Towcester 14/03/10

Faith in humanity is restored, as it was pleasing to see how many people had rumbled that this was a chance to take Mum out on Mother's Day with no commitment to any expense beyond a cup of tea or two. Excellent initiative. The racing itself was a bit odd as making the running was not quite the suicidal tactic that is often the case here, but in a couple of races the leaders possibly made things worse by going a bit too fast.

Going: Good (Good to Soft places)

Race 1: Humbugs Of Towcester Novice Chase [2m 3.5f]

1: Samurai Way      2: Circus Of Dreams     3: Mister Watzisname

Winner owned: Mrs Marie Shone, trained: Venetia Williams, ridden: Aidan Coleman

A successful chase debut by Samurai Way did not go unexpected in the betting ring, and he travelled that much better than his rivals to prevent any questions over his will to win being asked. There were a couple of scrappy jumps en route, but never any risk of falling. After having drubbed superior (on official ratings) rivals at Leicester last time, many were quick to dismiss the form of Circus Of Dreams as an anomaly, but he ran well enough on ground a bit faster than ideal. Getting involved in a duel for the lead with Mister Whatzisname probably played into the hands of Samurai Way. In the end, however, it probably did not alter the result, only the margin of victory.

Race 2: Whittlebury Hall Hotel & Spa mares' Novice Hurdle [2m 5f]

1: Evella      2: Bobbisox     3: Entertain Me

Winner owned: Mrs SM Richards, trained: Neil King, ridden: Alex Merriam

This was a devastating demolition of her rivals by paddock pick Evella. She had done similar at Plumpton earlier in the year, but finished fourth and then fell when set for second since. Leading a long way out, and kicking on at the lowest point of the course, none of the others could live with her. The very heavily supported favourite, Cuckoo Lane, was ridden along with a lap still to go, making no real show and Dermatologiste, who could at least boast consistent places if not any wins, was awkward at the first and scrubbed along thereafter. Each way fans could have picked out Bobbisox at 20/1 on her fifth to Queen Poline last time, but not with expectation of any return for the win part of their bet, and any visiting aliens who had never seen a horse before and had no concept of betting in their civilisation might have risked a pound each-way on Entertain Me based on the stats associated with Robin Dickin horses at Towcester. There probably was a solitary culturally adaptable alien reading the form but unable to get a word in edgewise to talk them out of their folly. Who's laughing now? In fourth was Sendinpost, a flat winner who might be expected to improve now that she was avoiding the mud. She did, but not by enough to get excited about.

Evella proves that she can win doing handsprings whilst having tried other gymnastic endeavours in the paddock. Imagine what would have happened if she had been concentrating?

Race 3: PP Business Improvement Handicap Hurdle [2m]

1: Akarshan      2: Smoothly Does It     3: Olympian

Winner owned: Andrew Turton & Paul Langford, trained: Evan Williams, ridden: Donal Fahy

A well judged ride in a frantically run race allowed Akarshan to take his strike rate over jumps to four wins from just twelve starts - a decent tally for a horse rated only 115. Turning for home, Smoothly Does It was running up to his name and getting a good clear passage on the inside, but did not find enough to sustain the run. It was a good effort after eleven months off, but unlike his conqueror, his strike rate over all codes is a bit low for comfort. Olympian ran a similar sort of race to Smoothly Does It, but tied up more dramatically, and nearly lost third to Spider Boy, who had, along with several others, suffered a few bumps in the repeated scrimmaging that occurred mid race. Dual course winner Crouch End Flyer (who has done better than many horses with Flyer in the name!) went off favourite, and finished midfield, but the fact that in the role his SP was still 7/1 tells the story of the race. Confusion and despair. Farmers Cross, who pulled up, was disappointing, but since last May he had only a token run in November under his belt, and may have needed it more than was visually obvious.

Phantom Lad (10) and Sunday City lead, from Midnight Spirit (15), Smoothly Does It, Ordre De Bataille (3), Abey M'Boy and Spider Boy going out onto the last lap, where this order all got jumbled up

Race 4: PP Business Improvement Handicap Chase [3m 0.5f]

1: Man Of The Moment      2: Mr Ironman     3: Sailor's Sovereign

Winner owned: Southdowns Racing, trained: Jim Best, ridden: Jamie Moore

This was a bit of a head scratcher - a Jim Best horse that won, with a senior jockey on top and not backed as if defeat was impossible. And for good measure, his only previous triumph was over course and distance. These things happen, just not that often. It was a bit of a dour grind for Man Of The Moment from the second last, but he had a comfortable amount of daylight back to Mr Ironman, who has two wins and two places here and the square root of nothing anywhere else. If it seems that this was just a case of following those with local expertise, Woodlands Genpower (four course wins) ran a stinker and pulled up before halfway. But Sailor's Sovereign, half a length behind him in January, ran a really decent race. So, really, there is no evidence that anybody had any idea what was going on. The paddock pick was Intense Suspense, who set off in front, only to jump awry and bump another rival at the first fence. As the bumpee was the appropriately named Bobby Bullock, Intense Suspense came off worst, shedding his rider. Plenty of horses have proved than can run faster than Bobby Bullock but not many will out-muscle him.

Note the minimal time delay on the big screen and Man Of The Moment (grey) and Bobby Bullock lead them out onto lap two. Early Wings, Sailor's Sovereign and Gerrard are the second rank

Race 5: Betfair Training Series conditional jockey's Handicap Hurdle [2m 3.5f]

1: Merry Music      2: Little Rort     3: Saint Espiegle     4: Dolan's Bay

Winner owned: Donald Smith, trained: Julian Smith, ridden: Anthony Freeman

For the third race in a row, we were treated to a big field cavalry charge, but this one was more typical of the track as several horses made their way to the front only to wilt soon after. Short of holding up a "hallo Mum" sign, their attempts to get a mention on television could not be more transparent. Little Rort was the first to appear to have managed it in a decisive fashion, but his fellow eleven year old Merry Music came through strongly, winning by four lengths that would have been further but for a cock-a-mamie attempt to jump the last. Dolan's Bay was favourite, a stablemate of the previous winner, and as well as all the usual Jim Best clues which attracted market support, there was the bonus that he was racing from the mark he was on for the sole historic success. It did not pan out this time, as he was unable to even nab third from the erratically navigating Saint Espiegle, aa horse appropriately named after the patron saint of hanging towards the far rail - who made life easy for the Romans that pushed him over a balcony in 365 AD.

Race 6: Eden Flowers Of Towcester Hunter Chase [2m 6f]

1: Blaze Ahead      2: Victree     3: Fundamentalist

Winner owned: Mrs S Clifford, trained: Brendan Powell, ridden: Jeremiah McGrath

Fundamentalist was odds-on for this, based on the fact that, in a race full of horses that having been running some way below their peak form, his old pinnacle was a fair way higher than the other. However, the some of the others had been a little below par, not in dramatic decline, and in a race where most of the serious competitors had a flat spot and the odd imperfect jump, Fundamentalist could not take advantage. After three out, he was going the best, but found little, and failed to shake off Victree. Dour as he is, Victree in turn could not hold the rallying Blaze Ahead at bay, and was defeated by half a length. There was a slight coming together on the run-in, but it was trivial, and both of the young jocks impressed with their riding in the finish. 

Plus Points

Samurai Way (race 1): A solid first run over fences, and he seemed to appreciate the lesser hassle than met over hurdles. He ought to be able to follow up, but be wary in big fields, where the weak finishes that he showed hurdling could re-emerge.

Evella (race 1): Impressive in victory, she also paid a huge compliment to the three that beat her at Plumpton, and the form of Banjaxed Girl's Southwell win.

Akarshan (race 3): Might now have done enough to rise beyond a winning mark, but he is 4 from 8 going right handed and a smattering of runs going the other way round could correct that sooner than might be imagined.

Sailor's Sovereign (race 4): Showed that he had got his sea legs at last when second on his previous run, and was a fair third today. Despite the second place being on heavy, he looked on this occasion as if a less stamina testing race would suit.

Well Mick (race 4): Has finished similar short distances behind Sailor's Sovereign twice, but gets behind and stays on like a tortoise in pursuit of an especially tempting lettuce leaf. A low grade ultra-marathon would be ideal.

Dolan's Bay (race 5): On his third run back from a long absence, did not deliver what the betting suggested he would. That does not mean it will not happen in the near future.

Down Arrows

Mr Newton (race 1): Showed what he can do when a close second at Huntingdon last time, but has sandwiched that run with chase form of FU. Ending his hurdling stint with UUP hardly motivates us to be forgiving.

Distiller (race 1): Had the valid excuse of soft ground for three feeble chase runs prior to today, but a failure to liven up back on the correct surface suggests that chasing is not his thing.

Cuckoo Lane (race 2): Started out with three decent efforts over hurdles, and the flop in race four could have been blamed on heavy ground. But she repeated the effort when expectations were clearly far higher.

Abey M'Boy (race 3): With Evella paying him a huge compliment half an hour earlier, he rejected it emphatically when it was his turn to run.

Wembley Way (race 5): Has not appeared overly keen at times, and whilst the first time blinkers lit him up early on, that led to him stopping even more rapidly than normal, well before the race was over. If he was at Wembley, it would be for the FA Vase.

Fundamentalist (race 6): Based on recent form, I was planning to say that the mental is back in Fundamentalist, but he is just not the horse he was a few years ago.

The Hookie Bookie (race 6): It is a while since he won a point but has a steady enough run of places to catch the eye of each-way backers, but he hated very moment of this, and pulled himself up early on. 

Empire

Spider Boy (race 3): Was just pipped for third, having been unable to lead because everyone else wanted to do so as well, and had a rougher time of things in the pack than is entirely fair for a horse of his age.

UK-Jumping Selections

Blaze Ahead (race 6): Covered above - as long as it was assumed that Fundamentalist's recent form was his new norm, it was anyone's race, and he stayed it best