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Sunday 27 June 2010

Weekend Fallout

There were several horses running over the weekend that had contested the Wokingham the previous weekend, they were :-
KNOT IN WOOD 4th OR108 (Stands side)-4th in G3 at Newcastle
GOLDEN DESTINY 5th OR100 (Stands side)-3rd in C2 Hcap at Windsor off 99
EDGE CLOSER 8th OR102 (Stands side)-5th in C2 Hcap at Windsor off 102
RILEYSKEEPINGFAITH 11th OR102 (Far side)-7th in C2 Hcap at Windsor off 102
PROHIBIT 16th OR98 (Far Side)-2nd in C2 Hcap at Windsor off 96, (1st time cheek pieces + 5lb claimer)
BARNEY MCGREW 24th (Far side)-OR102-1ST in G3 at Newcastle - (Raced on favoured stands side)

In the Class 2 Handicap at Windsor Signor Peltro finished like a train from the back despite suffering interference on the way through and if he could get a clear run over 6f or 7f he would go close to winning next time out. Parisian Pyramid won the race with another consistent performance but he will go up again in the handicap and you wonder whether he would have any further improvement on this from his revised rating. Prohibit ran well in 2nd in the first time cheek pieces and he is capable of going well again if they have the same effect next time. Wildcat Wizard suffered interference when making his move.

Barney Mcgrew up at Newcastle had run no sort of race in the Wokingham but his trainer had said he had been showing something like his old self in the last week and he bagged the stands rail here which turned out the best place to be and managed to win a Group 3. Behind were Himalya, Knot in Wood and Sir Gerry, the latter looked like he had had one race too many in the last few weeks.

Johnny Mudball had been threatening to win all year and he produced the goods at Newcastle in no uncertain terms, like Barney McGrew earlier on he bagged the rail which was the place to be and from there he dominated this Class 2 Handicap over 6f winning by 4 1/2 lengths from Poet's Place. Behind were the likes of Lenny Bee, River Falcon and Baldemar however they all elected to go up the middle and were never in it and can be forgiven their runs.

At Chester the Class 3 Handicap over 5f went to Ryan Style in a decent time for Chester of 59.96 for local trainer Mrs L. Williamson and Coranation Street character Jason Grimshaw. Green Park finished an unlucky 2nd in the first time visor, the handicapper hasnt given him much respite all year, he's had 12 runs and started the season on 76 and still remains on 76 with his last 2 wins coming off 71. He's unlikely to be dropped for this and may even go up again, but we should keep an eye on his headgear as there was an improvement today for the first time visor.

In Ireland on Sunday Glamorous Spirit who I have flagged up on this blog several times as a horse with blinding speed took the others apart in a Group 3 over 5f. It was a tremendous performance for a horse rated just 87, but it shows that the gap between top class sprinters and handicappers is very minimal and its a wonder that other trainers dont take their chance in this type of contest. Fallon did the steering on this speedball and I remember him in the past riding similar races on Rud's Pet. However all though they have got the requisite black type for this filly its not going to make a good impression on the handicapper.

In the big handicap there Hawkeyethenoo won his race on his side of the track but was beaten comprehensively by the winner. Its difficult on this performance to see how he could win the Stewards Cup at Goodwood and he needs to go up about 5lb's in any event to even get in. It maybe that he had an off day but he certainly didnt show the acceleration that we have seen from him previously and there are probably others that we can concentrate on now.