|
COMRADE BOB
(Colin Tizzard)
7 year old black gelding
(Tragic Role – Florencebray)
666
Most people are going to look at his
form figures and flee in terror from Comrade Bob, but they are
overlooking two things. Firstly, he ran in eleven points as well,
winning three times, and thus invalidating the doominess of the numbers.
The other is that the earliest documented number of the beast was 616.
What also requires to be borne in mind is that none of these rules runs
are especially good. The initial hunter chase was the usual mixed bag of
craziness. His first hurdle saw him well beaten by a bunch of horses
rated around 115. That was two miles, and he looked definitely a bit
more at home last time over half a mile further. And let us never be
cynical enough to think that the search for a helpful rating would
result in him contesting races that are designed not to play to his
strengths. Handicaps at three miles or more are on the cards.
Handicap chases and handicap hurdles
over 2m 7f or more, rated up to 100

Comrade Bob
extremely nonchalant at Worcester. In fact, too nonchalant, and he must
therefore have been up to something
FONT (Lawney
Hill)
8 year old bay gelding
(Sadler’s Wells – River Saint)
542/11024420/122/063-10
Any of Font’s loyal ultras who have
been hanging on waiting for him to develop some consistency should by
now have learned not to hold their breath. It is not that he is win shy
(except perhaps by the standard of his old yard's expensive array of
talent) – four from nineteen jumps runs is not a bad tally at all – although
it would be nice if all but one of them were not so distant… What you
get with his key preference, which is for a galloping trap is not
certainty but a tipping of the balance in his favour. The win at
Fontwell in May was a complete aberration (and thus a condemnation of
those behind him) as on a sharp track Font usually lacks the
acceleration to challenge when the speed picks up off of the final bend.
The argument for the defence may, with some justification, point to his
usually suffering that against stronger oppo than the Fontwell race.
They may be overlooking the Ludlow seller defeat intentionally, just as
we will have to grin and bear the days when he runs a stinker in
apparently ideal circumstances. There is a hint of him being best after
a month or more between races, but it does not happening steadily enough
to narrow the conditions further.
Handicap hurdles or handicap chases on
a galloping track, over 2m 3f or more
FREDDIE BROWN
(George Charlton)
7 year old bay gelding
(Missed Flight – Some Shiela)
34/15435-3
In some perspectives, Freddie Brown may
be considered an under achiever, as despite his yard doing well in
bumpers, it took him three attempts to win one, and he is also 0/5 as a
hurdler. As it happens, none of the hurdle runs have been disastrous,
and it is looking as if he is just a bit more of a slow developing,
physically backward type than is normally associated with the operation.
After posting the obligatory three hurdle runs (losing them by margins
between 11 and 19˝ lengths), he went into handicaps rated 105. This
seemed a fair average of three performances open to very mixed
interpretation, and the horse responded by losing the races by just
under seven and just over four lengths. So unless he comes back from a
summer break as an improved horse, the Freddie Brown future success
likely lies over
fences and longer distances, although spotting preferences is not easy
as his career is made up of six runs at Kelso and two at Ayr, so we have
no idea what he would make of right handed and/or undulating
tracks.
Handicap chases over 2m 3f or more
JUST VICTOR
(Paul Webber)
6 year old bay gelding
(Revoque – Villian)
0/45545/2260-94
One obvious cause for concern with Just
Victor, that even a diffident ostrich may have noticed, is that he has
not yet managed to win a race. We can take some solace from his two
second places – a nose at Stratford and a length and a half at
Uttoxeter. He led into these with a decent show at Southwell, and in the
course of all these jolly adventures in the giant continent of failure
Just Victor did show that distances around two and a half miles suited
quite early, and decent ground was right up his alley. And so to his
chase debut. He took on some much superior hurdlers in a two miler, and
they made sure that he would never match the pace of the race. So Just
Victor had an educationalish scoot round, nabbed the best possible
placing late, and left us waiting for him to be upped in trip.
Handicap chases, over 2m 4f or more, on
a left-handed level track, on good or good to firm.
SALFORD ROSE
(Tony Carroll)
5 year old chesnut mare
(Salford Express – Toppagale)
U32356-6
After blotting her copybook really
quite badly on her bumper debut, by unseating at the start, Salford Rose
went on a mission to recover her reputation, posting two thirds and a
second in her subsequent tries. After her steering had been gradually
improving with experience, it became time for Salford Rose to try her
luck over hurdles, and in two attempts last autumn, she was scuppered by
some woeful jumping. After the winter off, she did not reappear until
July, and from a new yard. She only made one early mistake, but pulled a
bit hard and faded late on, which will have done her impending handicap
mark no harm whatsoever. She has avoided soft or heavy, and runs unlike
a horse shaping to be a stayer, so long distances and mud will probably
be left well alone.
Handicap hurdles rated up to 110, up to
2m 3f
THE CHAZER
(Richard Lee)
6 year old grey
gelding (Witness Box - Saffron
Holly) 17607/423218-
In addition to a couple of bumpers and
nine hurdles, The Chazer also had a bit of a sighter about racing in
Irish points, so for his age he is not lacking in experience. With form
in the amateur field of FF2P, there was always the danger that all the
things he learned would be detrimental to his future career. However, he
dismissed the historical faux pas by winning his first bumper, at
Killarney, and has mostly run well over hurdles, eventually winning one
at Newbury. One oddity to date is that despite being a bumper winner, he
has looked perfectly happy at two miles or so up to now - his one
attempt at an extra half mile produced the worst performance so far. The
time is probably nearing when he switches to chases, and a summer off
plus the slightly more sedate pace there ought to help his stamina be a
touch more enduring. With both wins coming left-handed, and one instance
of hanging left at Towcester (despite other perfectly solid runs going
right handed), it will be necessary to monitor whether he will show an
anti-clockwise boas over bigger obstacles.
Chases up to 2m 4f on soft or heavy
|