Theophrastus ran a fairly poor race yesterday, but given that there was no pace to the race it wasn’t a great surprise. They crept along for the first two miles and it turned into a sprint finish – Theo is a 3 mile chaser in the making and he would want a real slog. He just didn’t have the speed to go with them.
Hopefully we’ll bring him out again soon, but the season is moving on now and I doubt we’ll see much soft ground, which is what he needs to show his best. He needs racing experience if he’s to make a chaser so we have to run him – he’s really a prospect for next year and beyond.
No runners for me this weekend, but I have a couple going next Wednesday. Astrodome should run at Fontwell, and I think a lot of him. Hector Spectre goes at Lingfield, and I’d expect him to come on a lot for his opening run.
I was watching the World Matchplay from Arizona yesterday – the Brits are doing incredibly well in the competition. There were five Englishmen and Rory McIlroy from NI in the last sixteen – three of those (Fisher, Casey, McIlroy) have made it to the last eight. It bodes well for the next Ryder Cup.
I’ve had a run through the card today and I couldn’t find anything to get excited about. There’s a couple of fairly short shots that I may back;
In the Grimthorpe Chase (Donc 3:25) Alderburn has the right credentials. The course/trip/ground look to suit and the stable is in reasonable form.
The 2:50 at Kempton is another 3m chase on good ground. Power King will attract a lot of interest on his first start for the Pipe yard. He’s interesting but 3 mile chasers aren’t made overnight and I prefer the solid claims of Constantius, who will like the conditions and is a more backable price than the early tissue suggested.