Winning King At Exeter

         King Turgeon Winner at Exeter

King Turgeon once again jumped fantastically and got a deserved victory over fences at Exeter yesterday.  He ran a promising race on seasonal debut last time at Chepstow and backed that up with another super performance off a four pound higher mark. Gearoid Harney kept things simple, racing close to the pace and jumping well before asking our gelding for more from the fourth last. He responded in spades and further good jumping up the straight helped him to pull away from his rivals. He was always just doing enough on the run and it was a great victory for his owners, Somerset racing.

Our five-year-old looks a different horse from the one that came over from France midway through last season. It took him a while to acclimatise to life in Britain but after a nice summer holiday, he has come back in thriving. He looks very honest and genuine and I think there is more to come from him. In an ideal world he probably prefers the ground softer than he got a Exeter yesterday, but he acted on it well. He had now had two relatively quick runs so I am sure we will give him a little break and look for another staying chase in a few weeks.

Sadly, Behind The Curtain got no further than the first fence in the same race. Jockey, Jack Tudor felt he was just too enthusiastic on his return from over 1000 days of the racecourse. The good news is both he and Jack are perfectly fine and hopefully we can have them out again quite soon. Lady Balko ran okay on stable debut. She got a little outpaced at a crucial stage but then did stay galloping and hit the line strongly. Our Irish point point winner is likely to benefit from a step up in the future but it was a good starting point in a competitive race.

Ocean Heights ran a cracker at big odds to be third on the flat at Kempton with Aidan Brooks riding. He raced not far off the pace and then stayed on all the way to the line, not quite having the speed of the front two. A small step up in should surely see him winning on the level next time. Oceanline could not dominate in his race as he had done at Ascot and in a muddling pace, the race turned into a bit of a sprint which did not suit. He kept galloping all the way to the line and there will be other opportunities for him.

Today we have two runners at Lingfield. Ya Know Yaseff runs in the 12.35pm mares handicap chase. She ran well in defeat last time at Plumpton with the winner running running well again since. She drops back in trip today to 2m4f, but that should not be a problem and she should handle the soft conditions although she probably does prefer a bit better going. This race is a qualifier for the Hereford mares final next month so hopefully she can qualify for that today. Jack Tudor rides.

Royal Defender runs in the 1.10pm novices hurdle over 2 miles and Jack Tudor rides. I had hoped to see a little bit more from him last time on hurdling debut at Ascot, but that was probably a hot race. Today is not quite as a competitive and I hope at about 9/1 he has a good chance. The Olly Murphy trained favourite looks the one to beat, but hopefully we can give him a good challenge and maybe a bit more. Our five year year-old goes nicely at home and we have not seen the best of him on the racecourse as yet .

There are three jumps meetings today at Lingfield, Fakenham and Hereford. There are two all-weather meetings at Chelmsford and Wolverhampton. In Ireland they race at Limerick over jumps.

Last night in the football, England did not play that well once again and drew 1-1 away to North Macedonia.  The home team work awarded a penalty for handball which should never have been a penalty but England were pretty poor in quite a dull game - I only flicked in and out of watching it!  They are through to the European Championships as a top seed and we have the players to do well at a big tournament so fingers crossed we can play better when it really matters!

What do you call a cruise ship filled with skilled artisans? Great craftsman ship!! Have a good day.