Kempton 27/12/11

Traditionally, this second day at Kempton has been a civilised way to get some fresh air (when not abandoned) after Christmas, but with the mild weather and lack of uncertainty of it going ahead, today attracted a massive crowd. If it keeps on at this rate, it will cease being civilised. As for the racing, the prize money was solid, but the non-Grade 2 races were a little under-supported. The juvenile hurdle and closing handicap deserved more than seven runners, and the mares hurdle might have made double figures. 

It was also one of those sadly too frequent days when you wondered what planet the people that run the course were on. The only other racing shown on the big screen was the Welsh National (rightly assessed by former winner Luke Harvey as 'the worst National') from Chepstow. Presumably Chepstow and Wetherby did not try and pretend that Kempton's meeting did not exist. That was off at 2.10 in the afternoon. Kempton scheduled a three mile hurdle for 2.05, so that the start from Chepstow was missed. But! But! But! There was an unnecessary and inexplicable 40 minute gap before the 2.05 here. Madness. And actually finding a screen to watch racing from elsewhere was not easy. And throughout the afternoon, you could not escape the endless wittering over the PA. Billing it as KPTV fails totally to give it the gravitas is seeks, but misses by miles, and the occasional helpful snippet is lost as in a wave of mindless guff. Also, research shows this background irritation is a major cause of spree killings. And when it happens, it will all be Kempton's fault. 

Going: Good (Good to Soft places) for chases, Good to Soft (Good places) for hurdles

Race 1: £25 Free Bet With williamhill.com Mobile Juvenile Novice Hurdle [2m]

1: Ranjaan     2: Lemon Drop Red     3: Malanos

Winner owned: Highclere Thoroughbred Racing - Ranjaan, trained: Paul Nicholls, ridden: Daryl Jacob

A good effort from Ranjaan, who bounced back mentally from a hefty tumble in his last race to win this. At the second last, five of the seven starters were bang in contention, but from there Ranjaan and Lemon Drop Red were distinctly quicker on their feet than the other trio. Lemon Drop Red was outjumped at the final flight, but Ranjaan's four length margin suggests that it did not change result, merely slightly increased the gap between the two. Malanos did well to nab third as he was carrying a penalty for a win at Leicester that he did his absolute best to throw away. No signs of anarchist leanings on this occasion. This race could throw up a few winners if the beaten horses have their sights set a little lower. 

Race 2: Williamhill.com Novice Chase, Grade 2 [2m]

1: Sprinter Sacre     2: Peddlers Cross     3: Harry Hunt

Winner owned: Mrs Caroline Mould, trained: Nicky Henderson, ridden: Barry Geraghty

The presence of arguably the premier pair of two mile novice chase prospects in the nation scared off everyone but one opponent. Harry Hunt has not been bad hurdler at all, but was run off his feet on his chase debut. He did finish, but tended to jump left at times - even at a lower level, he may need a bit more experience before we get involved in an investment. Over to the main pair. Since dropping back to two miles, Peddlers Cross has looked totally at home. Until now. Sprinter Sacre, who is still relatively inexperienced, had looked uber-nippy but perhaps a bit short of stamina until his third in the Supreme Novice Hurdle. After Peddlers Cross made a mistake at the first, Sprinter Sacre simply blazed away and was far too quick for him and two miles in chases seems perfect. Impressive - but will he be able to replicate it in a busier race?

Race 3:Best Odds Guaranteed With williamhill.com Mobile mares' Handicap Hurdle [3m 0.5f]

1: Kentford Grey Lady     2: Annimation     3: Violin Davis

Winner owned: DI Bare, trained: Emma Lavelle, ridden: Jack Doyle

It appeared that there had been a lot of money wagered on Kentford Grey Lady here, taking on a trio of mares that had finished first, second and third over course and distance recently. She did not look well treated in the handicap, but was having her first go at the distance, and is lightly raced enough to have plenty of improvement in her. After slow jumps at the first two hurdles, her supporters may have been entertaining one or two doubts, but she settled down, travelled well throughout, and most critically, was not at all short of stamina after she led between the final pair of obstacles. In the end, a tidy success, yet by a margin that might be small enough to keep the weight rise under control. Annimation had recently been experimenting with a rise in the class of race contested, and although she has not won, she has been doing well enough and looked full of determination when headed. Of those that had excelled over course and distance, Violin Davis edged out Cloudy Spirit for third, with Whoops A Daisy having a bit of an off-day.

Race 4:  Williamhill.com Desert Orchid Chase, Grade 2 [2m]

1: Finian's Rainbow     2: Wishfull Thinking     3: Oiseau De Nuit

Winner owned: Michael Buckley, trained: Nicky Henderson, ridden: Barry Geraghty

It is probably unwise to get too carried away with the form of this race, as a last fence blunder seemed to cost Oiseau De Nuit victory, and we know from an exposed career that he wins only occasionally, and whilst having worked his way up the ratings from the low 100s to be a Grand Annual winner at Cheltenham, it is unlikely that he is suddenly a champion two miler in the making. Finian's Rainbow, if he could talk, would argue that a bad blunder four out cost him more than Oiseau De Nuit's error, and that having looked safely beaten after the second last, he showed an excellent turn of foot from the last to win narrowly in his first race for nine months. At the same time Wishfull Thinking would mention that he also made a mess of four out, and that having taken the option to settle in last early, he has put the recent spell of charging off in front like a crazy fool behind him. And he is not up for two miles anyway. While this was going on (the race, not the debating society), Takeroc came from a bit off of the pace to get on the heels of the leaders, but never managed to battle his way into better than fourth.

Race 5: Williamhill.com - Home Of Betting Handicap Chase [3m]

1: Fruity O'Rooney     2: Midnight Appeal     3: Fair Point

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

This was quite an eventful race, especially in the closing stages. Fruity O'Rooney is the Eric Cartman of handicap chasing - smallish, stoutly constructed, and incredibly confident in his own genius, to the degree of being very annoying to the opposition. Recently he has added to his repertoire some good performances not dependent on small fields in bottomless ground. He made the running today, as usual, and four out he had all but two of the oppo in serious trouble. Of the pair of dangers, Promising Anshan fell three from home, looking like he went quite close to rugby tackling Fruity O'Rooney in the process. At the next fence, Inside Dealer, who was still in cruise mode, also fell, and his unsporting attempt to knock the pace setter over as he did so came to naught. That left Fruity O'Rooney tired but clear and after getting over the last, the race was won. Midnight Appeal and Fair Point were staying on fairly well, but not in anything like enough time. 

Race 6: Download williamhill.com On Your Mobile Handicap Hurdle [2m]

1: Lifestyle     2: Higgy's Ragazzo     3: Art Professor

Winner owned: The Turf Club & David Ford, trained: Nicky Henderson, ridden: Barry Geraghty

The meeting endeth as it beginneth, with a big clump of hurdlers talking the second last in a bunch. This time, stable mates Lifestyle and Higgy's Ragazzo were going better than their challengers at the time, and when push came to time-to-assert-shove, Lifestyle was a bit too sharp for Higgy's Ragazzo. The winner had unseated on his chase debut, and the quick return to hurdling spoke volumes for how that effort had been interpreted in the Seven Barrows war room. His record in hurdles is now 12111. In bumpers he went 1306, with the 0 being his only run on a sharp track. Clearly something other than the course was to blame that day. Higgy's Ragazzo also kept his novice hurdle career minimalist, but when he tackled the Swinton Handicap Hurdle in the spring, he could do no better than midfield. Has he improved in the meantime to catch it up, or was it just that this was only a 0-125, and far less numerously contested. Of the others, Art Professor battled on against the first pair for the longest, and it was a good effort after eleven months off. In a juvenile hurdle last year, Looks Like Slim managed to lose to Grandouet by only nine lengths. He is now not winning from a mark of 118, which suggests that their degrees of improvement since have not been comparable. So, a nice 1-2 for Nicky Henderson, and no doubt he has the horse looitering around to have fielded nine in this race - just like JP McManus did in vain at Leopardstown. But that was a chase!

Plus Points

Lemon Drop Red (race 1): A three-time winner at 1m 4f on the flat, this was a corking hurdles debut, and he should be able to go one better, but will probably not be any fancy prices in the attempt.

Malanos (race 1): Won his hurdles debut despite horrible jumping and steering problems, and lost next time, despite less dramatic attempts to disappear off of the course. He jumped better here and looked much more straightforward. He is a stocky, strongly built horse that could make a useful hurdler if the signs of madness remain suppressed in future.

Kambis (race 1): Ended up fourth, his best hurdle run in three tries. He has been losing by safe enough margins to mean that he ought to be on a workable handicap mark when he gets one.

Montegonian (race 1): Making his hurdles debut, he had the inconvenience of broken tack going to post. With that a potential cause to wind him up, he ran a solid first race over jumps, only being done for speed from the second last. 

Sprinter Sacre (race 2): Looked a very, very fast chaser here. It would be nice to see him do it again in a bigger field before the Arkle, but even if his trainer wants to, he is likely to scare away the oppo. 

Cloudy Spirit (race 3): Was weighted to finish upside Violin Davis, and duly did so. But she was 9/1 and Violin Davis was 7/2, which suggests that Cloudy Spirit is still a little under-estimated. And she did not get beaten so far that more wins cannot be envisaged. Probably a sharp track, on good or good to soft. 

Wishfull Thinking (race 4): At least he was a bit more his old self, and now that he has regained a bit of racing composure, hopefully the two miler nonsense will be forgotten and he can be back to his old self.

Fair Point (race 5): Flattered to finish as close as he did, and in the frame, this was his first race since Nov09, and he did at least indicate that there is something still to work with as his comeback progresses.

Art Professor (race 6): Gaining two wins by a short head has failed to trick the handicapper into minimising the ratings rise, but he ran well enough here to think that he has not been stopped yet. 

Down Arrows

Kie (race 1): An ordinary 49-rated flat horse, he had taken well to hurdles, exploiting sub-par fields to win twice. He tried to dominate this company, but found his limitations rudely exposed, and a handicap mark of 128 is going to be a problem. 

Peddlers Cross (race 2): Who knows - this result might tempt people give it a go against him over two miles. Will he cope? The first seeds of doubt are now sown.

Whoops A Daisy (race 3): Her trainer was a bit downbeat in advance over a small mare having to lug topweight around, but with her rating having hit 134, there are relatively few mares around who may turn up in a handicap and take that "top of the card" slot in her stead. Obvious problem, limited options to solve it.

Cool Friend, Seedless, Victoria Rose (race 3): All looked like they were here because there was a valuable mares' race, not because they wanted three miles, and the way they ran suggested this is a distance to be wary of for now. 

Finian's Rainbow (race 4): Plucked the turkey of defeat into a roast of victory, but there was just that crunching error which has looked an Achilles' Heel in the past. It will not stop him winning races, but could easily produce some short priced defeats as well.

Midnight Appeal (race 5): Very flattered by the three lengths losing margin, the first time visor was not nearly as effective as the bare result might lead us to believe.

Fortification (race 5): Won this race in 2009, and had his latest success only a couple of months ago, but he was totally unable to cope with the pace set by Fruity O'Rooney, eventually pulling up. A big step backwards.