Review of the day

Having now caught up on the weekends action, I thought I would produce a quick review for Friday – just to tidy things up…

Two tips – and one winner – so no complaints there !

Xaarceet was the first of the tips to run – but he was a bit disappointing…

It’s difficult to know whether he was outclassed – or if he just needs very soft ground (his action suggests that it might be the latter).
Whatever, the 2m4f round Sandowns tight track, on relatively quick ground, was not the test he wanted…

I’ll reserve judgement on him until he’s run again…

It was good to see Major Malarkey take advantage of his much reduced handicap   mark in the Devon Marathon – and in the process hold off the 2 ‘young guns’, Whistling Senator and Jayandbee…

It’s fair to say that victory for the Major looked unlikely at a few points up the home straight – but he had proven stamina, whereas his rivals didn’t  - and ultimately that won him the day…

Whether he will be able to follow up his victory, will depend on how the handicapper reacts to his win…

Of the mentions, then Tara Rose performed quite disappointingly at Exeter and it looks as if she has lost her form - for the time being at least…

At Sandown, Abracadabra Sivola confirmed my view that he either wants a longer trip or softer ground – and he remains of potential interest…

It was a little surprising to see Vino Griego get the better on Rolling Aces in the intermediate chase – though it did underline just how talented a horse he is, when everything drops right…

He has almost certainly got a very big race in him – and is definitely one we want to keep on side of for the rest of the season.

Finally, Merrions Square lost out to Fine Parchment, in what effectively turned into a 3 furlong sprint…

Top Dancer could only finish fifth in the race – which, at face value, would appear to be disappointing.

However, he would have been completely unsuited by the way the race panned out and I’m sure you can put a line through his run.

The nice thing is that it might make him more of a betting proposition next time out – so we will definitely be keeping a close eye on him…

Just a few words on Saturday’s races…

Obviously I was unable to tip on the day, as I left home at lunchtime on Friday – and only got back this evening.

That was a big disappointment for me, as my initial look at Saturdays cards, suggested that it could have been a good day…

So many of the horses I’ve been looking out for were running, that I felt I had to at least make you aware of them.

With hindsight, maybe this was a mistake…

What I didn’t have time to do, was to properly check out any of the races they were running in.

Ordinarily, I would have spent literally hours going through each of the races to establish whether any of the horses should have been a tip – and potentially trying to find other tips for the day.

However, this wasn’t possible – so whether I should have said anything at all, is I guess, debatable…

Obviously, if they had all won, then it wouldn’t have been an issue – but with the exception of Sire Du Grugy and Renard (who went some way to vindicating me tipping him last time), they didn’t…

Hopefully, you all excised a degree of restraint if you did back any of them – and I would maybe think twice about issuing such a list in the future, if I wasn’t able to fully check out the races…

Anyway, it was done with the best intentions – so apologies if it did cost anyone…

Just a few words on the horses that I highlighted for Saturday…

At Sandown: I thought Lady Kathleen was a little disappointing – though I don’t feel that making the pace helped her cause; I was also disappointed by Milord – but this time, a lack of pace and a mistake at the second last, did him no favours…

Act of Kalanisi ran too freely and had nothing left to give at the business end of the race; whist it looked a case of too much, too soon, for American Spin…

At Aintree: it was very disappointing to see Plant of Sound taken out of the Becher chase on the morning of the race (particularly as his stable companion, Chance du Roy went on to win the race); whilst Across the Bay just didn’t seem happy jumping the fences (despite the fact he seemed to take to them fine, last time).

I thought Katenko ran OK in the conditions chase: the ground would likely have been too quick for him – and he seemed to still need the run (it was a similar story last season).

At Chepstow: Annacotty was a little unfortunate not to collect (though it could also be argued that he would have been a little fortunate to do so !); whilst Mountainous ran a fair race but seemed to need further – and Tripticho lost whatever chance he had with a bad mistake at the third last.

Finally, I was truly saddened to see that my old friend Plein Pouvoir lost his life in a fall in the final race at Aintree…

I know it comes with the territory – but that doesn’t make it any easier to take when it happens.

Plein Pouvoir was probably my first ‘great’ tip (price crash from 9/1 to 3/1 – and hacked up by a distance) when he won at Chepstow a few years back – and I’ve followed the horse ever since and grown really fond of him.

He wasn’t an equine super star, in conventional terms – but his size meant he could treat fences like other horses treat hurdles; whilst his ability to gallop through conditions that would stop most horses in their tracks, set him apart…

Thanks for the memories old boy – I will miss you L

TVB.