Good morning all,
I could have covered off the second day of the Cambridgeshire meeting from Newmarket, but it was a card I was struggling with and anyway, I said last week I'd put up the Eyecatchers a few from my visit to Yarmouth today. Plus a bonus one from Warwick on Tuesday that showed a bit more after being in the doldrums for a while.
Bulleit (William Jarvis)
There were two that caught the eye in the novice on Tuesday. One was winner Light Infantry, who looked well, has plenty of quality about him and ended up winning this very easily. What he’s beaten remains to be seen, as I wasn’t keen on favourite Ideal Guest and a few of the others looked moderate, but he could do no more than win.
The other I liked was Bulleit, who is a rangy individual that is clearly needing a bit of time, having shown little in three starts to date and drifted like the Kon-Tiki in the betting late on, going off 29 on Betfair having been half that not five minutes before the off.
It might be he needs both some headgear and another step up in trip, but he’s now going to get a very low mark to kick off with and it’ll be interesting to see if he can do any better in a nursery.
Court Of Session (Simon & Ed Crisford)
A really good-looking Iffraaj colt, he was the pick of the paddock for the maiden on Wednesday and showed enough on his debut here (faded late) to suggest he can find a race before the season is out. He’ll want a bit further than this 7f trip, and should pick up a run-of-the-mill maiden without too much fuss.
Conservative (Martyn Meade)
Martyn Meade horses often catch you out in the paddock as they all look flashy types, but sometimes disappoint. Conservative (well named, being a son of Churchill) however, looked very much in need of the run on paddock looks and I expected him to finish out the back, so to see him running on well (after coming off the bridle quite early) to grab third in the maiden rates a good effort. He’ll do better again, although I’m always a little wary of Meade’s horse getting overbet at times.
Love Trophy Power (Roger Varian)
If you just want one to follow from the week then Love Trophy Power might well be the one. She looked all quality in the paddock, really good walker, took the preliminaries well and went down nicely. I was hopeful she’d go close and in another stride she’d have got up for second, having run green when first asked for effort but when she got the message put her head down and ran on strongly.
I suspect she might, in the long term, be the best of these and I expect her to come on a bundle from this. Bred to be best around 6f/7f, I’d be really hopeful she can make up into a quality performer next year.
And one from Warwick on Tuesday…
Cobra De Mai (Caroline Bailey)
A quick word with connections beforehand suggested this was very much a fact-finding mission, as he’d rather lost his way with Dan Skelton and a change of yards was an experiment to freshen him up, and to my eyes he very much looked like he needed the outing. He’s run a blinder though, being bang there two out and only finding two fit and in-form rivals too good for him at that point, and he wasn’t given a hard time after that.
He’s dropped from a high of 153 to 132 here, and might even get another couple of pounds off his back after this. Clearly well handicapped, if he can build on this next time then there’s surely a good handicap in him this autumn, although it’s worth noting he often comes good in the spring anyway.
Today's Newmarket selection is Glenartney in the Princess Royal Stakes at 2.25. She's got 2l to find with Forbearance on York form but this long run for home will suit her down to a T, and after just five starts she’s got more improvement to come. Won at the Rowley last year, in fact, and has a lot more going for her than the figures suggest. Will be running on late (will want even further in time) and rates an each-way bet. A couple of firms are paying 4 places, which makes her look even more appealing.
Today's selection – Glenartney (e/w) 2.25 Newmarket
Good luck with all your bets today,
David.