Kaadi wd – 5.20
has been on my ‘next time’ list since finishing an eye-catching second to Enchanting Empress over five furlongs of Wolverhampton Tapeta earlier this month; presumably this Karl Burke-trained Soldier’s Call filly will cope with a ‘good’ Windsor turf surface in the Fillies’ Novice Stakes over a similar distance tonight, again under stable jockey Clifford Lee.
Thankfully racecourses, which have taken a pounding, are now drying out and, for instance, three days of Newmarket’s ‘Craven’ meeting last week were staged on superb ‘good-to firm’ and revealed several ‘classic’ clues; my only fear is ‘clerks’ watering indiscriminately and misleading punters. I’ll be on the case!
Burke has been a revelation, especially with juveniles and is now in the ‘Premier League’ in every sense; during a phone call last week when he registered a profile handicap success at HQ he left me in no doubt there are high expectations for the forthcoming campaign and I’ll be monitoring his modus operandi closely on your behalf.
Half an hour later
Castle In The Sand wd – 5.50
loks the proverbial each-way ‘thieving bet’ but I’ll be gobsmacked if Andrew Balding’s charge beats Owen Burrows’ Deira Mile, a Camelot colt which left Mark Johnston’s yard after being beaten at 1/4 on Chelmsford polytrack; went onto contest the group one ‘futurity’ on Town Moor where he finished a close fourth, beaten only two and a half lengths! Wonder what happened!
‘Heavy’ has been a consistent Hexham forecast theme this year but the familiar bulletin is not a block where National Hunt Flat Races are at issue, ‘Bumpers’ are now my speciality and
Lance Les Des hx – 5.35
is definitely worth chancing in the concluding in the ‘lucky last’ with 3lbs conditional jockey Bruce Lynn partnering the 5-y-o gelding again.
My ‘beef’ about NH racing is the process of jumping out of desperate ground which obviously affects thoroughbreds physically as the ‘slogs’ continue; big horses flounder, smaller ones just can’t cope and so it becomes a guessing game which I’m reluctant to play.
Evidence of coping is obviously a major factor and Lance Les Des ‘debuted’ satisfactorily on deep Kelso turf back in February when finishing a creditable 5th (of 12) to heavily-backed favourite Dedicated Hero; given his 22/1 starting price this was obviously a scouting mission but Scottish-based trainer Nick Alexander never wastes a race and I’ll bet odds are considerably shorter this time!
Incidentally ‘Lance’ was pulled up in the void Kelso race last week when our nap Red Cadillac was cantering and would probably have won!
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