A nice across the card double for Selkirk yesterday afternoon with Rosslyn Castle winning the last at Chester and Priceless Jewel winning the 8.00pm at Kempton.  Conditions had become very testing with continued rain on and off during the afternoon at Chester and Rosslyn Castle produced a gutsy and much improved effort to win what appeared to be a competitive handicap. He clearly stays well and there should be fun times ahead with him.  Unfortunately Inchina did not seem to reproduce her form and never seemed to be travelling. At Kempton Zamarelle looked extremely one paced and clearly needs a greater test of stamina, having travelled well she was unable to quicken in the last two furlongs.  Priceless Jewel did exactly what I hope she might, winning narrowly and likely to go up 4 or 5 lbs for future handicaps. There are some valuable sprint handicaps for three year olds which will be on her agenda before moving up to 7 furlongs. She looked professional and has the scope to continue improving.

A mud splattered Rosslyn Castle with his owner's proud daugter

Inchina runs in the Cheshire Oaks on ground that is likely to be soft which should suit her and I hope she handles the sharp track. There are several fillies with a higher rating but like most of the others, I hope that we can gain some black type and it will tell us whether she goes back to handicaps in the future.

Inchina

Rosslyn Castle was given a rating of 87 after his victory at Windsor and nothing has subsequently run out of the race to boost the form and I am a little concerned that as he is such a good mover he maybe inconvenienced should the ground become very chopped up and testing by the last race. His dam Margarula won the Irish Oaks for Jim Boldger on soft ground The step up in trip should suit and he has been regularly worked round our valley gallop which has several sharp turns.

Rosslyn Castle

Zamarelle runs in a handicap for the first time, she is a good moving filly that needs a trip but perhaps lacks a turn of foot. As I own and bred her I am naturally hoping she can win by at least 20 lengths !

Zamarelle

Priceless Jewel ran out an easy winner over 6 furlongs at Newbury in the Autumn and she should be suited by 7 furlongs and a mile later in the summer, There are a few interesting runners in todays race but I am expecting her to run well as her work has been encouraging, but I would have preferred to have run her on the turf but unfortunately there are no suitable races which aren't being run on soft or heavy ground.

Priceless Jewel

Supreme Quest had rather a rough time at Kempton yesterday, having been flattened as the horses left the stalls and barged a furlong later which resulted in her sitting last until she made good progress all the way up the straight. She handled the surface well and  hopefully we can find a maiden race on fast ground later this month.  Alvitude (USA) missed the break again and from his wide draw, James Doyle sensibly dropped him in, again it was a rough race and he was not able to start a run until they entered the straight. He stayed on well and will in due course be suited by 10 or 12 furlongs.  I was pleased with Camberley Two who in the past has not coped with any form of kickback and as this was his first try on the polytrack he ran an encouraging race staying on and suggesting that 10 furlongs would be within his capabilities.

No runners today but Inchina, Rosslyn Castle and Cry Fury leave at midday today to travel to Chester where I hope that the ground is not too soft as there is a forecast of more rain yet again.

Overall I was delighted with the way the horses ran over the weekend. Proponent did not enjoy the ground and got tired in the closing stages, Al Kazeem was most impressive as I am fairly sure that his preference would not be for soft ground but he showed a good turn of foot and lets hope he is destined for some of the top races.  Top Offer travelled well but the writing was on the wall from some way out as James said, he was unable to handle the conditions.  I hope to start him off in a Condition race and build him back up with time and patience for the better races but he is unlikely to run in the Irish 2000 Guineas.  Definightly ran a marvellous race but Ryan reported that the ground was not really soft enough for him but there should be opportunities over 5 furlongs at Listed and Group 3 level.  Mince ran a most encouraging race and will continue in sprint handicaps in the near future but unfortunately, Tioman Legend got a little upset in the stalls and raced with the choke out.  Although I have yet to see Primevere's race I thought it was a most encouraging reappearance and having to make the running in a slowly run race would not have suited her and I hope she will win a Group race during the summer.  I have just returned from Hong Kong having watched Cityscape run in a rather muddling and frustrating race. Unfortunately, he missed the break and they crawled for the first four furlongs and sprinted up the straight and we were always fighting a losing battle from our position and the ground was perhaps a little firmer and fairly cut up compared to Meydan. He will return home later this week and have a quiet period before discussing future plans with his owner.

Today we have  three runners at Kempton with Supreme Quest running in a five furlong handicap.  Unfortunately for unknown reasons there has not been a single 5 furlong maiden race for 3 year olds that she has been eligible to run in as in my opinion she would have a better chance in a maiden race as her handicap mark does not give her much room for improvement. She is in good form and should like the surface.

Supreme Quest

Alvitude (USA) runs for the second time in the first division of the mile maiden race and probably due to the ground this is a very competitive race and an outside draw is not helpful.

Alvitude (USA)

My old friend "six timer"  Camberley Two runs for the first time on the polytrack and he seems to be in good order but I will be looking forward to stepping up to 10 furlongs if James thinks that that would suit him.

Camberley Two

Primevere (Ire) runs tomorrow in the Dahlia Stakes which Sea Of Heartbreak finished second in last year. Her work has always been most encouraging and I am pleased with her development since last year.  The race looks particularly tough with Timepiece a Group 1 winner amongst them but it will tell us where we should be heading in the future.  She is a good moving filly and may appreciate better ground.

Primevere (Ire)

 Charlie Henson has been in charge of Cityscape since his arrival in Hong Kong and his daily reports have been encouraging. Each day he is making progress, eating more food and relaxing into his environment which has been extremely hot and humid. He is drawn 7 of 14 with plenty of pace on his inside and I would hope that he might get a better trip round than when he was forced wide before finishing 2nd in the Hong Kong Mile over course and distance in December. Maybe it is too much to expect to win another big prize and he had a long journey but the first prize is worth five and a half times more than the Lockinge !

Cityscape

We have a busy day ahead of us with six runners at Newmarket tomorrow and one on Sunday and not forgetting Cityscape who runs in Hong Kong.  Proponent runs in the first race and I would have preferred him to have been drawn in the middle rather than 1, as he needs plenty of cover in his races.  He is a wonderfully reliable gelding who has run in this race three times having won it in 2008 and he was second to the well handicapped Green Destiny last year. He pays the price for being so consistant and he runs off his highest ever handicap rating of 103 so life will be difficult for him.

Proponent (Ire)

Al Kazeem runs in the next race the Jockey Club Stakes over a mile and a half having been declared a non runner last weekend at Sandown due to the very soft ground. It will be a fascinating contest with Dunaden (Fr) who won the Melbourne Cup and Hong Kong Vase as well as Masked Marvel who won last years St Leger running in the race.  Al Kazeem looks really well and I hope is the type of colt to progress from three to four years, he will probably improve for the race and I would have preferred to have started him off in a Group 3 or Listed race.

Al Kazeem

Top Offer has been our big hope since last August and finally we are nearly there. He is a wonderful looking colt with great presence and an easy action that may not be suited by the soft ground.  He has to show considerable improvement from his easy maiden victory last August at Newbury. It looks competitive as you would expect with three good colts from France and three from Ireland in the field. His work has been good but we won't know until we try as to whether he is quite up to this class but I am sure he is a Group horse.

Top Offer

Definightly runs for the first time over 5 furlongs but his programme has always been geared to whereever there is a description of soft in the going.  He does show plenty of speed in his races and it will be interesting to see how he copes with the dropback in trip and being ridden by Ryan Moore for the first time.

Definightly

Both Mince and Tioman Legend run in the six furlong handicap. Mince probably has the best form of the two and is ridden by Harry Bentley who claims a valuable 3 lbs.  She can be very laid back and tends to like eating more than working but she is in good form and I hope will run well.  Tioman Legend has not run since June and will improve from the race and I get the feellng that being rated 94 is much too high on his homework.

Mince

Tioman Legend

The news from Hong Kong and Charlie Henson is encouraging with Cityscape getting fresher and enjoying his work although it is very hot and humid at present so all the horses are having a good sweat whilst out at exercise.  Cityscape has been drawn 7 of 14 with plenty of pace on both sides of him which I hope will give him a decent chance of producing his best form. It is a difficult task nonetheless to take on mainly "local residents" who have not had such a stressful and long journey.  The connections including James Doyle are due to fly from Newmarket after the 2000 Guineas so that we can catch the 6.20pm flight from Heathrow and arrive in Hong Kong for the race at 4.35pm on Sunday.

Cityscape

The rain continues to fall both in Wiltshire  and with at least 24 millimetres overnight at Newmarket turning the ground to soft. Should the forecasters be correct, which they rarely seem to be, the ground should dry out to good to soft for racing on Saturday.  We have six runners due to travel to Newmarket and it should be an exciting day especially with Top Offer running for the first time since August.

Top Offer

Cityscape exercising in Hong Kong

I thought that Cactus Valley ran an encouraging race to finish 4th having met plenty of interference and showing signs of greenness, the experience will have done him alot of good.  Nimble Thimble was outpaced early on and lost her position and she also met with plenty of interference but she stayed on in the straight and  James thought that she might stay 12 furlongs eventually.

We have two three year old maidens running for the first time at Kempton this afternoon.  Cactus Valley (Ire) runs in the first division, he is a gelding by Lawman out of mare by Sadler's Wells and his second dam Hatton Gardens was a good stayer in Ireland.  He is still rather green and inexperienced and would be suited by more than a mile but at least today the ground will not be bottomless !  

Cactus Valley (Ire)

Nimble Thimble (USA)  is a half sister to several winners including; Three Valleys (USA) but unfortunately she has yet to show me much of his speed and brilliance. She can be quite a character and there have been occasions when she has been lose on the downs at Beckhampton causing a certain amount of anguish to the rest of the string. She is a good looking filly and by Juddmontes ever increasingly popular Mizzen Mast.

Nimble Thimble (USA)

The news from Hong Kong is that Cityscape is settling in well and getting back to eating normally. I gather it has been rather wet and humid with some violent thunder storms but he is due to be ridden out tomorrow for the first time having had two "easy days" being led out.

Cityscape arriving in Hong Kong