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Huntingdon 29/08/11 |
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A good old start of autumn day, with cloud and wind marking the August bank holiday. August-schmaugust. For the enhanced bank holiday crowd, the course had taken the common sense view often seen in France, and tried to theme the additional activities around horses as far as possible - pony rides, equiciser (equicizer?) try outs. As a future investment it gets the youngsters thinking about, and hopefully appreciating, the race horses. Which meant the jockeys had a free rein on the bouncy castle... Going: Good to Firm (Good places officially present for the first two races were dismissed) Race
1: Download The Blue Square iphone App Handicap Hurdle [2m 0.5f] 1: Rampant Ronnie 2: Farleigh House & Argaum Winner owned: Hanford's Chemist Ltd, trained: Alison Thorpe, ridden: Michael Byrne The usual Huntingdon tale
for this kind of race, where even a manageable looking number of runners makes
it hard to produce a brief enough shortlist to get that involved. The running
produced a
simple tale, and one that proved the suspicion that the going was uber-quick, as
Rampant Ronnie and Argaum set off like the proverbial bats out of hell, with
turbo chargers, and only Farleigh House was able to come from off the pace to
grab a dead-heat for second. The rest of the field did close notably around the
fourth last, but as the leaders, who had been fifteen lengths clear with a lap
to go, were able to kick clear again, some sort of communal breather was
apparently in action. Rampant Ronnie has been steady all summer and not really
caught the eye of the handicapper (in a bad way), but this might finally do it.
Ebony Diamond was a surprise favourite, given that his Irish bumper win came on
good to soft, the form of his promising British debut had worked out like a
drain, and his yard has not had a winner for three months – posting very few
runners in that time - and he never threatened to correct that stat. The market got this one badly wrong.
Left to right, Argaum, Rampant Ronnie and Farleigh House pull up in a style intended to audition them for an equine Reservoir Dogs Race
2: Bet At bluesquare.com On Your Mobile Handicap Chase [2m 0.5f] 1: Rock Me 2: Petito 3: Rince Donn Winner owned: For Fun Partnership, trained: Lawney Hill, ridden: Dave Bass These were a bit of a
motley bunch, but it was only a 0-100 race, so what else was to be expected? The
main issue is that although Rock Me's hapless dabbles in chasing made him easy
to ignore, the other quintet were all supportable in certain circumstances, but not the course, distance and going combination that they tackled here.
And so, let
us remember this moment, for it shall be a long time, if ever, we see the likes
of this again. Rock Me had added to his utter contempt for chasing recently,
being seen as equally ill-disposed to hurdling. He did have a visor replacing
cheekpieces, for shock value, but he gained this win due to the ground finding
out Rince Donn, a couple of rivals falling and Pepito (no wins in 12 flat, 21
hurdle and 3 chase races before today) not looking especially keen to overtake
him on the run-in. The one upside was Rock Me jumped less woefully. At the time
she fell two out, it seemed Won More Knight had got herself too far behind
(perhaps five lengths, maybe a couple more) to
pull this one out of the bag, but watching the first two trying to outslow each
other on the run-in left that question more open to debate. At one point the
betting for this was 4/1, 4/1, 9/2, 9/2, 5/1, 5/1 – which shows how bookies
and punters were equally bewildered by the shortcomings of the horses involved. Race
3 1: American Art 2: The Fox's Decree 3: First Smash Winner owned: BA Kilpatrick, trained: David Pipe, ridden: Conor O'Farrell A
good old seller to get stuck into, made more fascinating by the fact that
Nordwind, who had nearly a stone in hand on official ratings, was unproven at
the trip, and perhaps less suited to the track than would be perfect. So in the
end it was a
more than typically competitive race for an eight runner seller, but American
Art landed the hat trick in far more convincing style than his last one, where
today’s rider tricked him into winning. The difference between the two races
being that he was able to cruise around here on the bridle and look like a
genius, whereas last time there was effort to be made, which he resented. The
Fox’s Decree had won a shocker of a five runner chase recently, but carried
the improvement over to hurdles last time. He ran the winner much closer (two
lengths) than the weights suggested should happen, but never looked like
actually worrying American Art into a loss. Nordwind was never quite able to
match the pace of this, despite having good old form on quick going. Estate was
the opposite, in that he has a course win, but has generally given fast going
the cold shoulder, and today showed why. Could do better on good or softer,
might equally be past his sell by date.
Under the circumstances, American Art seems less resentful of success than might have been thought likely. He does, however, refuse a request for an interview after what was said about him here after his last race. Race
4 1: The Wifes Pet 2: Stage Acclaim 3: Captain Sully Winner owned: MB Clarke & A Hill, trained: Lawney Hill, ridden: Aidan Coleman Fortune played a big part in this outcome, as the first pair both were unconvincing at the last. Stage Acclaim's error took him right, leaving a bit of tricky steering needed to help him manage the elbow on the run-in, whereas The Wifes Pet stumbled left, which actually took her in the direction she needed to go. Having put in a better round of jumping prior to that, The Wifes Pet's win was far from undeserved, although the game way Stage Acclaim responded to a horrendous mid-race blunder, which sent him from first to last was admirable. Obviously not making the error would have been even more ideal, but small credits where they are due. Captain Sully was better than last time, but perhaps not as determined as is needed, and fourth placed Buddy Holly was a touch too cautious in his jumping.
A long since riderless Royal Max refuses to give up his ghost, with Stage Acclaim, The Wifes Pet and Captain Sully trying to recover the status quo Race
5: Blue Square Bet Maiden Hurdle [2m 0.5f] 1: Bullet Man 2: Pippa Greene 3: Far Flung Winner owned: Kevin Bailey & Clark Watson, trained: Paul Webber, ridden: Denis O'Regan This
race often features one or two slightly better hurdles prospects than have been
emerging in the last few weeks, so also provides a good chance to spot one or
two runners with less lofty credentials that may have their moment in a
different time and place. This
was an odd race, with seven of the fourteen detached with a whole lap remaining,
and often being nudged along to maintain a position of being slightly out of
touch. The leading septet did not thin out until they were bypassing the third
last. After a slightly disappointing fourth on debut at Sedgefield, Bullet Man
improved today, living up to his name as he skipped clear on the run-in. The
slightly shorter trip, absence of a rise to the finish and even faster ground
all combined to his benefit. Pippa Greene was second for the third time in three
hurdle runs. Having run really well on debut, this made two straight less
impressive efforts, and for an 80-rated flat horse, he did not appear terribly
speedy - and that flat mark was only three better than the one boasted by Bullet
Man. Far Flung, who was very lightly raced on the flat, nearly pinched second
and appeared lame on pulling up, which means she almost certainly would have
deprived Pippa Greene, all things being equal. There was an awful lot of
attention drawn to Race
6: Play Mecca Bingo On Your Mobile Handicap Hurdle [3m 2f] 1: Absolute Shambles 2: Carmela Maria 3: Elegant Olive Winner owned: Chris Gordon Racing Club, trained: Chris Gordon, ridden: Tom Cannon As ever when the Empire is in action, concentration on the performances of the oppo is equally as difficult as dismissing every glimmer of promise shown by them, however slight or out of character they may have been. So a hopeful build up turned into a race riven with pitfalls. One being the favourite. After two more wins had taken his career tally to five, Absolute Shambles was being asked to do something he had never been able to crack in the past – win from a mark in the 90s. As it turned out, he was here on a good day for front-running, and is in such a good mood that new frontiers were able to be breached. There was a moment or two around three out where it seemed that the best of the pursuers may reel him in, but as they straightened for home, he got a second wind, and his command was absolute without being in anyway shambolic. Carmela Maria had shaped at 2m 6f as if a real stayer in the making, but her first three mile race had been a backward step. In keeping on for second, she confirmed that earlier impressions may yet be true. Elegant Olive struggled to match the frantic pace up front, but made progress to go second as others wilted. She just tired in the last furlong or so, but was back in the vicinity of her best form. Being proven over two miles on the flat, Poppy Gregg seemed like the sort to appreciate this trip, despite previous failures, but she faded late on, possibly working too hard to remain prominent early in the race. She could yet deliver at this distance, but her hurdling record is very inconsistent, so predicting when to expect the day of reckoning is a road paved with danger. Plus
Points Argaum (race 1): Ran in a three miler on his
second hurdle start (but fell) and the way he belted round here at pace makes
that choice a bit of a headscratcher. This was his third runner-up slot in a
row, but he seems to do nothing wrong and a win on quick ground should be
perfectly possible. But over what distance? A couple of bad early errors, when
not quite settled down did not help his case, but an uncontested lead would
likely give him less things to worry about. Mr Harmoosh (race 1): In his first handicap
having posted results so wildly variable that handicapping him was an act of
guesswork, he was threatening to get involved for a place between the last two
flights, but fatigue caused him to make an ungainly flop over the last, which
ended the effort. He can fare better in a less manic race. Torran Sound (race 1): Had performed better in
his last two runs after an iffy start as a hurdler. As a 2m 2f flat winner, this
race was always likely to be on the sharp side, and leaving the blinkers off
after they had seemed to help in the better efforts seemed an experimental move.
Perhaps he can get more involved over further and in the headgear. The Wifes Pet (race 4): A successful but unspectacular chase debut, she will probably be better judged on what she achieves on slightly less quick going. Buddy Holly (race 4): Has not hurdled since early spring, and was making his chase debut. The jumping could have been slicker, but he may well be capable of notable improvement based on what he learnt from this experience. Far Flung (race 5): Once finished second in a
maiden, from four flat runs, but was well beaten in doing that. She looks the
part for a hurdles mare, and if the lameness is not too serious, she can develop
on this promising effort. Easier ground might be more helpful. Captain’s Measure (race 5): Ran quite poorly
in his first two bumpers, but improved in the next pair a great deal. This was
his hurdles debut, and the guess was it would be a stepping stone to better
things in longer races. In fact he laid up with the pace surprisingly well, only
to drop out a bit too quickly. When he settles better, there is a mark to be
made in the scenarios envisaged before watching the race. Carmela Maria (race 6): Should be able to win a
low grade marathon hurdle on what she showed today, especially a less
frantically run one. Gallimaufry (race 6): Had good form credentials
for this, and was the paddock pick, but killed her chance with a huge blunder at
the fifth, and was cantered around in rear until stopping at the course exit.
Whilst the error seemed to be all her own fault, she is better than the last two
runs indicate. A big bounce back is not at all impossible. Down
Arrows Ebony Diamond (race 1): Person or persons
unknown were apparently expecting a minor revelation here, but there was not
even a sign of one. Be vary of
future market moves on that basis. Rock Me (race 2): Possibly reformed himself
slightly, but still looked like he would happily lose an even less competitive
chase than this. Back over hurdles, however, it might be that the visor can work
a touch more magic. Pepito (race 2): Lost his 37th
consecutive race, and whilst he did seem to get the chase idea a bit better,
this was his sixth second place, and he was very happy with it. Too happy. American Art (race 3): Completed the
selling/claiming hat trick, but looks the sort who can be worried out of it by a
close-up and bolshie rival, so is very layable as he seeks to increase the
sequence. Pippa Greene (race 5): Should be quicker for a
horse as highly rated as he was on the flat. One sub-par effort was forgiveable,
but two in a row is testing the alarms. Absolute Shambles (race 6): Completed a good summer hat trick, but has probably now dragged himself too far up the ratings to continue the streak. Empire Elegant Olive (race 6): Did not quite have the toe to cope on very quick ground, but proved that she is not a spent force in the ideal race on a right-handed course. Hadden's verdict was that he would have liked to have been able to get her closer to the winner during the race, but she was going as fast as she could, and the winner unsportingly failed to stop late in the race. School well, and chasing beckons. UK-Jumping Selections Farleigh House (race 1): Ran pretty well under the circumstances, and also continued his there, but not quite thereabouts tendency over hurdles. A return to chasing ought to help him. |
