Ary goes for a big prize

The boss had a late one last night after the Betfair Pro-Am Golf Tournament so I’ll fill in for now. Bert has Prince Ary running at Market Rasen (3.45) today in a valuable handicap hurdle with £30,000+ to the winner. He was touched off by a short head on his only previous visit to the track in a similarly competitive …

Runners This Week

As noted by Bert below, I€™m going to be contributing to the blog from time to time to help keep things up to date and maybe prompt further thoughts and discussion. Comments are very welcome. Shepherds Warning runs in the 2.50 at Pontefract to-morrow €“ a Nursery Handicap for fillies run over a mile. She has been raised 17 pounds …

Tragic News

Captain Hurricane died of a heart attack this morning on the gallops.  He had recently been transferred to Tom Dascombe and was doing his first serious piece of work this morning.  He ran a bit flat and the jockey decided to get off and walk him back to the stable – a few minutes later he keeled over and died …

Have you seen this man?

Mick Stone is my racing manager, and he’s going to start contributing to my blog.  I think this is a good thing –  I go through long periods when I can’t find the time to post and Mick will help keep it fresh.  He’ll be making stable trips and reporting back, and no doubt he’ll find a lot more to …

My sweet lords

I have a few interesting runners coming up.  Shepherd’s Warning runs over a mile tomorrow at Ayr – she is carrying far more weight than she would do in a handicap and will no doubt be a very big price but could run well.  Lord Snooty finally comes out on Friday at Newmarket and I’m excited about that – he’s …

A Grand National

Another poor and slightly unsatisfactory day yesterday with Bouguereau not helped by traffic problems.  I don’t agree with the Racing Post writer’s opinion that we were beaten “fair and square in third” – I’ve watched the race several times and I’d say the interference almost certainly cost us second place and it’s perfectly possible we could have got up.  I’m …

Blame it on the Bougie

Bouguereau runs in the 4.40 at Goodwood, and anything other than a win will be a disappointment.  His came fourth last time in the Criterium du Fonds, a listed race at Deaville which is a group race in all but name.  The prize money for this race is greater than that for the Flying Childers yesterday which is a group …

Bad day

A frustrating day.  A few bad selections and some bad luck as well – two losers in photo finishes, both of which traded long odds on in running and one that had no luck in running. The good news is that I’ve gone through the cards tomorrow and I can’t find a thing I like.  I’ve had a big backlog …

Betting update

I advised Angel Rock in the first last night – I’m hearing that he is a decent animal but will probably need the run, explaining the long price.  Probably but not definitely – he could still be value for a place.  I’m also hearing that there is considerable confidence behind Rochfort, and with Gosden’s 2yos going well this year he may …

Winker waits

Pete called us after Winker‘s work this morning and said he is still running a bit flat and needs more time.  We could have run him over the weekend in group company but he’s too good a horse to take liberties with.  The Middle Park is only three weeks away and that is his next target – he should be …