Fontwell 22/02/11

A good example here of the sort of decisions that make you wonder what planet racecourses are on - or more likely, helps you realise that they tend to be run by people who are not half as clever as they love to tell us that they are. Firstly, still in a month where the weather can be bleak and unpleasant - e.g. today - the minimum price for entry today was £21. That is not a typo - there was no base admission priced below twenty-one pounds. If potential racegoers are umming and ahhing about attendance, waiting to see how cold and wet it is, what percentage will be discouraged by that? The other thing that was crazy was having a hunter chase, billed as a Foxhunters Trial, on the same day that the south-east pointing has it's feature race of the season, at Detling. Given that Fontwell has sponsored points at Parham and Tweseldown, they surely would know what it is going in the local pointing environment?

Going: Soft (officially good to soft for the first race, but nobody present was buying that)

Race 1: totesport.com Supporting Racehorse Sanctuary Novice Hurdle [2m 6.5f]

1: Bunglasha Lady     2: Hong Kong Harry     3: Lost Two Stars

Winner owned: Mrs T Brown, trained: Warrenm Greatrex, ridden: Wayne Hutchinson

An average standard novice hurdle, which was run at a cautious pace early on, but gradually wound up, eventually produced a fairly impressive winning performance from Bunglasha Lady, if the plan is to unearth mudlarks. She certainly did not cruise to victory but the more that she was asked for once she shared the lead with two to jump, the more she gave, and the first pair did put plenty of daylight between themselves and the next trio home. At the weights, Hong Kong Harry's official rating said he should be six lengths behind Bunglasha Lady, and Lo! he finished five behind her, which is close enough to be considered a hit in the inexact world's of handicapping and carpet bombing. He has been a bit in and out so far, and possibly looked as if he preferred a right handed course, so his effort here was creditable.  

Race 2: Play Poker At tspoker.com Novice Chase [2m 6f]

1: Fruity O'Rooney     2: Sarando     3: Pouvoir

Winner owned: Heart Of The South Racing, trained: Gary Moore, ridden: Jamie Moore

Two non-runners disappointingly thinned out what had looked to be a potentially interest five runner competition - the other in the race was an ex-Irish pointer returning from a five year absence. It still produced a cracking finish, as Fruity O'Rooney was his usual game, mud-loving, staying on self, and held Sarando at bay by a neck. This was another quiet triumph for the handicapper as the first two were both rated 130, carried the same weight and were so close at the finish. The one responsible for staying novice chasers has permission to celebrate with a swift half pint of shandy on Sunday evening and mock the numpty who was a pound out in the first race. Sarando's performance is hard to weigh up. Early in the race, he made a couple of small errors and seemed the unenthused whinger of his chase debut, but later in the race he perked up and showed plenty of determination when victory was a distinct possibility. Pouvoir, who missed fifteen months between his hurdle and chase careers, has been lightly raced of late, and not been as good - are fences or diminished ability to blame? He ran a bit better until the second last here, and only then suffered a wide margin loss due to being eased down.

A cat and mouse moment, which would be more obvious were it not raining. Fruity O'Rooney leads Rockoboy, from Pouvoir (the grey) and Sarando.

Race 3: 200% Deposit Bonus At tspoker.com Handicap Chase [2m 6f]

1: Rateable Value     2: Massini Sunset     3: Oncle Kid

Winner owned: RG Tizzard, trained: Colin Tizzard, ridden: Joe Tizzard

The outcome here was a common one at this course in testing conditions, with the remaining contenders thinning out round the final bend, and a race poised for a bunch finish suddenly see the runners become widely spread. The first two did make a tight battle of it, mostly because Rateable Value was patiently ridden and only delivered to lead when they were half way along the run-in. This ended a run of three straight second places, two of them decent tries, and he clearly has to have these sort of conditions to be at his best. After two wins earlier this season, the handicapper had appeared to have stopped Massini Sunset's little game, but he posted a "good enough to win" performance here, even if only ending up second. Oncle Kid travelled well for a long, long way, but proved fairly one paced at the business end of the race - exactly why he is still winless after 37 tries, quite a few of them teasing that the doomy sequence could be ended. Pete The Feat has been having a good season, but looked as if he has done as much as he can for now. Mind you, that seemed true two runs ago and he still bounced back for another win last time. 

Safety in numbers when the drizzle refuses to go away. Corredor Sun has a slight lead over Massini Sunset, then comes Oncle Kid, and Skipper's Lad. Quel Bruere and Pete The Feat are next. Rateable Value and Princely Hero bring up the rear.

Race 4: totesport.com National Spirit Hurdle, Grade 2 [2m 4f]

1: Celestial Halo      2: Trenchant     3: Afsoun

Winner owned: The Stewart Family, trained: Paul Nicholls, ridden: Harry Skelton

Three non-runners took a bit of gloss from the big race of the day, but fans of Celestial Halo will be happy with the way things panned out. Despite being unproven at this trip and having especially tough conditions to try and change that today, he kicked on quite a long way from home, and kept all the others hard at work and in vain. Despite having been second and fourth in the last two Champion Hurdles, plus a Triumph Hurdle winner, this was only his fifth ever success, and the first since November 2009 - which led to him carrying four pounds less than the runner-up, who is rated thirteen pounds lower. Perhaps this is a trip Celestial Halo now needs, rather than hopes to survive. Trenchant won this race last year, when not taking on two 160+ rated opponents, but had been off since flopping in the Pertemps Final last March. He looked fit, but not super-fit, and under the circumstances did well enough to be second. Afsoun kept Karabak out of the frame with his best show since joining a new yard, but that may have been mostly due to a bad blunder and slip by Karabak at the fifth, which took a toll later in the race. Nine of Karabak's last ten runs have been Grade 1 or 2 races, and whilst there have some game shows, only one has actually ended in victory. He also is better on a galloping course. 

Race 5: Fuller's London Pride Foxhunters Trial Hunter Chase [3m 2.5f]

1: Herons Well      2: Honour's Dream

Winner owned & trained: Rebecca Curtis, ridden: Josh Halley

As a trial, this race proved to have more relevance to Aintree's shorter race than the one at Cheltenham. Herons Well might stay three miles, but the extra two and a half furlongs was likely to be a squish too far, with the rain making his job even harder. He seemed in control two from home, but eventually clung on by a desperate length from Honour's Dream, a horse rated officially 46 pounds inferior, and who had been readily brushed aside in the Mixed Open at Godstone a week earlier. Of the other quartet, one unseated and three pulled up. Horsham Lad has yet to match his encouraging previous season this term, and although his rider persevered until the third last, it was a lost cause from a long way out. Sesame Rambler was never travelling, and Gripit N Tipit (won one bumper, one hurdle and one chase in Ireland) started out reasonably but decided before halfway that he liked what Sesame Rambler was doing, and could replicate it, with extra sulking.

Race 6: Wildwood Golf Club Supports The Racehorse Sanctuary Handicap Hurdle [2m 2.5f]

1: Quincy Des Pictons      2: Just The Job     3: Dune Shine

Winner owned: Bpd Ltd, trained: Graeme McPherson, ridden: Jodie Mogford

Quite an eventful end to the jumping, with the winning position changing twice towards the end of the race. Just The Job had pounced on the leaders after the third last hurdle, and gained a clear advantage on the final bend. He did fluff the next, but retained an edge despite that. However, Quincy Des Pictons, who had been held up at the back and got caught a bit flat footed when the pace picked up, had begun to actually give his rider some response, and instead of staying on dourly for a place, was picking off those in front ominously. He was on Just The Job's heels at the last, and once he got ahead, there was no stopping him. This was the winner's first run for the yard, a possible reason for the injection of vim, but in the past soft ground had been an anathema to him, so anyone expecting a replication of this showing may be in for an unpleasant surprise. Dune Shine has been alternating good and indifferent runs, so this third place was a problem. The sequence (and do not mess with the sequence) says it must be a bad run, but the naked eye told a tale of a reasonable effort. Confusion. How can it be unraveled? 

 Race 7: Translloyd Group Supports The Racehorse Sanctuary Standard Open National Hunt Flat Race [2m 2.5f]

1: Destroyer Deployed      2: Vincentian     3: Jimmy The Hat

Winner owned: The Craftsmen, trained: Tim Vaughan, ridden: Richard Johnson

Under normal circumstances, Towcester bumpers throw up little of note, but the one on February 3rd this year had Destroyer Deployed win it and Vincentian in third, so it was clear by the time that this race ended that there was one race which can be seen as an exception to that rule. Of course, the opposition in this race was nothing out of the ordinary either. Initially four went clear, and Destroyer Deployed managed to see the other trio off one at a time. Jimmy The Hat's debut ended up in a fifth, but not a dangerous one, at Ascot, and he does look to have a knack for the one paced plod. By the time he is hunter chases that will seem like an asset.

Plus Points

Lost Two Stars (race 1): Mostly set the pace, but could not cope when the first pair got serious. She has been consistently promising over hurdles, and this race sustained that. Handicap hurdles will help.

Arctic Gunner (race 1): Finished second in an apparently mediocre maiden point, and then third in an apparently just as mediocre all-weather bumper. He travelled well in this race, and only began to labour once they were in the home straight. Definitely not a lost cause, perhaps better ground and handicaps will add up to be the answer.

Fruity O'Rooney (race 2): A repeat of what was said about him last time is in order. His love of the mud is a big plus, and although not built for a punch up, finding small fields is a plus, and he is not at all bad at weight carrying considering he is not the biggest chaser that you will see in action.

Trenchant (race 4): A promising comeback from nearly a year off. The fear is that he is not quite good enough for up to par Grade 2 races, but too high in the weights for handicaps. However, he may now be ready for another bash at three miles.

Just The Job (race 6): Ran well in slightly worse ground than he has won in before. He has gone up a bit far in the handicap but showed here that he may be able to defy that. If not, he is due for a stint chasing.

Domino Dancer (race 6): Ended up fourth, a really solid performance from a horse much happier on fast ground, and back at the bare minimum trip.

Camas Bridge (race 7): Second in an Irish point on his only go and the horse that beat him there has been first and second in novice hurdles for Tim Easterby since. He was the paddock pick here, and attracted some market support. For two miles he cruised around confidently, but could not see out the last quarter of a mile and finished tired. He deserves another chance. 

Down Arrows

Vico (race 1): Won his maiden and restricted in a two race pointing career, and had lost novice hurdles at Wincanton by a length and then half a length. He had every chance two out, but dropped away under pressure and was outbattled for third. Calling him ungenuine would be premature, but he showed less than optimal bravery.

Sarando (race 2): Is clearly talented when on song, but with his rating already in the 130s, there are not going to be many easy options, and he will need to show a bit more steel when the chips are down to add more wins to his tally.

Quel Bruere (race 3): Has been quite consistent, but only has managed one win, compared to many times placed, and today he looked especially disinterested. One to be wary of at short prices.

Skipper's Lad (race 3): Since his last win, he has posted plenty of shoddy efforts, and whilst this was certainly an inadequate trip for him, he did fold tamely again. A decent drop in the handicap has been no help at all.

Horsham Lad (race 5): This season is not really going to plan, and his inability to hang in with a modest pace does not augur well.

Quincy Des Pictons (race 6): Won well enough, but had never previously made the frame on soft, so this is not certain to be the story next time.

UK-Jumping Selections

Massini Sunset (race 3): Nearly defied top weight and a trip a touch longer than his historical best. A good run, and perhaps he is not done winning yet, although he and the the one that edged him out could suffer a sharp rise for this.