- Monday, 04 March 2019 16:55
- Written by David Pipe
The horses continue to perform well but last week was certainly a frustrating one with ten of the eleven runners who completed reaching the frame without putting their heads in front. With the sad loss of Friday Night Light to a horrible fall at Newbury on Friday it was a week I would rather forget. To lose any horse remains the single worst part of my profession and it affects everyone in the yard as well as of course, the owner.
So Close…
Mrs Miggins continues to demonstrate promise by finishing a creditable fourth in the mares’ handicap hurdle at Plumpton last Monday. An old fashioned chasing type, she looks as though she will benefit from a stiffer test of stamina and will make a lovely staying chaser in the longer term.
Midnight Magic put in an improved performance on his chasing debut when fourth in the staying novices’ handicap chase at Ffos Las on Tuesday and he should be capable of winning something similar. Delface continues to run well as he demonstrated when third behind a ridiculously well-treated type on the same card, whilst Yaa Salaam showed great potential on his first start over timber in the novices’ hurdle. The ground was very tacky and he just tired close home, but he faced a couple of useful opponents here and he will be seen to even better effect on a slightly less testing surface.
Airton ran well under a penalty in the novices’ hurdle at Taunton on Thursday, holding every chance at the last until giving best close home. This was a good performance nonetheless and he will be winning plenty more races over hurdles. First Lord de Cuet also ran well in the bumper on his first start since last May, failing only narrowly to concede 9lbs to the winner. Victorious on his only previous start in an Irish point-to-point, he showed more than enough to suggest he could land a bumper and is a really nice novice hurdling prospect for next season. Over at Ludlow, Teaser finished a close third in the handicap hurdle and should continue to run well.
Our final runner of the week was Legal History who finished runner-up on his handicap hurdle debut at Doncaster. He travelled well for much of the journey but couldn’t match the winner close home. This was a fair performance nonetheless against a rejuvenated winner who was formerly very useful indeed on the level in Germany. There are certainly races to be won with him.
It is good that the horses are consistently running to form, although I would be an awful lot happier if we were able to convert some of those places to successes.
The Week Ahead
Looking to this week and there are no runners from the stable today (Monday). Buster Edwards runs on Tuesday in the 2m7f National Hunt novices’ hurdle at Exeter – he ran well on his sole start for the stable when runner-up at Worcester but this looks a decent contest with some useful types in opposition and he is entitled to improve for his absence of 548 days.
Mr Clarkson is our sole entry on Wednesday at Fontwell, whilst he also holds an engagement at Wincanton on Thursday along with Stream Lady and Little Red Lion. On Friday at Sandown we have Percy Street entered in the military amateur jockeys’ handicap hurdle, whilst Rathlin Rose bids to regain his crown in the Grand Military Gold Cup under Guy Disney – the pair famously won the contest in 2017 before finishing valiant runner’s-up last year. Nordic Combined is also an intended runner on the card where he is entered in the 2m4f handicap hurdle. A good stayer on the level, the step-up in trip should suit and he is certainly better than he was able to show last time in the rescheduled Betfair Hurdle. Duc de Beauchene is also an intended runner at Sandown on Friday in the 2m4f novices’ handicap hurdle – he put up a good performance when winning at Plumpton last time and a 4lbs rise for that does not seem unreasonable.
On the second day of Sandown’s fixture we have one intended runner in the Imperial Cup. Extra Mag (pictured above) has shown a good level of form in three starts to date in novices’ company and could well have bumped into a useful rival last time. We are hoping for plenty more rain which will aid his chance. With the top weight staying in he will be at the foot of the weights on only 10-0.
Max do Brazil, Whitley Neill and Story of Friends complete our entries for this week with engagements at Warwick on Sunday.
There is only a week to go now until the start of the Cheltenham Festival and confirmations begin this week so keep up to date with our website for the latest details on potential runners.
