DECEMBER 2011 HORSES

6 year old bay gelding     (Beneficial – Balda Girl)     53

This horse began his career in Irish points, finishing third twice and winning at the final attempt. Up against him were one or two names that rang bells for exploits in Britain: Ardkilly Gunner, who has been second in a couple of novice hurdles, Mountainouse, who has been placed in the same grade, and Farbreaga, who is gently going through the process of getting handicapped. Baldadash himself was an unfancied 25/1 shot on his bumper debut in Britain, ambling at the back and making notable progress, without his rider getting beyond gently encouraging, once the race was over and done with up front. The recent hurdling debut was a Lingfield, where he found a couple of fellow refugees from Irish pointing a little bit too nippy, but he achieved a very honourable third. On that evidence a minor novice hurdle is within his talent, although the chances of handicap success look even greater. A rapid switch to chasing cannot be ruled out either, perhaps when he has gained a handicap mark hurdling.

Handicap hurdles or handicap chases over 2m 4f or more, rated up to 120  

A damp day at Lingfield and keen mushroom hunter Baldadash keeps his eye out for any interesting fungi in the parade ring

FARBREAGA     (Anna Newton-Smith)

5 year old bay gelding     (Shernazar – Gleann Alainn)     3-490

This month’s spontaneous rule seemed to revolve around the horse being an ex-Irish pointer or trained by someone with a name derived from Ann. This horse is doubly qualified on that basis, and it is helpful that he recently completed the task of getting himself handicapped, unless a paranoid handicapper requests another look before rating him. Farbreaga started life in racing with a close third place on fast ground behind Charminster – since first and second in both bumpering and hurdling. He followed that with a fortunate second, another more straight forward second to Baldadash (see above) and a fall when possibly about to beat dual novice hurdle winner Rev It Up. Pointing ended with yet another  second, to another horse destined to go to Donald McCain and be second in a novice hurdle. So the summary of what he did in Ireland was fail to win due mostly to an unfortunate collision course with speedier than average opponents. In that context, his British form is a bit of a step backwards. Third in a weak bumper at Fontwell.  Fourth in a slightly better novice hurdle there. Fabreaga had the summer off, and has trolled through two hefty losses on soft and good to soft this autumn, although his rematch with Baldadash at Lingfield has the makings of a respectable race. The worry, with no more than circumstantial evidence, is that soft ground may be no good to him, but Farbreaga might well be a reasonable enough price if winning a couple of handicaps to soak up any losses blamed on unpredicted fussiness.

Handicap hurdles or handicap chases over 2m 5f or more, rated up to 110  

This time it is Fontwell and sunnier, but Andrew Thornton is the one fascinated by what morsels may be underfoot

KEEP TALKING     (Neil King)

7 year old bay gelding     (Religiously – Celia Barros)     229/5429-3

Made it into the selections with the 1992 National Hunt Chase in mind, but an immediate rethink was needed, as it is no longer a race available to bet on, apparently. And that is the mental cost of runners sharing names without a suitable gap between their careers. So far, this Keep Talking has not matched the exploits of his semi-legendary namesake, in that the original did at least win some races. Where they do have a similarity is the infrequency of running. The 1985 foaled version appeared in seven separate seasons, yet totalled only nineteen runs (all the wins coming in one frantic five month spell). The 2004 foaled variety of Keep Talking is in his fourth season already, having started in Ireland, and has only nine runs, including a couple of points. Taking a negative view, if he flops as a selection, it cannot be an expensive error. After some moments of definite encouragement in bumpers and novice hurdles, he has lost his two handicap attempts by nineteen and sixteen lengths, but the latest came after more than a year without a race (possibly due to an injury picked up in the earlier defeat), and the way he went about the job was better than the bare result. Chasing could be the magic ingredient to turn promise into success.

Handicap chases on good or good to firm ground, rated up to 120

LEGENDARY HOP     (Chris Bealby)

5 year old bay mare     (Midnight Legend – Hopping Mad)     0-52

With a name like Legendary Hop, there is always a risk that she misinterprets the word Hop and spends far too much time on the injured list. So far, touch wood, she has ticked over, even if not exactly busy. What is notable about her early days is that her pointing debut saw a defeat to Hazy Tom, who is now shaping up as pretty decent, and she followed up that intro with a convincing win of her own. So far, so good, but a switch to rules broke the momentum. Legendary Hop began in mares' bumper at Cheltenham in April, a race which tends not to attract the elite, and she was beaten quite a long way in it. Next time out, hurdling was on the agenda, and she ran better. The final loss was fairly comprehensive, but making the running at Towcester is never easy, and when the final straw is added, the camel tends to succumb to the pressure quite quickly. Following on from that, she jumped up from two to three miles, but with the stubbornness of a cat that wants another five minutes outdoors when the owners are ready for bed, she set off in front again. A small field made the outcome less comprehensive, and Legendary Hop did make the odds-on favourite work for a win. Once she is qualified for handicaps, either more patient tactics can be expected, or she races somewhere that front runners have a bit more chance of winning. Given her pointing origins, could this all be a plot to get her handicapped for chasing?

Handicap hurdles/handicap chases over 2m 6f or more

RICHMOND     (Ian Williams)

6 year old bay gelding     (Assessor – Hirondel De Serley)     4/7452F-63

He is really quite unfortunate not to have won a race in Britain by now, although he did win a French AQPS bumper in his only run over the Channel, so the experience of glory is not totally unknown to him, and it came at Fontainebleau, where the standard peaks at just short of the top French tracks. In fairness, there was little sign that Richmond was involved in one of those pinnacles. Of course, describing a horse as unlucky can be a bit of a back handed insult, as we can all recall many who would be described that way, and were guilty of making their own luck, or lack of it. But as the mighty Albert King observed, if it wasn't for bad luck, I wouldn't have no luck at all. As most of Born Under A Bad Sign refers to literacy, relationships and wealth, Richmond is probably a kindred spirit of the great man. Returning to the topic of racing, the horse was beaten a nose at Warwick on the last New Year's Eve, and fell when poised to go one better in his next race. After that he had the summer off, returning with two losses by honourably close margins at Ascot and Newbury. It is about time he went over fences, and that can give him the small edge that he needs to be back winning.

Handicap chases on an easy track, over 2m 4f or more, rated up to 130

TYUP POMPEY     (Ann Price)

10 year old chesnut gelding     (Docksider – Cindy’s Baby)     60842/84946763UF/6257776/5P57365631/54254U87/130P249835/311577P65953511-244P

Over the years Tyup Pompey has achieved his fame, or infamy to those who have underestimated him, by often winning at Ludlow. That is not a pattern in itself, as he delivers performances at right-handed, easy, level courses, it is simply a case that Ludlow is the one that is most often chosen to be the vehicle for his talent to be displayed. A brief look at his record will show that runs away from those type of courses have become fewer and far between over the years, and when Tyup Pompey paid a state visit to Worcester in mid-summer 2010, it was the only time in his last twenty-five runs that he strayed from the Ludlow-Hereford axis (known to many as the A49). In fact he is writing an adaptation of The Saw Doctors’ “N17” about it – ‘I wish I was on the A49, in congestion behind some HGVs, yeah.’ Back to the point? There is a pattern in Tyup Pompey’s winning of chases on these courses, and that is a bias towards low weights. When he carries no more than 10 stone 3 pounds, after any riding claim is included, the record is 6737195115911, creating a level stake profit of 47.5 points, without even worrying about distances and going (even though every win has been on ground officially good). In comparison, he has just one win from thirty-three efforts with more weight, and that was a novice chase, not a handicap.

Chases on a right-handed, easy, level track, with a weight of no more than 10 stone 3 pounds