Skip to main content

Saturday 28th November

Yesterday saw a cracking renewal of the Long Distance Hurdle at Newbury. While, Thyme Hill was impressive and I felt at the start of the year he was the main contender for the Stayer's hurdle, Paisley Park put himself firmly on the comeback trail and with Cheltenham playing to his strengths, he will go very close in March. Shiskin was incredibly impressive from a jumping point of view on Monday although he really only beat a conservatively ridden Mick Pastor so there is no substance to the form and the Supreme is yet to be really franked like the other novice hurdles at last year's festival. A cracking weekend ahead once again and the ante-post markets are starting to really take shape. I love this time of year with all the top horses reappearing and plenty to review from a week's action. 

Moving onto today and I just found the Ladbroke Trophy too difficult. Staying handicap chases wouldn't be my strongest area and I tend to avoid unless I think there is something obviously well handicapped. Having gone through the runners, I didn't think there was anything that met enough criteria to suggest as a bet and I would be surprised if anything in the field is good enough to make an impact in Grade 1 contests later in the year. In terms of a selection, one I do like is the Philip Hobbs trained, Zanza, in the final race at Newbury. A winner twice at Newbury over hurdles, Zanza was good enough to finish a close 6th in the Betfair Hurdle off this mark over hurdles and I would be shocked if he isn't a better chaser in time. He has run reasonable in two attempts over fences but did face a stiff task last time in a hot Novice Chase. While admittedly well beaten in second, I thought he ran a race full of promise and Allmankind could go right to the top. At a course he clearly likes and with the stable hitting form, he seems to have a solid chance. 


1pt win Zamza (5/2 General) Newbury 3.35 *use BOG firms

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Royal Ascot Day 2

What an amazing day of racing we witnessed yesterday, sheer quality from start to finish. Personally, for me the highlight was Baatash winning the Kings Stand and putting the "myth" about Ascot to bed. There was no shame in being beaten by Blue Point a couple of times but he thoroughly deserved a win at the Royal meeting. For a horse that has achieved so much, I wonder if perhaps he doesn't get the credit he deserves? A debate for another day perhaps as today's card has taken quite a lot of time to go through! Again, my initial thought for day two is proceed with caution. There are a host of difficult handicaps with any amount of potentially well-handicapped horses and the Group races on the card offer little respite in terms of difficulty level. Addeybb would be a strong fancy if the rain arrives in time but to back him now would be guessing. The trendy horse for the day is clearly Ranch Hand for the concluding handicap at 4.40. I don't pay too much attention to ...
Post a Comment
Read more

1000 Guineas Day

The early signs are that the 2000 Guineas was a very good renewal despite the interrupted preparations for the first Classic of the season. The time was the fastest in the races history and the horses that were expected to run well beforehand fought out the finish. I am sure it will produce plenty of winners throughout the season. Of course the first thought for most people will be the Derby and my initial thought is that ante-post favourite prior to the Guineas, Military March, will find it hard enough to reverse the form with Kameko, who was very strong at the finish. Hopefully Kameko will turn up and we will know for sure in a four weeks time. Moving on to Sunday's action and it looks quite a tricky card, with few standout bets, particularly from a price perspective. The Buckhounds Stakes at 1.50 might be the exception as the Mark Johnston trained Communique  looks a worthy favourite. While the price has contracted throughout the day, I still feel he is worth a bet at anything...
Post a Comment
Read more

Saturday 13th November

 Cheltenham is back and I simply cannot hide my excitement for this meeting as it is one of my favourite weekends of the season. I think perhaps it has something to do with the hope and aspirations for the jumps season ahead. At this time of year, there is hardly a day that goes by without a "potential" Grade 1 horse making their debut over either hurdles or fences. Of course, the results vary and there are plenty of bubbles burst! Looking ahead to tomorrow and the feature Paddy Power Gold Cup looks a cracking contest and one could make a reasonable case for at least half of the field. Those of you who read my Eyecatchers column on Attheraces will have seen that I mentioned the run of Zanza in the Haldon Gold Cup recently and I think he looks tailor made for this test, despite having course figures of 60FP.  His run here last December when he fell 3 out in the race won by Sky Pirate was enough to suggest the course should not be a problem. It was probably too far out to know ...
Post a Comment
Read more