Plumpton 05/12/11

This picture incorporates both the concept of the deceptively wintry weather, and the Phil Middleton winner (hidden on the far side behind the leader)

Going: Soft (Good to Soft places), but the runners were not finishing as tired as can often be seen here.

Race 1: toteplacepot Novice Hurdle [2m]

1: Trip The Light     2: Turbo Du Ranch     3: Tindaro

Winner owned & trained: Phil Middleton, ridden: Tony McCoy

This was a weird race, as the most notable trend was that of runners which had made a perfectly decent first go at hurdling and then regressed at the second try. The field held no obvious legends in the making but had plenty of potential strength in depth. On that basis it is worth keeping a shifty eye on as a source of modest level winners in the future. Trip The Light was one of four 80+ rated flat horses to line up, and his good start over hurdles had been spoiled not by lethargy but when falling last week at Folkestone - competing well against a couple of fair rivals. He was obviously not dismayed by that, and there were no negative signs (least of all in the betting) for a quick reappearance, in which Trip The Light, not tripping in any sense of the word here, saw off bumper winner Turbo Du Ranch in a convincing style. Two of the other highly rated flat horses finished third and fourth, so this was absolutely no race for slouches. Tindaro's connections probably expected this to be an easier opening than his Ascot race. Cue the maniacal laughter of despair at being horribly wrong. Like a horror film starring Kenny Everett and Vincent Price. It happened - look on the internet.

Trip The Light has enough advantage over Turbo Du Ranch. Tindaro (third) seemed closer in the flesh than this picture shows

Race 2: totepool Novice Chase [2m 4f]

1: Invictus     2: Gift Of Dgab     3: Maringo Bay

Winner owned: Mrs & Mrs R Kelvin Hughes, trained: Alan King, ridden: Robert Thornton

Another one of the bonus races for Cheltenham, and it attracted four potentially decent novice chasers, and one makeweight for whom a retention of morale after a drubbing would do, and the one notable thing about this race was a solid round of jumping from all five, on a course that can be tricky for the less experienced horse. Last season Invictus was the horse with the sky high reputation and no results to back it up - until an unexceptional Ascot win late in the term. He had showed some greater panache in winning his first chase at Hereford and he was again impressive here. Leaving the rail turn, he sprinted away from competent, sound-jumping opponents, not through being hard ridden, but merely by having the handbrake released. Watch the replay from the third last to see how appealing the performance was. Irish raider Gift Of Dgab is trained by an admirable trainer, ridden by an admirable rider and owned by a total bell end - the latter does not slow him down at all, but he does have a knack for finishing second all of his own accord...  

Invictus seals mighty triumph at the last

Race 3: totequadpot mares’ Handicap Hurdle [2m 5f]

1: Cinderella Rose     2: Twin Bud     3: Malaventa

Winner owned: Mrs Nicholas Jones, trained: Kim Bailey, ridden: Ed Cookson

Put on a 0-125 mares' handicap, and the capable mares will come. None are on the shortlist of dangers to Quevega in March, but they had a good smattering of wins and decent placed runs to their names. And on the subject of names, this was the second mares' race recently to be overrun by horses with 'rose' in their names. It seems that the only ones left available are Dogbreath Rose and Guffbag Rose, for which the queue to reserve them is quite short. And an apology to Cinderella Rose and her connections for not dwelling on her win, in light of an extraordinary effort from the second. Cinderella Rose was not certain to handle a sharp course, and had never tried going this soft, but there was enough distance back the the third and beyond to state that she coped and more. However, the win was narrow, but against the least likely candidate. UK-Jumping has been a fan of Twin Bud from the off, simply because she is a daughter of site favourite Little Bud, but she was not on her best behaviour here. In rear and ridden along with a lap completed, the best that could be said of the next three-quarters of a mile was that she got no further behind nor did her temper worsen. However, Mattie Batchelor kept rowing away like a man who felt there was plenty in the tank, and from the third last he convinced Twin Bud to sweep from a forlorn last to a clear second and the sole threat to the winner. Magical stuff, and at the last, they even seemed to have the momentum to win, but when it was needed, Cinderella Rose pulled her finger out and hung on by a neck. Malaventa needs good or quicker ground, so did quite well to end up third, safely clear of Chilli Rose and Misstree Dancer.

Race 4: Windmill Catering Handicap Chase [2m 4f]

1: Ballyman     2: She's Humble     3: Manmoon

Winner owned: Dr & Mrs Peter Leftley, trained: Jonathan Geake, ridden: Mark Grant

A battle of the greys, which was usurped by She's Humble, who finished with unusual passion (by her standards) to split Ballyman and well-backed Manmoon on the run-in. This was Ballyman's first win, at the twentieth attempt under rules (he did win an Irish point in 2005), and apart from an awkward scrape over the first, the whole experience was so hassle free that Ballyman may even be inspired to repeat it. As late as the run between the final two fences, Manmoon seemed as if he was going to go down battling, but he tied up and drifted into the centre of the course. The door of opportunity was ajar, rather than a jar, and Ballyman could not resist/avoid it. There was an array of disappointing shows unfolding behind them, which concerned nobody who spotted the gender noun and pronoun related tricast waiting to be won, which paid 910/1. And also involved ignoring Master D'Or and The Hardy Boy.

Ballyman puts his remaining energy into unearthing who or what caused him to end up winning this. Mark Grant puts on an imaginary sombrero of celebration.

Race 5: Alan Jee Memorial Handicap Hurdle [2m]

1: Marju King     2: Just Beware     3: Lajidaal

Winner owned & trained: Phil Middleton, ridden: Kielan Woods.

Fitting the theme for the day, the race juggled the front-runners and a strong finisher to serve up another close and thrilling finish. Marju King had not been embarrassed in novice hurdles, but switching to handicaps had failed to deliver immediate dividends, and a very winnable race was spoiled last week when he was brought down very early. He was not a prolific flat winner (a sole success, in a five runner race), but he just about had enough here to keep Just Beware at bay. The runner-up, who has the odd good run on soft even though there are more on faster, is rated 88, and has won from 86 and 85. She lost this by three lengths, which keeps things nice and simple for the handicapper. Rounding the railway bend Just Beware did seem as if she could go one better, but approaching the second last, she had a spell where she stopped closing the gap, and Marju King had enough in hand when she started to edge into the margin again. Lajidaal won his race on good to firm, and whilst he ran quite well, a sturdier finisher would have ended one or two places better from the position he had after the third last. Back in fifth was Abbi Jicaro, whose racing achievements so far are zero, but is exactly the sort of horse that wins a race when her trainer, Alison Thorpe, goes into one of her intermittent unstoppable spells. 

Marju King has it in the bag at the last. Just Beware's nose is just passing Lajidaal

Race 6: Hepworth Blonde Handicap Chase [3m 2f]

1: Zimbabwe     2: Its A Classic      3: Miss Fleur

Winner owned: RJ & Mrs JA Peake, trained: Nigel Hawke, ridden: Sam Twiston-Davies

The most amazing result of the day, as Zimbabwe rolled back the years to the winter of 2006/7, where he gained all of his wins in a five race spell. Ever since that time, when Jay Harris rode, various riders have tried to trick, cajole, coerce and carry him into running a complete race, but none had managed to extract much more than a mile and a half of effort from him. Sam Twiston-Davies adopted the same approach from the saddle as many others but had one accidental trick up his sleeve. Rounding the top of the course, one of his stirrups broke, and Zimbabwe took a very sympathetic approach to being ridden by a man with only one functioning leg. Which is the work of an honourable creature, not the indifferent nutter he often chooses to portray. Miss Fleur and Its A Classic kept bustling him along from just behind, but neither could quite get alongside and give him the evil eye. Let the craziness cease. 

Race 7: L&T Building Services Intermediate Open National Hunt Flat Race [2m 2f]

1: Mister Newby     2: Ballylifen     3: Tidal Dance

Winner owned: Colin Pocock, trained: Richard Philips, ridden: Richard Johnson

A more promising bunch than often lines up for a Plumpton bumper, and based on history and paddock inspection, the six that fought out a closer than normal finish were the ones that supported the quality of the event. With his yard having been in the doldrums, Mister Newby was encouragingly responsive in a battle, and Ballylifen appreciated the step up in trip from Ludlow's gentle two miles. Tidal Dance was a real paddock eye-catcher and finished best of the newcomers. Loose Chips was fourth, following the Ballylifen approach of indifferent Irish pointing form, lack of toe in a basic bumper and then improving for the extra couple of furlongs and/or softer going. Prime Location ended up fifth, another solid debut run. In sixth was Kruzhlinin, unlucky loser of a Larkhill maiden point and then a winner at Tabley. Unusual for being a German-bred, British pointer running in the Million In Mind colours, connections were probably expecting Plumpton to offer an easier start. Also in the race - another of Little Bud's foals. Budsson did not get off to a flying start as racehorse, but there is time.

Plus Points

Trip The Light (race 1): Is good enough to concede a penalty if his sights are not set too high.

Cozy Tiger (race 1): Won all his flat races on the all-weather, but ran pretty well at Huntingdon on debut as a jumper. He did not match it over 2m 1.5f at Folkstone next, but performed solidly again here. Handicap hurdles over less than 2m 1f are worth monitoring for his involvement.

Sam Sharp (race 1): Rated 83 on the flat, his wins were a mile on good and ten furlongs on soft, so there were no fears on stamina here, although the soft ground win was a bit out of the blue, so he may have preferred better conditions. He did not get seriously involved in the race, but did nothing obviously wrong, and is one to give another chance or two.

Invictus (race 2): Star equine performance on the day - he could go a long way as a chaser and should not be under-estimated at the big tracks simply because he has won at Hereford and Plumpton. 

Maringo Bay (race 2): His career has been a bit indecisive so far. A pointer? A hurdler? A chaser? A future Turner Prize winner? Since losing a three runner chase at Fakenham by less than two lengths, he had gone back to hurdles and won, gaining a rating of 138. His only error here was a tired one at the last, which cost him second. Sticking to chases ought to pay dividends.

Indian Daudaie (race 2): Having Invictus sprint up the inner on the final bend frightened the life out of him and he veered right, not doing Gift Of Dgab any favours. When it mattered he was the least speedy of the four, but his jumping was fine, and as long as he targets more realistic races than the Grade 1 and 2s that littered (and soiled?) his hurdling, wins are on the cards.

Pepite Rose (race 3): Looked like a slow burner in juvenile hurdles, and only really disappointed in her first try in handicaps. That had led to nine months off, and she turned out here looking like the race would be needed. Three out, she was going best of all, but when the fitness issue caught her up, she was not asked to work too hard. Be on alert for her next race. 

Manmoon (race 4): Back down below his last winning mark, he ran a greatly improved race compared to the shockers he had been offering since he won here in January. The late fade was a bit underwhelming, but he had tried to make all of the running. Over two and a half miles on softish ground, another win is possible.

Rebel Melody (race 6): Should probably be in the down arrows with the rest of the runners in this, but the layout at Plumpton seemed a potential banana skin, and he also would rather be in an even longer race, so another chance elsewhere can be argued to be due.

Tidal Dance (race 7): Stood out in the paddock, and despite the slightly negative signal of having two handlers, he ran perfectly well against more experienced opposition. He should have a future. 

Kruzhlinin (race 7): Tackled 2m 4f points, and ran today as if 2m 2f on soft was a touch too far for him in a bumper. For now. 

Down Arrows

Zennor (race 1): Ran well twice at Lingfield, being a bit free but showing good heart late in the race. This time she was a bit more settled, but only plodded on at the end, finishing fourth. Allowing for the quality of those ahead of her, it was not a poor show, yet it did seem a bit a of a regression from her earlier hurdle runs.

Gift Of Dgab (race 2): Time may tell that he was tackling the impossible here, but he had himself been impressive on his chasing debut. His record now is raced: 10, won: 2, runner-up 6, which suggests he will be found out in the best opposition. And not quite best. 

Twin Bud (race 3): Despite almost extracting an astonishing win, it has to be observed that she was her own worst enemy in making the task so hard - it was Mattie Batchelor that almost turned sow's ear into a silk purse.

Rith Bob (race 3): Normally very consistent, she was back hurdling after a chasing fall. Perhaps the clear round was all that was required, but she was not her normal, zesty self here, and she is a bit high in the hurdle ratings.

Chord (race 4): Ended up fourth, but went about it in Twin Bud style, dropping himself out and then rallying when he could see a few in front struggling really badly. Must try harder earlier.

Master D'Or (race 4): Another who is tolerably handicapped, he failed to show any signs of progress from his return to action last month.

The Hardy Boy (race 4): Was not wildly keen at the start, and came under pressure too early for comfort in the race. He soon turns twelve and may have decided that he has done enough for one career.

Mix N Match (race 5): He has only won once over hurdles, which is one less time than he has managed to run out, and whilst there were concerns over stamina in the mud, it did look like his debut for Polly Gundry was in as good a race to compete as he is likely to find. He was reported to have finished distressed, so gives another reason for concern.

The field (race 6): It is hard to imagine the old broken tack scam fooling Zimbabwe twice, and the half dozen behind him conceded too readily to be especially hopeful about them. For example, Its A Classic has a fondness for refusing and an injury-plagued career will not have improved his attitude, Portrait Royale goes best fresh, yet ran a woeful comeback race.

UK-Jumping Selections

Lajidaal (race 5): At face value it was a decent effort on the wrong ground, but it would be nice if he could be a bit braver in the finish.