OCTOBER 2009 HORSES

BOB'S YOUR UNCLE     (J. G. Portman)

6 year old brown gelding     (Zilzal - Bob's Princess)     4//5-4

Just looking at his jumps record, with a run in 2006 and nothing more until 2009, Bob's Your Uncle might be expected to be more in need of a physio than nieces and nephews, but during the gaps he stayed quite active on the flat. When he made his latest appearance in the proper discipline, he did reasonably well at it considering a) it was a fair standard novice race for the time of year and b) he had a potentially nice handicap mark to be lost. The logical interpretation is that 2m 2f on fast ground was likely to be the sort of race to fail to play to his strengths, allowing a suitable margin of defeat whilst trying as hard as required. And that was how he ran - outpaced mid-race, staying on from the second last better than all of those out of the places, and maybe one of those in them. Bob's Your Uncle probably posted a run of a similar standard when fifth at Kempton, and events of three years ago on his debut are by now of limited relevance - think of all the political, diplomatic and financial crises that have arisen in the meantime and we are supposed to have drawn a line under. Hopefully the handicapper will agree as the pick was only sixteen lengths behind Zilcash, who ended up with a hurdle rating in the 140s. A petition may be needed on the 10 Downing Street website - sadly, the facility is yet to see the light of day on the BHA one.

Handicap hurdles over 2m 4f or more, rated up to 110

COVE MOUNTAIN     (M. G. Rimell)

7 year old brown mare     (Indian Danehill - Nordic Pride)     9744/1104800-741PP

It was not more than a year or two ago when, based or the exploits of one or two of his best horses, every Mark Rimell horse that showed the most minimal vital signs was up there in the betting for very race that it contested. After that, a spell in the doldrums allowed common sense to begin to reign and horses were priced up on their merits. The good thing for punters is that quite often they appear to be the right sort of horse to develop a career. Not all manage it, due to physical or mental impairments, but once ability is confirmed, they tend to be good, consistent markers. Cove Mountain fits the profile like a glove, and if something named after a mountain cannot be considered steady and reliable, we may as well give up on names and stick to numbers. She has won on good at Hereford, and twice on faster going at Towcester, where she has also run two very decent fourth places as well. The temptation is to say that Towcester is her track, because elsewhere the record 974104800PP. However, the undulations at Plumpton did not seem to help her any way, and the long climb to the finish at Leicester was similarly non-contributive to excellence. And whilst the placed horses in Cove Mountain's Hereford triumph are a bit win shy, they do turn up in the frame often, suggesting that she had to be at her best to prevail. In fact, the only real concern is two latest pulled ups where she ran even worse than it sounds, but if she can put them behind her, it should inflate the prices offered. What would be interesting is if she were to head over fences. 

Handicap hurdles or handicap chases on a right handed, easy track, on good or good to firm

OSCAR OWEN     (Mrs. C. Bailey)

8 year old brown gelding     (Oscar - Molly Owen)     P/74019-72

Before he tackled racing under Rules, Oscar Owen ran in four British point-to-points, where he racked up form of UR13. A moving message to a small proportion of the population but nothing excessively exciting to the world at large. It did set the tone for how his career would carry on - originally 'move forward' was typed but it seemed a bit of an exaggeration. A couple of gentle days out over hurdles led into a chase debut of quite epic failure. Basically, Oscar Owen decided that he had enough of this tomfoolery very early in the race, and although Adam Pogson somehow managed to get him round, the pair finished just as everyone was locking up and off home. It was back to hurdling pretty abruptly and after 2/3 of a promising run over three miles at Doncaster, Oscar Owen actually won at Newbury. This catches the eye, but it was a 0-100 conditional riders' handicap, about the lowest grade Newbury deigns to offer. But a win it was, proving that he could do it if he so desired. Two runs since at Southwell were mediocre (he is usually ridden very patiently and that is total death at Southwell in a typical handicap over jumps), before a return to the Newbury standard was made at Uttoxeter. All the signs are that he can still win long distance hurdles on the right venues.

Handicap hurdles over 3 miles or more, on a level track, not sharp or undulating, rated up to 100

PARSON'S PUNCH     (Mrs. L. B. Normile)

4 year old bay gelding     (Beat Hollow - Ordained)     46

The problem with Parson's Punch is that he seems to be a bit dim. As far as ideas go, he is below a chameleon, but above a Channel 4 Racing Producer.* This is a low rung on the ladder to be starting at, but he showed signs in the second half of his latest hurdle run that he had aspirations to be a bit better than that. His first hurdle run was in an odd race run in a downpour, where the field jumped off well scattered and split into two factions - those bothered about the race and those not. As far as ideological schisms go, this was one of history's more peaceful, and the also rans made no attempt to inflict harm on or discredit the triers. It was about as strife ridden as Mormons versus Cathars. However, in a less strong race next time, Parson's Punch was given a similar hold up ride, but came in much closer to the action. If he continues in the same vein, he should be ready to start smiting unbelievers when he qualifies for handicaps or non-smiting believers, if such a thing as a non-smiting can exist.

* In the interests of balance, it is acknowledged that Andrew Franklin is almost obliged to have bad ideas on behalf of his television programme, and not admit they are wrong when they fail. However, the true stupidity came from the people at Kempton, who suggested that 8.30am starts on a Saturday would be convenient for people. Is their ambition to have a crowd of zero?

Class 5 or lower handicap hurdles up to 2m 2f

SUPER DIRECTA     (Mrs. L. Wadham)

5 year old bay gelding     (Protektor - Summernight Dream)     8223-

For anyone prepared to overlook the inconvenient lack of a hurdling win, things have gone fairly soundly for Super Directa since he came over from Germany. His debut at Doncaster was nothing to get carried away with, but he was given a nostalgic taste of his homeland by coming second to the middle leg of an Aachen hat trick next time, with the rest an awfully long away behind. Switzerland, maybe, applying the geography of the situation. Next time, Super Directa was runner-up to another odds-on favourite coming into the race off of a win, this time one of Million In Mind's French imports appearing at Lingfield, but again nicely clear of the remainder of the field. For the third time on the spin, he was immediately behind an odds-on chance back at the same course, but Super Directa was doubly unlucky because one of the less fancied sorts popped up to beat them both, and Lingfield managed to stage two meetings in a month without abandonment due to water logging - normal service would have seen our hero with one less defeat. All in all, Super Directa's form stands up reasonably well, and if it ever rains again, he ought to be able to win over hurdles when stepped up in trip. 

Hurdle races over 2m 3f to 2m 5f on good to soft/soft/heavy

Super Directa enjoys a sunny spring day and manages to squeeze in 40 winks before running at Lingfield. His selection is based on the belief that he can show a bit more urgency than this if required

TENSION POINT     (C. Grant)

5 year old bay gelding     (Hernando - Blessed)     431331155460/3481B-245

On the face of it, Tension Point is one of the less encouraging contenders for selection. His last winning mark was 115, and he is now rated 124. For all the world he appears to still be paying the penalty for doing rather well in his juvenile hurdle season, which was quite a busy time as well. However, since those days, Tension Point has stepped up in trip and had a win, plus some moments of encouragement in defeat - for instance he was a good third in a three miler at Ludlow, which is not a venue designed to bring out the best in him. What does work is a sharp track, and whilst being in situ at one does not make Tension Point invincible, the stress factor seems to ease and he pops up with a solid performance quite often. And as we all have very short memories, the stress factor seems to ease and the successes of Tension Point are not reflected in his price - even ignoring runs prior to winning first time, where an utterly futile flat career influenced his price - the average SP in 12 runs on sharp has been over 10/1.

Handicap hurdles on a sharp track, over 2m 4f or more, on good or good to firm