Folkestone 14/12/10

When Folkestone has been visited in the last twelve months, it has suffered plenty of fuss and chaos, in addition to a pair of very late abandonments. So it was unusual to get all the way there and find the meeting proceed pretty much as planned. Alas, the stupidity reared up again for the last. After the sixth race, the sun was low on the horizon, but as the horses arrived at the start, it was announced that the two fences on the left hand side of the side of the track would be omitted. This is a significant change to the nature of the race AFTER nearly all punters will have placed their bet. It was also phenomenally stupid as the first fence missed out is at an angle in the region of 45 degrees to where the sun was. And was is the key word, as the photo below shows that as the runners came off of the turn at the right of the course (see the big screen), the sun was already below the horizon, and the race could have been run as normal. The waiting time to allow this possibility? About a minute...

Conditions were ultra-testing, with speed a virtually irrelevant attribute, and the only thing needed to excel was a willingness to keep plugging away inexorably. Making the running proved suicidal tactics on the day, and even hitting the front on the far side of the course generally stopped the horse early.

Going: Good to soft (chase), soft (hurdles).

Race 1: ladbrokes.com Novice Hurdle [2m 1.5f]

1: Extremely So     2: American Ladie     3: Alarazi

Winner owned: N Davies, trained: Charlie McBride, ridden: Paul Moloney

There was no lack of encouraging form amongst the runners for this, but the omens for the day were set as the field struggled dismally to plod home up the straight, with varied degrees of effect. Extremely So (it's tempting to add an L and a W, so tempting), hardly looked at home on this, jumping left and making a few blunders, but the talents required to win a flat handicap of 54 in the early autumn were enough to drag her home at the expense of more lauded rivals. She beat American Ladie a couple of lengths, and that horse had run OK at Lingfield when finishing second on her hurdles debut. So the thought is still that Extremely So should have had to have jumped much better to have done what she did in winning this. Alarazi carried a penalty for a winning return from eighteen months off, and did well considering he was keen to post and pulled a bit early on. 

The grey Catspan has a chance of staying clean out in front and wide, whereas Mr Chow (10) is more ready to go where the muck may fly. Extremely So is over the hurdle behind him. Camden (checks) and Alcalde (blue and yellow) trail the clean

Race 2: ladbrokespoker.com Beginners' Chase [3m 1f]

1: Triggerman     2: Misstree Dancer     3: Rear Gunner

Winner owned: MG St Quinton, trained: Philip Hobbs, ridden: Richard Johnson

Just looking at the race distance sunk any expectations of seeing a sparkling success, and we did not, but still had to admire the resolution of Triggerman to keep battling away to the line, as Misstree Dancer refused to roll over and let him win, despite that appearing the most likely outcome from the home turn. The winner had been thrashed in a listed handicap chase on his last run, but earlier made the frame in smaller fields, and on this evidence he will be suited by even longer races. The pair that filled the frame were not at fault, but ones behind them put up a mixed bag of efforts for a choice of reasons, largely dustbin bags.

Race 3: ladbrokesbingo.com Maiden Hurdle [2m 6.5f]

1: Global Power     2: Super Villain     3: Double Whammy

Winner owned: It Wasn't Us, trained: Oliver Sherwood, ridden: Leighton Aspell

The slow motion finishes of the opener were repeated and exaggerated in this, with the effort of popping over the final flight enough to bring many of the also rans to a near halt. Winning a Plumpton bumper rarely amounts to much, but seeing out 2m 2f on soft was a good prep for this, and Global Power came with a strong run in the straight, with the rail for help, to condemn Super Villain to a fifth time placed result in seven runs (one of the failures coming in the Festival Bumper). Double Whammy, a very ordinary fourth on his hurdles debut, did a lot better this time, and was one of the few who maintained the effort long after he came under pressure. Behind the placed horses it was a gruesome grind to the line, but favourite Oscar Papa was hampered at the end of the back straight and failed to recover. He may do better with more luck in running, although his bumper win was also a Plumpton mud bath.

Super Villain (left) just gets over the last and realises that Global Power has done the same, but more so.

Race 4: Eastwell Manor Novice Handicap Chase [2m]

1: Jack's Lad     2: Watergate     3: Copper Sound

Winner owned: Batts, Vaughan, Mason & Johnson, trained: Tim Vaughan, ridden: Richard Johnson

Watergate fared about the best of the days front runners, but only six ran in this and Jack's Lad won his first chase, at the sixteenth time of asking. This was his debut for Tim Vaughan, but rather than the move having injected some sparkle into his career, all he did was struggle home less unconvincingly than the rest. Copper Sound has won once on heavy and once on good to firm, then never managed even a place outside those two efforts, so whether this ground suited or not is unknown. He started over fences with an educational behind Time For Rupert, but showed here that he perhaps learned less from it than was intended.

Race 5: Weatherbys Bank Handicap Chase [2m 5f]  

1: Only Vintage     2: Regal Heights     3: Chance Du Roy

Winner owned: DS Dennis, trained: Paul Henderson, ridden: Richard Johnson

In some sort of inexplicable phenomenon, the riders of the first two home seemed to find a completely different Folkestone to race on, as their horses came home in an almost spritely fashion, when their rivals looked like they were dragging ploughs through treacle. For the second day in a row we had a horse picking up his first win since 2006, although in Only Vintage's case, this was only the seventh run since and in his last race, when only eighth in a three mile hurdle, the margin of defeat had been barely six lengths. Clearly that put him spot on. Regal Heights was a prolific winner in his youth, but runs in the last couple of years have been terrible. On that basis, this was a plus, but the exceptional conditions challenges us to trust him to do it again - one more piece of positive evidence would be good. Chance Du Roy had won two chases at the end of last season and been a fair seventh in a big field Cheltenham hurdle last time. A solid try, but he has gone up a lot in the handicap.

Race 6: lipscomb.co.uk Handicap Hurdle [2m 4.5f]

1: Prince Du Seuil     2: Kylenoe Fairy     3: Lemon Silk     4: Jordan

Winner owned: Mrs Peter Prowting, trained: Alan King, ridden: Robert Thornton

With seventeen runners, this ought to have been ferociously competitive, but nobody had mentioned this to Prince Du Seuil, who should at some point have been dragged into a scrap, but never found the oppo capable of doing anything vaguely unsettling for him. Having been third, and having a hard race to achieve that, on his last run it was not obvious where he dragged this performance from. Kylenoe Fairy has been in good form, winning over shorter on heavy at this track on her previous run. Lemon Silk, who was once excellent (with three Xs) and then woeful, seems to have at last settled for a productively happy medium, so there is recent merit in the horses that Prince Du Seuil saw off so comfortably. On the other hand, Jordan's win came in a Plumpton bumper... Two of the most interesting outsiders came to grief at the first, so no clues there, except for those who feel the first furlong is the most important.

Race 7: Vote For AP McCoy Handicap Chase [3m 1f]

1: Pete The Feat     2: Billy Murphy     3: Saddlewood

Winner owned: GJ Larby & PJ Smith, trained: Anna Newton-Smith, ridden: Felix de Giles

The winning yard fielded three in the sixth race. One fell at the first, bringing down another and the survivor finished last but one. Things turned round pretty quickly for them as Pete The Feat, opener of his account (long overdue!) on his last run, doubled up immediately. Billy Murphy was closing all the way to the line, but it was still a slight surprise to find that the winning margin was only a nose. This was Pete The Feat's chase debut, so missing out four fences could well have made a difference to the outcome. Behind the first two was an octet of enemies that turn out regularly at this level and still occasionally sucker unwary bystanders into supporting them. Horses with twenty-five runs and no more than a single win should be forced to wear a hi-vis green bowler hat as a warning.

Plus points  

Camden (race 1): Looked handy when winning his Fontwell bumper, and did better than the bare result here. Pulling a little and restrained off the pace, he tried to make some progress on the long final turn and when it was clear he was going nowhere, was one of the first the ease off. Capable of a lot better.

Alcalde (race 1): Rated 86 (and second in a big field just two runs ago) on the flat, conditions seemed to find him out, and he ended up fifth. Worth a chance to show more on better ground.

Misstree Dancer (race 2): Both her hurdles wins were on heavy, so a challenging stamina test holds no fear and she jumped well enough. Her small stature is a possible hindrance should a race get rough, or the skill at the fences not be maintained, but ability is there. Mares' races next?

Rear Gunner (race 2): Very promising in his younger days, his career has floundered as his yard has had a long spell in the doldrums. This looked a step back in the right direction.

Victorias Groom (race 5): Came into this with pulled ups surrounding a decent second at Market Rasen. His handicap mark has quickly recovered from three wins last season, and he can bounce back from today's flop. A sharp, undulating track suits, with left handed ones possibly preferred.

Roi Du Rose (race 5): Three wins in 2009 all came at Aarau, and since winning a listed race, he had not raced and moved to David Pipe. He tied up a bit sharply in the end, finishing fifth, but should not be dismissed too soon.

Island Jim (race 6): Bounced back from being oddly placed in a novice chase once he had got a handicap mark, and unseating at the first. He made a threatening move on the far side and looked likely to be placed, only to run out of puff quickly in the home straight. There are no real clues as to optimal course, distance and going, but he does have ability.

Billy Murphy (race 7): Had only one run in eighteen months, has never won, and once ran out. So there are a lot of negatives, but he did show a willingness for hard work on this occasion which could serve him well when kept to the lowest company.

Down arrows

Senses (race 1): A highly rated flat handicapper (81) coming in to this after over a year off, even allowing for the effect of the absence, he showed no glimpse of aptitude for this. 

Classic Port (race 1): Another long absent flat refugee (rated 91), not only did he also show no great talent for this, his stamina would be questionable - unless severely developed in the time off - even on better ground.

General Kutuzov (race 2): Disappointed on his chase debut, and passing a couple of very tired rivals late on does not disguise that this was no better.

Pause And Clause (race 2): Had the evidence in the form book that he could gallop but not jump, and a rather ill-advised plunge that made him favourite missed by a mile. 

Watergate (race 4): Did OK, but the ostracism from Paul Nicholls has not seen any better results, and the limited resistance of the oppo means that not too much blind optimism should be derived from finishing second.

Midnight Haze (race 5): Had gone 1211 in his last four, but ran here as if the handicapper as much as the weather has set him back.

Chance Du Roy (race 5): An adequate showing, but his handicap mark, 130, looks a very challenging anchor that he has to lug around for now.

Celian (race 6): Had not raced for a while, after a spell producing results of F1PUR. He pulled up, with no sign that the break has freshened him up.

UK-Jumping Selections

The Rainbow Hunter (race 6): Turned up in the right sort of race, but chase inexperience perhaps told, as he made a smattering of sloppy jumps, which cost him a place, as he only missed out on third by a neck.