JUNE 2011 HORSES

7 year old chesnut gelding     (Groom Dancer – Sea Vixen)     2

A relative late comer to hurdling, Amercian Spin has not been over raced on the flat, as after finishing third on his debut as a two year old in the autumn of 2006, he did not bother with racing again until January 2009, when he won a maiden on the all-weather. After that he kept to a more conventional degree of activity, and was also upped in trip. So whilst he has not won again, he has been placed at a mile and a half and two miles. There is a slight concern that he seems to get his best results on the all-weather, but after a break of just over a year he ran well enough at Goodwood, which served as a warm-up for the hurdling debut. The favourite weakened and was eased after a bad error three out, but American Spin could not quite handle Theredballoon, who has proven physical ability and opted not to go down the path of mental infirmity, which has been haunting him, on that day. That was a two and a half miler, and American Spin probably will maximise his performance at a touch further.

Hurdles over 2m 6f or more, on good or good to firm

FLOWERDEW     (Polly Gundry)

6 year old bay gelding     (Old Vic – Gonearethedays)     445-04

A relatively late developer who did not make a racecourse debut until his sixth birthday was on the horizon, Flowerdew failed to make much of an impact for Nicky Henderson in a bumper and two hurdles. After a short absence, he popped up in the yard of newly retired pointing record breaker Polly Gundry. Anyone speculating on a miraculous turnabout came badly unstuck (a starting price of 9/1 in a big field suggests that there were a few), as he pulled hard and ended up failing to crack the top ten. The generosity of the handicapper meant that he gained his handicap mark at this point, but it was clear that some lessons were still needed – applying common sense for beginners, for one – and he stuck with maiden hurdles and ran a fair bit more competitively at Bangor. More competitive, but not really with enough excellence to justify raising his rating much. At some point Flowerdew will settle enough to justify a dabble at longer distances or in the mud, but he is currently worth keeping a wary eye on in any handicap when the ground is good or faster.

Handicap hurdles or handicap chases, rated up to 110, on good or good to firm.

KOWLOON     (Warren Greatrex)

5 year old bay gelding     (Flemensfirth – Kouron)     39-5

It is difficult to underestimate the merits of Kowloon’s debut bumper run at Stratford. The winner was modest before and after, the runner-up has no other racing to his name and the fourth has landed a couple of similarly unimpressive third places. And so on, and so forth down the field. Unsurprisingly, Kowloon’s follow up run at the same track lived down to expectations, and at present it is hard to see any of the horses that saw him off so readily ending up as household names. When he wandered on to Fontwell for a hurdle debut, another stuffing resulted, but after being outpaced mid-race, Kowloon kept on nicely and was not far from making the frame. It is not beyond the realms of imagination to see him get a handicap mark, step up in trip and show that he is not quite the lost cause that he was billed as at the start of the paragraph. More convolutions than a Joseph Conrad novel.

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

QUATTROCENTO     (Peter Bowen)

7 year old bay gelding     (Robin Des Champs - Quadrige Des Marais)     60250/413081032/P1P5821703P/74916P20646-S

The fact that he never seems to hit an extended run of good form or success has meant that whilst Quattrocento does not win that often, it is perfectly possible to make a profit from his low strike rate by concentrating on the circumstances in which he fails least often. The immediate starting point is to look at when he carries 11 stone or more in a handicap. That narrows it down to sixteen runs, with four wins. It was not so long ago that he could handle a 2m 6.5f handicap hurdle, but the graduation to three milers came soon after, and Quattrocento has got his teeth into them with relish, except when the ground is soft or heavy. Although he has a win on good to firm, connections have not tried him on it very often, which is not really enough evidence to eliminate it from being in the conditions to follow him. So, with patience essential when this horse is involved, we now play the waiting game...

Handicap hurdles or handicap chases carrying 11 stone or more, over 3m or more, not soft or heavy

SIMPLY WINGS     (Richard Lee)

7 year old bay gelding     (Winged Love - Simply Deep)     S6/3424/34321-

After pottering along quite nicely, but not entirely successfully for a couple of seasons, Simply Wings broke the habit of a short lifetime and won a race. The Racing Post form notes said "always looking slightly superior" which did conjure up an image of him cantering along in a top hat and monocle, condescendingly complimenting the losers on the game but futile efforts that they were showing. Prior to that win at Hereford, Simply Wings had consistently recorded his nearest misses on right-handed, easy courses, and we can expect that to continue. There was one exception, when he managed a fair place in a Southwell bumper, but having to jump stuff has ironed out those sort of crazy wrinkles. Now that the hurdling guff has been cracked, it is time that he turned his attention to fences, and long distance ones are likeliest to be his best chances to take off on a winning run.

Handicap chases over 2m 7f or more, on a right-handed, easy track

VERTUEUX     (Tony Carroll)

6 year old grey gelding     (Verglas – Shahrazad)     4P/826442/1028-

At last a flat convert that had a bias for turf racing rather than the all-weather! And a French horse that has not been raced frequently enough to have an excuse for premature jadedness - or is it jaderosity? In Vertueux’s jumps career, he has raced twelve times and the factor that jumps out immediately is that the direction of the turns matters. Right-handed he is 4264212, whereas going anti-clockwise the form is a less appealing P8408. Once looking at the races in a bit more detail, he has been quite virtuous in being unplaced on his preferred tracks, and only really failed to run his race on debut – soft ground at Sandown and probably out of his depth. Another factor to bear in mind is that Vertueux seems to need to be kept mentally on his toes. The majority of the good hurdling shows have come when he has not run over jumps for a month or longer, but bear in mind that pottering along on the flat in between is not apparently a bad thing. Although he has stuck around two miles so far, he has won at that trip on the flat, so a step up in trip should be no problem, and possibly even a plus.

Hurdles on a right-handed track, at least 4 weeks since the last jumps run