RyanWe

SOUTHWELL

Pretty dire day of jumps action, and pretty uneventful in the handicaps.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2.20 Handicap Chase (CLASS 5) (4yo+ 0-90) Winner £1,677 9 runners 2m4f110y Good

This was a really average looking race on paper with only 2 of the 9 runners having won in handicap company before.

Gunner Rose (75) took victory and done it quite easily. He didn’t look particularly well handicapped and probably highlights the direness of this race, but it appears the combination of the drop back down in trip and help from the handicapper proved a successful tonic. He’s entered for Stratford in 6 days time, so it wouldn’t surprise to see him running under a 7lb penalty. He’ll probably stand a good chance of winning if he faces opponents of the same calibre as today.

Ginger’s Lad (88) ran a sound enough race in 2nd, but needs some help from the handicapper or a decent claimer to ease him down the weights as his last win was off 79 and he had a 7lb claimer to further reduce it too.

Cloudy Dawn (77) ended up coming 3rd, but shaped well for a long way after a 119 day lay off before weakening 2 out. This 6 year old winning point to pointer over 3 miles has never raced further than today’s 21f under rules and is surely worth a try over further. Funnily enough his lack of fitness today made it look like he needed shorter, but if the handicapper is willing to relent a bit on his handicap mark then he could win a small race.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2.55 Novices´ Handicap Chase (CLASS 4) (4yo+ 0-110) Winner £2,209 6 runners 3m110y Good

This race looked slightly better on paper than the opener, as most of the field came in to the race with some form. Gem Mill made the race a real slog, and it’s no surprise as he just seems to stay all day.

Gem Mill, such a game horse, was rewarded for his perseverance with a victory even though he was 4lb out of the handicap. All he appears to do is stay all day, and although he always has these moments where he looks vulnerable, today was the day he broke the sequence of 2nds. Interestingly his sole win beforehand was achieved with a light weight of 10st 2lb, but I’m not sure if carrying bigger weights have stopped him in the past. He has 2 options in the next 7 days to run with a penalty, but he’s had some hard races lately and is going to need a break sooner or later. I think we will definitely see some more improvement from the horse once he goes over even further.

Horseshoe Reef looked like he actually hit the front in the home straight, but put some sloppy jumps in which prevented him from winning. He can pick up a small race in due course if cutting out the errors.

Tucumcari ran a strange sort of race. At moments he looked like he was travelling really well, then not, then well again, maybe they were just some ‘flat spots’. He also held every chance before weakening, and then running on again late on. I think he needs some help from the handicapper.

Calypso Bay was effectively 10lb ‘well in’ for his 1st start over fences. Unfortunately for the horse he wasn’t aware of this, and it’s no surprise that he was very novicey over some of his fences. I’m not sure he’s got what it takes to be better over fences, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him back over hurdles.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

4.40 Novices´ Hurdle (CLASS 4) (4yo+) Winner £2,053 7 runners 2m Good

A galvanising ride from McCoy saw Sharadiyn record his 1st success over hurdles  beating the short priced favourite Pippa Greene.

Sharadiyn hasn’t exactly set the hurdling world alight with his handicap performances and is only rated 98, so I think it’s really disappointing that Pippa Green couldn’t win today after a really promising hurdling debut.

I don’t particularly feel like PG was in love with these fixed brush hurdles and his inexperienced showed. Moreover, the horse could definitely settle a lot better. Maybe handicaps are in mind. I’d like to think PG will turn out to be a lot better than 100 rated over hurdles with experience, and I think he will improve with a step up in distance too considering he was a decent middle distance horse on the flat.

Working Class Hero was running a nice enough race back in 3rd on his hurdling debut before falling, but I’m not sure he would of improved on this position.

Sharadiyn set a low standard, so it was quite a disappointing that something else in the field couldn’t win.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

5.15 Handicap Hurdle (CLASS 4) (4yo+ 0-115) Winner £2,053 9 runners 2m Good

Another race that many thought would be at the mercy of the ‘well in’ Hi Tide. However, either the 7lb penalty was too much, or it was a race too soon as he never really threatened. To rub salt in to the wound, he’s due to go up another 7lb, so it all looks very harsh.

Crosby Jemma won the race, who was previously stuffed by Hi Tide. Yet she was finally able to capitalise on her declining mark and stick her head in front, although she didn’t win as far as she looked like she might approaching the final hurdle. Whether she can build upon this performance, who knows, but she’s not one I’d want to take a short price about.

Lady Anne Nevill was only narrowly denied but she’s not hiding anything from the handicapper.

Rampant Ronnie was back in 3rd, and has been creeping back up the handicap after some decent efforts. He needs the handicapper to relent, or stick a claimer back on.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Eyecatchers so far
Baan (July 21st)
Cloudy Dawn (July 22nd)

I believe the next UK mainland jumps action is on Monday evening at Uttoxeter.. so hopefully I will be able to post a review sometime soon after that.