Worcester 05/08/11

For those who question the demand for jumping at this time of the year, this was day five of a spell where there were only three meetings in eleven days. The number of declared runners was about 100. The horses are there, it is just a case of framing the races. And the courses often lack common sense in that field. The handicap chase was only a 0-120, but for some reason the course declared it to be a class 3 race. This meant that the £5,000 prize fund was £4,800 short of tariff. Why was it not billed as a class 4, maybe a 0-115 instead? The 116 rated top weight could still have run, just carrying 11-13. It would still be short of tariff, but the course looks less a) miserly and b) daft.

Going: Good

Race 1: Vale Technical & Volker Laser Claiming Hurdle [2m 4f]

1: American Art     2: Monroe Park     3: Where's My Slave

Winner owned: BA Kilpatrick, trained: David Pipe, ridden: Conor O'Farrell

A tricky enough start to based purely on the number of runners (fifteen, with claiming prices between £5,000 and £9,000 - none of which were taken up), but the contestants were determined to make it as unpredictable as possible. In the end American Art lumbered past the post in front, far from keenly, but helped by Monroe Park's inability to run in a straight line under pressure, and also a grand ride from Conor O'Farrell, who nudged and scrubbed and urged along the winner without giving it a spare moment to think about stopping. Where's My Slave weakened worst of the first trio, who had kicked clear early in the straight, but he she remained well ahead of Moonwolf and Baraathen, who both stayed on from the rear a bit belatedly. As they were amongst the highest rated runners, along with American Art, something a bit more dangerous ought to have been possible. The usually steady (but win shy) Josephine Malines had a real off day and Sovereign Spirit's uncharacteristically prolific summer is looking to have petered out.

Monroe Park leads narrowly at the last from American Art. Where's My Slave is coming to the end of her tether already

Race 2: Pensham Novice Hurdle [2m 4f]

1: Geneva Geyser     2: Mercury Bay     3: Peachey Moment

Winner owned: Angemering Park, trained: Lady Herries, ridden: Leighton Aspell

Lugging a double penalty, Geneva Geyser retained his unbeaten record the hard way, working his way from the very back to lead as he popped over the final hurdle, and easing clear of Mercury Bay. At the weights and existing ratings, Geneva Geyser had eight pounds in hand of the runner-up and the margin was nine lengths, so unless the handicapper takes the sixth place plod of Soulard seriously, neither should be horrendously penalised. Although from Mercury Bay's point of view, he did lose to the same opponent by less when receiving seven pounds fewer in their last meeting - not exactly progress. Successful chaser Peachey Moment closed up dangerously on the final turn, but then got tapped for speed in the straight, until rallying again at the last  - when too far off the first pair to recover totally, not unlike Soulard. Returning from a long injury absence, Nataani ran very promisingly in fourth. 

Race 3: Bob Love "King Of The Dirt" Memorial Novice Chase [2m 4.5f]

1: Mad Moose    2: Vertige Dore     3: Vico

Winner owned & trained: Nigel Twiston-Davies, ridden: Sam Twiston-Davies

The only small field of day produced a rare event - the result overturned in the steward's room. Approaching the last, Vertige Dore, who had jumped right occasionally, hung violently right, and whilst just about prevented from running out himself, he made life even harder for Mad Moose. With the final margin at the line only a short head, it was deemed that the result was affected by the argy-bargy. There is always that nagging doubt about predicting what would have happened when events occurred before the final obstacle has been jumped, but this was one that always seemed likely to be altered. Mad Moose was a different customer to the one that gave up tamely at Ffos Las on his chase debut - which horse will turn up next? 

Race 4: Tiddesley Wood Yellow Egg Plum Handicap Hurdle [3m]

1: Red Not Blue     2: Haldibari     3: Benmadigan

Winner owned: The Plum Merchants, trained: Simon Earle, ridden: Andrew Thornton

Another win for the carefully placed and unhyped Red Not Blue (now raced twelve, won six), but he really struggled to see off Haldibari here and may be approaching the limit of what he can achieve as a hurdler. Haldibari himself is not the best handicapped, but his immense staying power occasionally serves him well in races of this distance and more. Benmadigan, far from certain to stay three miles, just tied up on the run-in, and nearly lost third to Ely Brown. Am I Blue set a good pace at the front, but she is another not proven to last this far and a bit more patience would certainly help her cause. Just behind her was Postmaster, who is beginning to suggest that he may be morphing into a three miler, but has not actually won at anywhere near the trip. Yet.

Red Not Blue makes a bit of a meal of the final hurdle, but Haldibari is not speedy enough to take advantage. Benmadigan is the opposite - not staying the distance well enough to get any closer

Race 5: Midshire Communications Selling Handicap Hurdle [2m]

1: Ton-Chee     2: Naledi     3: Hi Wycombe

Winner owned & trained: Arthur Whitehead, ridden: Chris Timmons

Seventeen declared, three declined to show up and take part, and then Dream Spinner twice reared over backwards as a safer option leading to withdrawal, rather than risk taking part. The remaining thirteen were still a tough bunch to assess, a mixture of known, erratic veterans and youngsters that could have improvement in them. Although the second on the racecard won it (joint top-weight) the next four home were numbers thirteen to sixteen, in card order, which initially suggests that perhaps they have some prospects at the right level. Having spent a long career winning occasionally from low ratings, this success meant that Ton-Chee has increased his number of wins by 50% recently, but his mark is probably going to end up out of his remit now he is twelve. Naledi was in good form in the spring, and returned here with a fair second for selling level. He does not race as if his heart is 100% in it though. Hi Wycombe has only once been placed in twenty-three runs, plus he has had a spell of four pointing runs where he had a pulled up, a fall, an unseated and a ran out. What he did here is probably his limit. The next two home were Escardo and Brave Enough, both of whom may be edging towards better things, on the back of fairly light careers so far.

Ton-Chee dismisses the last obstacles to glorious triumph

Race 6: Pershore Plum Festival Land O'Plums Handicap Chase [2m 7f]

1: Rowdy Rampage     2: Grovemere     3: The Ferbane Man

Winner owned: The Rowdy Boys, trained: Paul Nicholls, ridden: Daryl Jacob

A prolific winner of open points in Ireland, as well as a hunter chase, Rowdy Rampage was making his debut for Paul Nicholls from a mark of 109, which looked very workable indeed. He won, but had to work very hard to dismiss Grovemere, whose sole previous chase was a far lower level, in the final stages. Game as he proved, that did not look like the effort of a horse about to go on a winning spree, but the pair were well clear of the rest, with The Ferbane Man (who has a big preference for small fields) leading the other finishers home. Marleybow was third, and likely to keep that place, when pulling up lame before the final fence. 

Rowdy Rampage leads with over a lap to go, harrassed left to right by The Ferbane Man, Marleybow and Bold Perk

Race 7: Prolific Standard Open National Hunt Flat Race, Div I [2m]

1: Peter The Horse      2: Coverholder     3: Mini Muck

Winner owned: Mrs J Thomason-Murphy, trained: Eugene Stanford, ridden: JM Quinlan

A big upset in the first division of the bumper, as a small yard that had barely broken double figures for the number of runners (but has had a couple of flat winners) erupted into unbridled joy as newcomer Peter The Horse got the best of a fairly slow looking finish, where the balance of power changed several times in the last couple of furlongs. He did seem to go to his left a bit, but none of the prime contenders were running especially straight, and it may simply have been a search for a clear run. Fellow newcomer Coverholder did nothing wrong other than run the race about 0.2 seconds slower than Peter The Horse. Mini Muck was also new to racing, and attracted some betting support despite getting extremely sweaty before the race. Third was a fair show in the circumstances, and possibly can be improved upon. Rocky Raccoon, who had run quite well to be fifth on his own debut, probably did not progress on that, but ended up beaten three lengths back in fourth place, which was not a disastrous effort.

Race 8: Prolific Standard Open National Hunt Flat Race, Div II [2m]

1: Bevnott     2: Candelita     3: V ehement

Winner owned: PH Betts, trained: Lucy Wadham, ridden: Matt Crawley

An enthralling spectacle to close the card, as Bevnott did his absolute best not to win, but had sufficient talent to find victory unavoidable. Even allowing for it being a warm day, hanging badly towards the river in the home straight was a bad idea, and when they had passed the final set of hurdle wings, he tried to dive off into the pre-parade ring. In fairness, Bevnott did notice that the rails were there, and understood the point of them. This meant he eventually went in a straight line, holding the persistent Candelita (third on her previous race), narrowly at bay. The winner had a hood on for his previous win, which hinted that he may be more nervous wreck than irredeemable rogue, but today he was mad as a brush. Vehement had been involved with what looked the best of the summer bumper form so far, and to be so distant in third was a minor flop.

Plus Points

John Sixteen (race 1): Has shown nothing so far, and his rating of 106 is a complete mystery. He ran reasonably near the front here until fading late on - had been off seven months - and Peter Bowen could wheedle a muppet race out if him yet.

Geneva Geyser (race 2): Did not show the hints of awkwardness seen when winning here before, and was more impressive in the end. If connections can unearth a suitable race in which penalties are limited, there is more to come.

Nataani (race 2): An Irish pointing runner-up, he had not raced since winning a bumper at Tramore on New Year's Eve 2008. Having raced prominently for a long way, he tired from the second last, but went down honourably in fourth. Very encouraging.

Vertige Dore (race 3): A solid chase debut until the fiasco at the final fence. If he does it again, the alarm bells ring, but he seemed fairly sensible over hurdles, so is worth the benefit of the doubt for now.

Benmadigan (race 4): Is rated two pounds below his last winning mark, but has never won beyond 2m 4f and he failed to quite see out the race here. Better is on the cards soon.

Ely Brown (race 4): Has been in good form all summer, and although just out of the frame here, it was another decent show. A second win is perfectly possible.

Grovemere (race 6): Made unnecessarily hard work of winning a novice hurdle at Ffos Las, and made his chase debut in a mere 0-100 race, but adapted rather well to this 0-120 standard. It looks like he can win a chase or two if he wants to.

Cold Harbour (race 6): Unseated between the second and third fences, so he can be forgiven the non-completion here. All wins have been on galloping, level, left-handed courses, although there are hints of a deep fear of crossing the river Severn, so results tend to be best at Ffos Las.

Wychwood Mist (race 7): Won her bumper debut, but pulled up here. It was entirely due to tack problems, and this run can be ignored for the future. The horse that was third to her when she won ran a cracker in the eighth race here.

Candelita (race 8): Placed in both her bumpers, she seems to have ability to forge a career over hurdles.

Down Arrows

American Art (race 1): Needed an inspired ride to be kidded home, and even though the field finished spreadeagled, he is not one to believe in should he be raised in class next time.

Soulard (race 2): Has had many chances and has accumulated four wins over fences, but he is far less convincing as a hurdler and the rating of 120 is a struggle for him in handicaps.

Tout Regulier (race 3): Was beaten a similar margin as on her chase debut but by probably better rivals. That is progress, but she does not convince that fences will be her cup of tea.

Teenage Kicks (race 4): Has had a good summer but ran today as if the efforts and the handicapper have caught up with him.

Aghill (race 4): Whipped round at the start and was immediately tailed off. He did gradually get back on terms, but eventually weakened and was pulled up. He has won this summer, but this cantankerous inclination has been seen before.

Naledi (race 5): Has the bare form to be winning a seller, but he finishes looking like a horse resentful of making an effort. Perhaps some headgear may help persuade him, but for now he is one to be cautious of trusting.

Lost Glory (race 6): Quietly got handicapped, won a four runner race on his chase debut, but has now struggled twice in more competitive races.

Calverleigh Court (race 7): Improved to run a blinder on her second appearance, finishing second at Newton Abbot. She was well short of that outcome here, and maybe the race in Devon was not up to much.

Bevnott (race 8): Will probably be in tougher company soon, but even with the headgear he seems to lack the desirable mental stability for that. At long prices he would be tempting to take a chance on. At short prices, not to be touched with a ten foot pole.

DJ Milan (race 8): Had some betting support, from optimists assuming that he would improve massively for his very green effort on debut. If anything, he was more erratic here, starting on the first bend, and eventually pulled up as unsteerable.