8th May 2015
8 runners today! I feel like Mr Fahey and Mr Hannon.
Acolyte and Yulong Xiongba start the day off at Lingfield in the 230pm.
Acolyte ran a good race first time out at Windsor to be beaten by an improving horse, in Rio Ronaldo. He had a poor draw that day and had to be taken back behind them, before going on again. He got a little tired in the final furlong. He wouldn’t want it too soft.
Yulong Xiongba is a new horse to us, having been bought by Owners Group from Johnny Murtagh. It’s great to have them in the yard. He was a winner at Galway over 7f and was then stepped up to 8.5f. We are trying him over a new trip today and with a hood for the first time, to keep him relaxed.
At Ascot we have 4 runners.
Julieta makes her debut over 1m 2f. She is by Teofilo from the family of Halfway to Heaven and Cassandra Go. She has taken a bit of time, but she is now ready to make her first start. It’s a race full of pedigrees and a few entries and we will see how she goes.
Major Jack has had some time off since his last run. He still has signs of his winter coat, but is in good form. In my mind he has the best form in the race, as his last run at Kempton was a good one. He will come on for the race and it may not have the pace in the race that he needs to be at his most effective, give that he can stay 7f.
Bold runs over 7f, having won his maiden in taking style at Kempton over the trip. The handicapper went over the top with his rating, given how he ran last year, but he is in good form and Tom Marquand will be able to take 5lbs off him at the weights. The Royal runner Capel Path will be tough to beat, if he progresses as you would expect.
Suffused runs in the last in what is another competitive race. She won her maiden last year at Newmarket, and was given a mark of 79. She steps up 1f today. She is a nice filly and I hope she can progress. Up against her today are some intriguing horses. Weld Al Emarat is a horse who was backed like defeat was out of the question last time, with words like ‘Guineas’ flying around. He ran no sort of race that day, and yet he has been backed heavily today, so we may be taking on a champion…. We will see. There are plenty of others in the race who are winners as well.
At Nottingham we have two runners
Wheat Sheaf runs in a maiden over 1m 2f, up in trip from last time. We always knew that he would get further than a mile. He was heavy when he went to Newbury and still carries ample condition. I hope he can improve again on what he achieved, but he won’t be aided by his wide stall.
Master Zephyr runs in the last. He has gone up 7lbs for finishing second at Bath in a poor race, which isn’t ideal. He is in great nick but doesn’t act on soft ground, so we will assess the rain as and when it comes through the afternoon.