Hello & Welcome along to a midweek edition of my blog. As I never commented on last weekend's action lets just add that wow Cue Card (see below) was awesome last Saturday, bold jumping & he put his rivals to the sword early while Dynaste ran a lovely race on his first start in open company travelling well before tiring all I can say is The King George is shaping up to be a belter with the first 3 home in the Betfair likely to go in again & hopefully Al Ferof will join them even though his return to action at Ascot was as uncompetitive as they come you still couldn't fail to be impressed by his exuberant jumping.
The first of 3 exciting days for Newbury's Hennessy Festival gets underway tomorrow & if all goes to plan I will be attending all 3 days, I am certainly popping along tomorrow for admittedly small fields but no lack of intrigue.
From a massive entry the first race a disappointingly there are only 4 runners but in honesty it is a 1 horse race in the shape of Nicky Henderson's Volnay De Thaix who has shown form miles clear of his 3 rivals. I think I will be in the bar while that race is on & I may well stay there during race 2 which is an Amaetreu Riders event which I would imagine would be between Top Dancer under the excellent Jamie Codd & Susqehanna River who looked undone by the slight rise in class last time, he tries again up in grade tomorrow but this is a less competitive event. Polisky threw away a perfectly good winning opportunity at Ascot on Saturday & is a risky betting proposition.
The first real betting opportunity at Newbury tomorrow comes in the shape of 13:30 Novices Handicap Hurdle in which last weeks Warwick 1-2 Swinging Hawk & Presence Felt re-oppose, Swinging Hawk was ridden with the utmost confidence by his young conditional R.McCarth that day but he has incurred a 7lb penalty for that which on the face it is quite harsh which means he will have it all to do to hold last week's opponent from his now revised mark as he has nowhere near as much in hand as last week when he was 13lbs better off with Presence Felt, he is only 3lbs better off tomorrow. For me Presence Felt has to be a good thing tomorrow as he ran so well on his first start last week & is thrown back into the thick of the action quickly, he has looked a likely handicap winner. Bohemian Rhapsody is on what looks a lenient mark over hurdles on his 2nd start in a Handicap so I would see him as the main danger to Presence Felt.
The Grade 2 Worcester Novices Chase has attracted a decent field & has not cut up anywhere near as badly as I had expected having originally only attracted 7 entries so to have 5 runners is a decent return. The obvious horse to start with is Paul Nicholls Just A Par who was beaten a long way behind At Fishers Cross in a Grade 1 at Aintree last season, he has had 1 start over fences when being easily beaten by Shotgun Paddy (beaten since) at Chepstow, Boyfromnowhere finished 3rd that day & has since won the Southern National so the form has some mixed messages, his jumping was ok if not as slick as hoped but he should have learned from that. La Reve comes from the same stable as Shotgun Paddy & was a very fortunate winner on his 2nd chase start benefiting from Smad Place unseating he faces an uphill task tomorrow. Third Intention has more experience than most novices but that also means he looks fairly exposed so will do well to beat some decent looking rivals giving weight away. Ardkilly Witness is perhaps the horse who can give Just A Par most to do as he made a perfectly satisfactory chase debut behind a much improved Smad Place at Exeter, he was a decent novice hurdler last year & is a winning pointer from his early days. Typical Oscar looks hopelessly outclassed.
A very tight novices handicap chase follows in which all 6 have chances so it will be interesting to see what they look like on the day, everything Venetia Williams runs at present needs respecting & Renard D'Irlande who won from a good mark at Uttoxeter on his seasonal debut returns having been only a few lbs for that. Easter Day has always looked a chaser & is another who will improve both in fitness & for the longer trip in a handicap tomorrow.
The race I am seriously looking forward to is The Gerry Fielden in which Puffin Billy (see below) returns after a lacklustre end to his season which had initially promised so much, I was at Ascot when he won a Grade 2 hurdle in a hack canter,
he looked a real top prospect that day but was beaten on all 3 starts afterwards however he was lame at Exeter behind Melodic Rendezvous, was rushed to get to the Festival afterwards & ran perfectly respectably when finishing 5th in a hot supreme. He was then very much over the top when returning to Cheltenham a month later.
All the noises coming from his yard are that he has returned in rude health & has grown up over the summer. I am really looking forward to seeing him tomorrow as he really impressed me in the paddock at Ascot last year. His trainer has also said 'I'm not saying he's a Champion Hurdle horse' which to me suggests that he has been thinking that he might be & on that Ascot win last year he looked one, his trainer knows what it takes to train a top class hurdler having trained the excellent Large Action (see below). As tomorrow's event is a handicap he does have to shoulder top weight which he is well worth on his earlier efforts last season.
It's also worth remembering that 2 years ago this race announced the arrival of Rock On Ruby (carrying top weight) to the big league so having said I have had a speculative dabble at big odds for Puffin Billy in the Champion Hurdle hoping he can confirm the impression he left on me at Ascot last year.
He faces a good field tomorrow with Chatterbox leading the opponents, he beat his more illustrious stablemate My Tent Or Yours in a course & distance novice last winter before finishing a respectable 4th to The New One at the Festival, a nice horse who is a danger but I wonder if he will have the pace tomorrow. Irish Saint would be one of the more exposed juvenile hurdlers from last season & looks a bit high in the weights against classy types. Chris Pea Green will enjoy the ground & returned with a good 2nd behind Pine Creek at Ascot recently, my only worry is I think he is better in bigger fields. Ifandbutwhynot & Fleet Dawn are decent handicappers but are exposed in this company while Lordofthehouse is a rogue. Get Back In Line is in my tracker for later in the season for races in the 2m4f range after needing all of the 2m3f trip at Catterick in Feb this year beating 3 very decent sorts King Of The Wolds, Morning Royalty & Special Catch. Its interesting he starts here but he will surely find it all happening too quickly & I would imagine if they expected a win that McCoy would not be at Uttoxeter.
The closing bumper features some interesting young horses namely Thomas Brown who was a good pointer as was Red Devil Lads & sees the introduction of Barber Shops half brother Maestro Royal for Nicky Henderson.
13:30 Bet365.com Novices Handicap Hurdle
Presence Felt WIN Best available price
15:15 Bet365 Intermediate Hurdle Liste Race (Registered Gerry Fielden Hurdle)
Puffin Billy 11/2 Ladbrokes WIN
Win Double Presence Felt & Puffin Billy
No comments:
Post a Comment