target is definitely the Arc in October for which I would make him by far the most likely winner. I certainly wouldn’t be backing him again at his current odds but obviously hope to see him run a huge race. St Nicholas Abbey has done little wrong in his last two starts and, as big a fan of Midday as I am, thought that he was the winner on merit at Epsom. This is a big step up on that though and he did take an age to get going that day. Despite that bad first run of the season on soft ground, I am pretty sure that was down to a lack of fitness more than anything and his juvenile form would suggest that he would have no problems handling this surface. He is definitely in with a shout and the race is likely to be run to suit as it will be won by a horse that really gets a mile and a half, but they all do don’t they? I think he will fall short against these. Rewilding is the big danger to my two. Another who needs plenty of time between races, he has probably had just about enough of a break since Ascot and he may even improve for that run given he is likely to appreciate the step up in trip. So You Think franked that Ascot form in no uncertain terms last time out and Rewilding is sure to be there or thereabouts here. I have made some nice profits over the last few weeks backing the 3 year olds against their elders. The weight for age at this time of the season gives them a serious advantage (as we will see next Wednesday) and, whilst he is facing by far the hardest challenge of his career, Nathaniel is a colt on the upgrade who likes the track, loves the ground and stays all day. Is he good enough? Saturday will tell us but I think he will run a big race. John Gosden would not have encouraged the owners to stump up a considerable supplementary fee if he didn’t feel his horse had a chance and I expect him to represent his age group admirably. All in all a mouth watering clash to decide Britain’s best middle distance horse and, as I can’t bear sitting on the fence I am tentatively going to predict – Nathaniel 1st, Workforce 2nd, Rewilding 3rd and St Nicholas Abbey 4th but such is the strength of the race it really could be any number of variations of that! |
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Am off on me hols this weekend and not sure how accessible t’internet will be so have a few thoughts to leave for those of you who will miss me.
2 races I want to speak about. The Sussex and The Nassau. The Sussex could well be the best race in what has been a vintage summer of flat racing. The two main protagonists are both sensational horses and either one would be a more than worthy winner. Canford Cliffs is arguably the best miler since Rock of Gibraltar and his 5 straight Group 1 wins bear up to the closest of scrutiny. When I was at school I used to play a lot of conkers in the autumn. If you had a conker and won 5 times in a row you would call it a “fiver” but if you then beat a conker that had won 13 times in a row you would become a “fourteener”. Having just beaten Goldikova, if Canford Cliffs was a conker he would now be a fourteener! What is more, as usual, he did it seemingly with a bit in hand. Like Sea The Stars, it may well be that he only ever does enough to win and we might not yet have got to the bottom of him in terms of ratings. His trainer and jockey rate him as the best they have ever trained/ridden and it will take a monumental horse to lower his colours. In Frankel, though, we do have a monumental horse. Never beaten. Never even close to being beaten. The best horse to be trained by one of the best trainers of all time. A once in a lifetime horse that excites me more than any I have seen in my 40 years. How good will Canford Cliffs have to be to beat him conceding 8lbs?!! As many on here said last year, physically Frankel has always been way ahead of his peers. Seeing him in the flesh at Newmarket, Newbury and Ascot, he just seems to get more powerful every time I see him. But it is not so much the power as that incredible stride that takes the breath away. He devours the ground, head down, running as if his life depended on it. A horse that has produced some truly great performances and is on the verge of becoming a true great. But he MUST win this race to become so. A lot has been spoken about tactics and they are clearly going to be important in a small field. One thing is certain, if Frankel is ridden like he was at Ascot, Canford will have him for breakfast. Similarly I think if Tom leaves thing too late he could be outspeeded by Canford. Tom and Henry know that they need to play to the strengths of their horse without setting the race up for a fast finisher. I expect them to go for home at the top of the straight and trust that the downhill run to the line will not cause him to tire as he did at Ascot. Frankel takes horses out of their comfort zone and I am pretty sure that is what he will do to Canford if he goes at the 3 pole. Will Richard Hughes try and follow him then or wait? Can Canford sprint for 3 furlongs like we know Frankel can? I doubt it. So I expect Tom to sit in behind what is likely to be a bit of a crawl through the opening few furlongs before setting him alight turning in. I expect Canford to chase him valiantly but in vain and would be surprised if he finished within 2 lengths. I believe Frankel is one of the greatest horses of all time and I expect him to prove it on Wednesday. The Nassau looks a cracking race this year also. Misty for Me looked fantastic last time but had the run of the race and enjoyed the sticky ground. Snow Fairy has been brilliant since winning the Oaks but needs to bounce back after a subpar performance last time out. Midday is one of my favourites and is going for the hat trick. She looked as good as ever in her first two races this season but was particularly flat last time out. The one I have had a bit of fun with at big prices is Cecil’s number 2 – Principal Role. A bit like Timepiece a few weeks ago, this one has it all to do on the formbook but is very highly regarded at home and it is interesting that they are letting her take her chance in this race. I can tell you that in her last two pieces of work she has had the better of Midday and yet there is a colossal difference in price. As I say, it is a high class renewal and she may come up short but, at 16-1, I am prepared to give her a go although I would be delighted to see Midday do it again. I will be in France and my main mission will be to find a way of watching these 2 races without incurring the wrath of my scary wife. Wish me luck and bonne chance! |
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Never been so gutted to win a race. Delighted for John G and WB but a very sad day nonetheless.
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