Koi Does It Again

      Koi Dodville Wins Again at Aintree

Koi Dodville made it two wins from two starts for the yard over hurdles within a week by winning at Aintree last night.  Although favourite and he won as he should, as I have said before they have still got to go and do it on the track.  He travelled all the way to Hexham and back only last Saturday and even though he seemed to have come out of the race fine, he is only a three year old and you never really can tell until how they are until they actually run in their next race.  The blinkers seemed to help him concentrate and his jumping warmed up as the race went on and he probably saved his best jump for the final jump of hurdles and won fairly comfortably in the end.  While once again you could argue the form of the race is not good, once again you can say you can only beat what is put in front of you!  He is a really tough and genuine little horse and when his jumping improves even more there is definitely more improvement in him and he should be versatile ground wise.  Having claimed him just under five weeks ago it is fantastic to have got him over here and already won two races with him and all for less then £15k.  It is particularly nice that owners are now back on the racecourse and Stuart Mercer enjoyed every moment of being at Aintree last night.  He is pictured above giving Koi a well deserved kiss!

Nordic Combined ran another solid race at Aintree last night to finish sixth.  He carried 12st1lb in a competitive handicap and he ran well but could never quite get involved in the finish.  Tom Scu felt that on this ground on this track two miles was sharp enough for him and he just could have done with a bit further.  Meanwhile at Newton Abbot, Ranco did not quite perform up to expectations and he also finished sixth.  He did not really seem to enjoy his race last night and actually finished a never nearer, staying on sixth.  Normally a strong traveller, for whatever reason last night he could not get into a rhythm or into a position to challenge the leaders.  The main thing is that he seems fine this morning and we know he is capable of winning off this sort of mark over hurdles in the future.

Today there are five meetings on the flat and two over jumps and we have a runner under each code.  The flat meetings are at Sandown, Bath, Chester, York and Leicester while there is jumping at Hexham and Worcester.  Leoncavallo runs on the flat in the last race of the day at Sandown, a handicap over 1m6f.  He was second in the race a year ago and while he carries top weight this afternoon we are hopeful of another good run.  James Doyle is on board and he rode him to victory at Haydock last season.  We have had is palate cauterised after he ran well at Aintree when last seen in action in April.  He won't mind the ground and I see the Racing Post have in at 4/1 second favourite and he should give the Value Racing Club members something to shout about.

Story of Friends is our runner over jumps up at Hexham.  He travelled up yesterday with our Aintree runners and his race is the 2m7f handicap hurdle at 3.30pm.  It is a competitive little race and he has to carry 12st again but races off the same mark as when he finished a good second at Plumpton on his return from a winter break.  He steps back up in distance today which should suit and hopefully if he puts his best foot forward he shouldn't be far away.

Last night there was a sporting feast on the TV and I was in my element not knowing what to watch!  Obviously Koi Dodville was my favourite moment of the evening but I have to say the tennis from Roland Garros was phenomenal.  The men's semi-final match between Nadal and Djokovic was outstanding and one of the best I have seen, it is just such a shame this was the semi-final and not the actual final.  They are two great legends of tennis and Djokovic will be short priced favourite to win the tournament on Sunday.

Italy beat Turkey 3-0 last night in the opening game of Euro 2020 and there are three more matches today.  Wales play Switzerland at 2.00pm, Denmark take on Finland at 5pm and Belgium play Russia at 8pm.  Have a good day everyone at enjoy the sunshine and all the sport!