Review of the day

I don’t think that today will go down as one of my finest days tipping…

Two borderline tips – neither of which troubled the judge: whilst 2 of the mentions managed to come home in front.

Fine lines and all that…

Ofcourse everything might have been different if Lemons Gent had managed to stay on his feet rather than crumpling on landing after the third last fence.
It was too early to say categorically what would have happened – but he was still travelling nicely enough at the time.
Ofcourse, my fear was always what would happen when he was put under pressure –a nd unfortunately we didn’t get to find that out.
Still, he lives to fight another day (and even managed to jump the remaining 2 fences quite nicely !).

If Lemons Gent was a shade unfortunate, the same cannot be said of the days other tip, Goring One…

In truth, he looked out classed – always seeming to struggle to go the pace of those around him.

That was a bit odd really, considering how well he had run last time out in what appeared a better race.

I’m at a bit of a loss to explain his poor performance…

Earlier in the afternoon, the first mention to run, Samstown, proved a very courageous winner at Market Rasen.
The ground there seemed quite soft - and the wind was certainly high – with the net result that getting home seemed to be a real struggle.

However, Samstown battled his way through the elements to record a well deserved victory and show himself to be a chaser with a bit of potential…

The other winning mention of the days was Is Herself About, at Clonmel.

She took advantage of a couple of non runners – and having tracked the early pace took up the running round the home turn, to win well…

She is another who looks like she might be able to go on to better things over fences…

Of the other mentions, then Teelin Star took a fall at the second last (where half of the field departed !).

He ran a fair race to that point, but was probably beaten when he fell. His propensity to fall over is now getting a little concerning !

Back at Wincanton, Sleeping City got round OK – but found himself in a near impossible position, held up, many lengths of the pace, with the leaders not really stopping.

He made up some ground rounding the home turn but was under to pressure to do so – and never really looked likely to get competitive.

His finishing effort also seemed to lack a little resolution – and I would continue to have some reservations about him…

Finally, Voltchesko was a disappointment in the last at Leicester.

Unlike at Lingfield, there seemed to be no excuses today - he just wasn’t good enough….

So all in all, not a great day. Hopefully tomorrow will be better…

TVB.