It appears Noble Style will not be running in the Greenham on Saturday due to the going. Maybe a blessing, but i'm still going to Newbury as a BA flight, Heathrow T4 hotel and train ticket from Slough already booked. Disappointing, but should be a good weekend.

Morning Laurie,

I think it's very inconsiderate you are not prepared to fly over to Newbury from France on the day

Seriously, no worries, there will be other occasions. Looking at the declarations there wasn't anything that jumped off the page and i'm not convinced that Chaldean is the real deal yet, but could be difficult to beat.

Good luck and enjoy France.

Morning Ashleigh,

Afternoon here

Yes, it wasn't a surprise and even last weekend i had my doubts he would run on Saturday. It's disappointing although i was never going to be lumping on anyway due to the trip, but hopefully the Newmarket gallop shows he's in good heart, and if so, at least my ante-post bets will get a run. I like the horse and think he's decent.

I can't have the AOB fav in the 2000 guineas.

Good luck.

............. and a likely winner in the latter at least

Todays deliberate error

Reporting in from the last two days at Newmarket - very windy, cold, semi deserted, only for the diehard fan. Those two Godolphin horses in the feature races yerterday were disappointing, but the performances were no surprise to me after seeing them pre race. Creative Force looked lethargic and moved poorly to post - he didn't find as much as Buick seemed to expect up the hill and I reckon he'd be more interesting upped to 7F. One to remember when the big 7F events at Goodwood and York come along in July/August.

Mysterious Night looked well in need of the race and was another showing very little on the way to post. Even allowing for that, he ran really badly and has possibly been over-rated. Interesting that Equibase (US form site, their equivalent of Timeform) only rated his Grp1 win in Canada at 99, suggesting that it probably didn't take much winning.

Star performers - Like A Tiger in the 10F hcp on Wednesday, who will pay with a 10-12lb rise in his mark, but will still be of interest next time, probably the 10F London Gold Cup at Newbury next month. All the James Ferguson horses ran well, but the trick is to keep them in form through the summer. I've seen plenty of examples of stables that were flying in April, but crash landed in June! Also Spring Dawn, runner-up in the 7F fillies maiden yesterday on debut under what might politely be called an educational ride from Buick. Certain to win a maiden at 7F/1M and will be a short price, but likely to go on and prove herself a Group class filly and probably better on faster ground.

One slightly darker horse - Rowayeh, third in the 1M fillies maiden on Wednesday, her second start. Trained by the patient Owen Burrows, likely to be stepped up to 10F next time and go on the make a useful handicapper in fillies races.

Andrew,

My presence at Newbury tomorrow has to be rated 50/50 - my dodgy knee is quite painful this morning after two days racing and the necessary driving. I'm hoping it will be OK in 24hrs, but will let you know on here either way.

Andrew, any thoughts on today's card at Saint Cloud ?  I see a few shrewdies tipping up the filly Heartache Tonight, half sister to the classy Wonderful Tonight.
Bog like conditions forecast there but she's bred to relish them, albeit its only her 2nd start.

Bunch finish at Saint Cloud (watched on Ze-Turf) looks like 6-4-3 (Heartache Tonight 3rd)

Higgle (18/1) ran well, better than her finishing position would indicate, in fact at the 200 metre marker i thought she was going to win. Only faded close home

Platini

VR of the Saint Cloud race (you may need to register)

https://www.france-galop.com/fr/cheval/VzZJa0xCeHRnZk5BcTlpb1NJRFdEQT09

WD Trusty,

At the course.

I didnt play Hurricane or Chaldean, i've never been convinced by the latter as mentioned before. Not overly enthralled with the card, but may back The Antarctic at Navan. Good luck whatever you play.

Morning All,

A speculative wager for Punchestown later today. The 3M novice chase at 6:35 must be one of the oddest Grade 1 3M chases ever staged, as none of the six runners has ever won a 3M chase. Past history of this race points to Classic Getaway and Feronily as unlikely winners, as they've only run once over fences - and Appreciate It and Sir Gerhard are both older than ideal. In fact no 9-y-old has won this in the last 20 years.

That leaves the current favourite Journey With Me and the outsider of the Mullins quartet, James Du Berlais. I'm not convinced the former will stay as his dam has produced three previous winners, who all favoured the minimum trip - best of them was the useful 2M handicap chaser Yorkist. If he does stay, he probably wins. James Du Berlais however seems almost sure to stay, given his second in the Grade 1 3M hurdle at this meeting two years ago. His chase career to date has not sparkled, but he seems to me much the most likely of this field to benefit from the longer trip.

As I say, speculative, but Punchestown has a long history of producing oddball results over fences.

Good afternoon Guys from a drizzly West of München,

Arrived back in my temporary homeland yesterday, just in time for lunch, after a short weekend and an afternoon at Newbury races on Saturday. I met the poster Lucky Luciano and a couple of others; all on my WhatsApp group who i often meet up for race meetings, together with another 2 i met at Kempton when Sense Of Security ran in January.

One of the original reasons for me going over was to see Noble Style in the Greenham, although he was a known non-runner due to the soft going last week. I considered cancelling/moving my flight, but i hadn't been to Newbury for a zillion-years, friends were going, and we had a stable visit planned in the morning. I wasn't overly enthralled with the card and even if Noble Style had run, i was never intending to lump on with the obvious stamina question.

I didn't fancy Hurricane Lane, none of us did, the 6/4 told everyone all you needed to know, or Chaldean, although i didn't lay either, in fact i didn't use BF at all as i intentionally left my tablet in the hotel. I thought the Beckett filly looked half-decent in the Fred Darling and deserves her chance in the Guineas. Emily Dickenson in Ireland was my only profitable bet, but i did get a EW stake return on the 3rd placed Sugar Hill.

Finished the day with a small double figure loss, but i was only betting for fun and my largest stake wouldn't have exceeded cost of the premier enclosure ticket, but a nice afternoon in very good company nevertheless. I did incur one additional loss, £8 for a UK electrical plug adaptor as i forgot to bring one and not for the first time, in fact, i could set up a market stall and start selling them.

Unfortunately, Alan couldn't make it for reasons mentioned on Friday and he confirmed it the following morning. There will be other opportunities in future, albeit very doubtful in May as i'm travelling home to Linköping on Thursday evening for a few days and will be at Longchamp mid-month for the dual Guineas meeting (not 7th as i previously mentioned).

I can recommend the Swan Inn just outside Newbury, we had dinner and drinks there after the racing. A decent 16th century country pub, varied menu to cater for all tastes, good food and not expensive, although the sticky toffee pudding, my fav desert, could have been better.

Regular readers may remember i recently mentioned we were going to Daniel and Clair Küblers stable prior to Newbury, but my original plan was to come over to London on the Friday, so i had to give it a miss as the others were leaving quite early, around 06.30. Nothing set in stone yet, although looking promising, but a few of us (including a few ex-shareholders in the filly Sense Of Security who was sold recently) are looking to buy something at the HIT sales in October (or maybe earlier now). Only bargain basement ownership, but more for fun and certainly not an investment.

On to this afternoon and start of the Willie Mullins benefit festival at Punchestown, how many grade 1's ? There's plenty of shorties over the forthcoming days, but it's end of a season and the only right-handed course of the 3 recent festivals are points to consider. Facile Vega will be strongly fancied to win the Champion novice hurdle (4.15) but not with my hard earned although i wouldn't lay him. I put up Diverge EW for the Supreme and he rewarded backers with a 25/1 3rd place behind the favourite, but he could do better here, more so if Patrick can race more prominently this afternoon, he gave the front two a lot of leeway at Cheltenham and actually recorded better last 2 furlongs sectionals than Facile Vega. The favourite could be difficult to beat, but i will back Diverge small.

If Energumene doesn't win the Champion Chase (5.25) i will eat my socks. If Carlsberg did courses, Punchestown would be ideal for him, but the 4/11 odds reflect his obvious winning chance and give owner Tony Bloom a reason to smile after Brighton lost on penalties in the FA Cup semi-final on Sunday.

Elsewhere, Frankie Dettori has a sole ride at Epsom, his only one until Friday and will surely win on Epictetus, albeit only for money buyers, although not me.

Over at Compiegne (2.00) Amy Murphy returns to France in hope of picking up more euros with Kalashnikov who won at Auteuil LTO. 10 years old now, but it seems he's been around forever. Up in class today and may have to settle for a place behind the Daniela Mele trained Rosario Baron who will off in front and be hard to catch.

Good luck and have a nice Tuesday all.

Trusty

WD with the Newbury lays, hope you made plenty.

Alan

Thanks for the Punchestown input and good luck.

The Dragon

Good luck with Journey With Me, not a race i will be playing in.

PHS

Thanks.

I watched on Ze-Turf.

Got the result right, but not the pace angle, i expected him to make all. Often races up with the pace and at Auteuil (Grade 3) he was always in the front 2 and led from the 3rd.

Always mid-field this afternoon, but off the final bend moved up to sit just off the leaders and you could see at the 2nd last he was travelling much better than the others. Won cosily from the other 2/1 JF with the 3rd 20L back.

Mixes chases and hurdles, but this was only his 4th under the latter rules with a 2-0-1 record. He can win again.

Good afternoon Guys,

Day 2 of the WPM benefit meeting at Punchestown and no doubt he will add to yesterdays' haul of 4 winners. He certainly did me a favour with one of them, that so nearly could have been an embarrassment with my comment  :

If Energumene doesn't win the Champion Chase (5.25) i will eat my socks. If Carlsberg did courses, Punchestown would be ideal for him, but the 4/11 odds reflect his obvious winning chance.

The Gold Cup winner Galopin Des Champs appears to be his best chance this afternoon, but i feel one of his favourites Ha D'Or (19.05) is too short at 6/4. Sure, it's a risky lay, any short odds WPM runner is at festivals, and he has youth on his side in this field. Down to handicap chase level for the first time, but there's a reason for this. Up in trip and didn't run well on his last Punchestown chase. The Cheltenham Arkle form LTO is strong, albeit he was beaten over 28L and would have finished 6th if Dysart Dynamo hadn't come down. The two he beat home were rags. The negative is the field appears to be a bit 'hit and miss' and it wouldn't surprise me if a stablemate won. Not one i would post as my P/L selections, but i will lay it anyway.

Good luck and have a nice Wednesday all.

Good afternoon Guys,

PHS

Thanks.

Hindsight etc Financially i was happy, more so at 11/10f. None of us like to see horses fall, although when you've layed one, empathy is not the initial feeling experienced, but thankfully he was fine. In my opinion i doubt he wouldn't have won if staying on his feet anyway, the winner did it well, drawing clear and was receiving 18lb from the favourite.

I haven't had much time to look at the cards today and i'm leaving the office around 4 (back home to Sweden until Sunday evening) but at the beginning of the week i thought El Fabiolo and Lossiemouth were the 2 best shorties of the festival. If EF completes the course, i will be surprised if he gets beaten and i backed him earlier, also in a SP double with Lossiemouth when i was in GB over the weekend. Only sensible stakes though, it is Punchestown after all and we saw yesterday, WPM good things don't always win.

One i thought could run well at a price is Secret She Keeps in the Mares chase (19.10). Didn't do much over hurdles, but looks a chaser on the up. Lightly raced, and ran well over further (extended 22f) to finish 4th on the course having every chance at the last fence LTO. Stayed on well (20.5f) to win at Thurles in her penultimate run. Hasn't been out since November, but has run well enough fresh in the past. Rachel who has ridden her before is on a stablemate, the higher rated Queen Jane who looks progressive, but the course will suit the front running style of Secret She Keeps and she's worth a small EW stake (11/2 with WH).

Good luck and have a nice Thursday all.

Morning All,

One last stab at the NH before concentrating solely on the flat for the next five months. I reckon Jonbon is much too short in the Sandown 1:40 - he's won four novice races this year, but at least three of his opponents this afternoon would have won those races just as easily. When he ran here in December, it was noticeable that he jumped cleanly, but not as fluently as he generally did going right handed. If you watch a replay of that race (https://www.racingtv.com/videos/watch/horse_racing_replays/422042-close-brothers-henry-viii-novices-chase-grade-1-1) notice how he gets in close at the railway fences and shifts left in the air. That sort of loss of momentum won't help him against the class of horse he takes on today.

Laying Jonbon is one option, but I'll probably opt to play the race by backing Greaneteen, who has an excellent record on the course and will be comfortable back here after two lesser efforts on left handed tracks.

Excellent card at Sandown, good luck whatever you're backing (or laying) there.

Good afternoon and greetings from the best small city in Sweden, Linköping, albeit a matter of opinion i guess.

A short post as i'm meeting friends at 13.30 and it's doubtful i will see any racing later, just as yesterday as i fell asleep on the sofa. I had a potential lay in mind then as well, but when i looked at the odds it had drifted to over 5 on here. I should have checked again later as it ended up 13/8f and was well beaten without any financial interest from me. This is what i sent the guys on my WhatsApp group yesterday morning.

I took a look at Sa Majeste form/VR's. Sire and dam are ordinary at best. Good ones on the dam sire side including Frodon. 2 runs at Auteuil in 2022, 18f conditions races, both similar. Soft/heavy. Appeared green on debut, jumped to the right at a couple early, and wandered across the course. An odd ride, led, prominent, then dropped back through the field to almost last. Ran on late, stayed well, would have been 4th but for a faller. Form is franked, the front two each won a listed handicap (these are not like our listed races). Both ran in group company later.

Won LTO, another odd ride, led, dropped back to 4th, then led. Stayed on well. Form difficult to evaluate, but debut run looks better class. JPM bought him mid 2022, had a setback, hence not run since. In my opinion 16f around Punchestown will be too sharp for him, probably needs 20f already. Could be entered just to get a run into him after the setback. Different going today. He obviously has ability, but is this the right race. Of course he could be classy enough to win, but i would rather be a layer than a backer

C'est la vie.

Only a couple of bets for me this afternoon, but sensible stakes as i've had a profitable week thanks to WPM and don't want to spoil it. Regular readers know i'm a big fan of Lossiemouth (5.00) so much so, i even travelled to Leopardstown during a February weekend in England to see her run. She was very unlucky there, but redeemed herself in the Triumph at Cheltenham and i expect her to follow Vauban who won both races last season.

My other bet is Love Envoi (3.50) a superb mare with a 8-2-0 record from 10 runs and a credit to connections. Doesn't have a lot in hand on ratings, and it's not a bad field, but she never runs a poor race and as long as Cheltenham hasn't taken it's toll, i think she will win.

Good luck and have a nice Saturday all.

Trusty

Thanks for your input and good luck. It may be sunny where you are, but it's 11c, overcast and rain is forecast for here later.

Alan

Thanks for your input and good luck.

I've never really been a fan of Jonbon as mentioned before on here, but i think it stems from him just beating El Fabiolo (the moral winner for me) last season when i was on the latter and i haven't forgiven him.

Ashleigh

I knew Vauban was running, but i didn't back him even though i like the horse, he certainly did well for me last season. He's been beaten 4 times by State Man and is simply not as good as that one; to be honest i doubt if he ever will beat him. Never mind, Ascot on the flat in the summer beckons, so i may get to see him in the flesh again.

Tomorrow afternoon at Salisbury, my current horse, Eagle Court, will be running in the 4:20, a 12F handicap.

Which will be almost exactly 42 years after my first runner at Salisbury (May 7th, 1981), as detailed on the racecard I kept in a scrapbook. It’s an interesting piece of social history now, an indicator of how much racing has changed over time. Here's the link to the card:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rXJONTauaVd8RzDgeh1m1d9V8DXbNAhT/view?usp=sharing

Probably the biggest change is obvious when you look at the details of the owners of those 15 horses. Twelve owned by a single individual, three by two individuals. No partnerships, no syndicates, no companies, no racing clubs and no overseas owners, with the exception of Mr Paul Mellon.

Then look at the weight range, which allowed a horse as moderate as the one I owned then to scrape in on 7-7 against horses that he would never compete against nowadays, as he’d be running in class 6 contests, and the top weights here would be in class 3. Even here, Rising Fast was actually 3lbs wrong in the weights, with 7-4 in the long handicap.

A month after this race, he won on consecutive Saturdays at Warwick and Bath, carrying 8-0 at Warwick and 7-10 including a penalty at Bath. The rise for those wins was enough to get him a run in the Goodwood Stakes and the Cesarewitch, both races beyond the wildest dreams of low rated horses now. To put that in context, at the end of the season, Timeform rated Rising Fast on 60. What chance you could get a 60 rated horse into a race anywhere on a Grade 1 track!

I shudder to think how naive I was back then, but also how lucky I was to have chosen David Elsworth, then in his third season with a licence, as my trainer.

I see R.P.C Hoad was a trainer from Lewes. Mark Hoad trains at Lewes. I guess his father?

MrC,

My old 1988 Directory of the Turf confirms Roger Hoad began training at Lewes with a full licence in 1980 and that he was married with one son, Mark. He lists the winner of that 1981 race, Cardiff, as one of his five 'best horses trained'.

Thank you Anorak