Review of the day

A busy day – but ultimately, a bit of a nothing day…

A winner at Fontwell, was matched by a few losers at Cheltenham; whilst victory for Morning Assembly at Punchestown, was evened out by defeat for Defy Logic…

Starting with Fontwell then, where Boyfromnowhere was a very game winner of the long distance chase.
Obviously that was pleasing – but more pleasing was the fact that non of the first 4 in the betting this morning, managed to finish in the first 4 in the race.

My angle into the race was wanting to take them on – so it was nice to be proved right, in that respect.

Obviously I was disappointed that we didn’t get to test my theory completely, with the absence of American Spin.

Though if he had run, Boyfromnowhere would probably have pipped him – so maybe it was for the best…

The main action of the day was obviously at Punchestown, where we had tips running 3 of the races…

First up was Copper Birch, but he ran no sort of a race and finished nearly last.
A little frustratingly, the winner, Home Run, was pickable on some of last seasons form – but I really didn’t think he would be allowed to go off at 40/1 if the Pipe stable thought he had half a chance. It just goes to show…

The next tips to run, were Ifandbutwhynot and Flaxen Flare in the Greatwood.

The former was held up out the back and suffered some interference when Ahyaknowyerself fell. It’s doubtful that it harmed his chances significantly – but it certainly didn’t help them.

On the other hand, Flaxen Flare had the perfect position throughout the race – but just wasn’t good enough to mount a proper challenge.
He really looked as if he had no excuses…

The final tip of the day to run, was Wadswick Court.

I honestly thought that he would go very well – but his run was disappointing.

Noel Fehily seemed keen not to give him a hard race (maybe connections were wary of the ground) and he let the leaders get away from him, coming down the hill.

I’m sure he is much better than he showed today – but we are going to have to wait for him to show it.

What made it more irritating though, was the fact that his much less fancied stable companion finished a close up third. Again, that told me that the real Wadswick Court would have gone very close today…

In the other races on the card, Tom Scudamore stole the novice hurdle on The Liquidator.
That’s to take nothing away from the horse, who is probably very good anyway.

But when you are given an easy time of it up front, it always makes wining a little easier.

Dodging Bullets was a very tidy winner of the novice chase.
Whether he is up to the standard required to win an Arkle, is a different matter – but it was difficult to crib his performance today.

In the 2 mile chase, Sire De Grugy was a big disappointment – but it wasn’t Special Tiara who took advantage (I’m almost relieved to say !).

The favourites jumping left a lot to be desired at a number of the fences – and ultimately, that found him out as he tired up the hill and Kid Cassidy ran him down…

Over at Punchestown, Defy Logic lost out to Felix Younger in the 2 mile novice chase – but I won’t be tearing up my Arkle slip just yet…

Defy Logic strikes me as a bit of a baby – and I suspect that todays race will have done him a lot of good. His jumping isn’t slick – and he doesn’t really settle in his races – yet he still is able to produce high class performances.

If Paul Nolan can sort him out, there is still a chance that he will come good in March.

Lets’ not forget, Felix Younger is no slouch. He finished second to the brilliant Simonsig when that one won the Neptune novice hurdle at the 2012 festival. Simonsig went on to win last seasons Arkle – so Felix Younger set a fair standard today.

In my opinion, the Punchestown race looked stronger than Dodging Bullets Cheltenham race.

I remain with hope…

I also remain with hope for Morning Assembly (not that I ever lost it ;) ).

I can see him becoming a horse that I love (and if I love him, you will need to learn to love him as well !).

He was dwarfed by Don Cossack, who looked to be travelling all over him through final mile off the race.
But when push came to shove, Morning Assembly put his head down, battled and jumped.
Ultimately he was just too brave for Don Cossack – and put them in a stronger run race and the result will be the same.
Make no mistake, we have a very live RSA bet.

Oh – I nearly forgot - Hurricane Fly won and picked up £80K in doing so.

Nice work if you can get it.

Finally, over at Cork, I think Glam Gerry can be considered a little unlucky not to collect (or at least go very close).

He was just mounting a challenge when hampered by a faller at the third last hurdle.

He regained his balance and tried again, but ultimately the line came to soon and he could only finish fourth.

One for next time maybe…

Barneys Honour finished fifth in his race – but he was never really in the hunt.
He either needs a little bit more time – or a few pounds off his back…

Just a quick word on tomorrow…

I’ve obviously had quite a tough few days, outputting in excess of 15,000 words  since Friday morning. My typing finger needs a rest !

Consequently, unless my alerts tell me otherwise, there will be no tips tomorrow – and no write-up.

I’ll remain open minded about the rest of the week – but I will be looking to take a second day off at some point…

I’ll confirm the position early tomorrow morning, when I’ll send out an email at the normal time (or maybe a little earlier if it is to be a bank day).

TVB.