Hi all,
In last week’s notebook I gave a favourable mention to Justanotherbottle and Themaxwecan who both won last weekend. The latter remains an improving 3-year-old who looks more and more a Cesarewitch horse with each race and the 25/1 available about him for this year’s race look attractive.
This weekend it’s the Group 1 Sprint Cup at Haydock that will be holding the attention of the racing press. Besides the big one there are some good supporting races. Ascot and Kempton also host good cards on Saturday.
On Sunday It’s family day at York and over the Irish Sea it’s also the start of the Listowel Harvest Festival. With Doncaster’s St Leger Festival starting on Wednesday and Irish Champions Weekend a few days later. We racing fans have plenty to look forward to over the next week or so. All we need is a few winners!
Before I look at this weekend’s action let’s look back at last week’s action and a few horses that could be worth adding to your trackers.
Eyecatchers – W/e September – 01/09
Compared to the previous week there’s not so much on the eyecatcher front.
Friday August 30th
Thirsk
Lahore – Philip Makin
A smart 3-year-old two seasons back when trained by Roger Varian. The lightly raced gelding took a bit of time to find his form this season for his new trainer but won at Ripon three starts back before finishing 8th of 17 in the Great St Wilfrid Handicap.
He appreciated the drop back in Class 3 company when 2nd of 16 in a competitive 6f handicap won by the progressive Bielsa, beaten a head. He remains in form and despite being raised 4lb for this effort should remain competitive.
Sandown
Lyndon B – Michael Bell
A winner three starts back at Leicester. The 3-year-old had then run well to finish 3rd of 18 at Goodwood. He maintained his recent improvement when beating five rivals at Sandown. Held-up in a race that wasn’t run at a great early pace, the gelding’s effort is better than the neck margin of victory suggests.
He’s only had the eight career starts so there could be a bit more progress to come. The handicapper has put him up 7lb for this win which will make life tougher but at a mile, on a sound surface he looks capable of running well.
Saturday August 31st
Chelmsford
Blue Mist – Roger Charlton
The 4-year-old who had run well when 3rd in a big field 7f handicap at Ascot on previous start, had looked a major player in the most valuable race on Saturday. He wasn’t disgraced when 6th of 15, beaten 2 ½ lengths. He would have finished a bit closer with a clearer passage inside the final furlong.
Looks worth another over a mile as he was doing his best work at the finish here. He night well be a ‘cliff horse’ in the making but I think there is a win in him before the year is out either on turf or all-weather.
Sandown
Jumira Bridge – Robert Cowell
There were a couple of horses that caught the eye in the 5f handicap that opened Sandown’s Saturday card. Saaheq didn’t get the best of runs when making his effort a furlong out and looked a shade unlucky in 4th.
Meanwhile Jumira Bridge was arguably even more unlucky in the run. The 5-year-old remains on a winnable handicap mark and finished his race off full of running into 5th. When racing off an Official Rating of 90 or less he’s 3 wins from 7 runs 43% +12.83 5 placed 71% when racing 91 or higher he’s 0 wins from 18 runs 3 placed.
Tends to race on a sound surface so he may or may not get his favoured underfoot conditions in the coming weeks but when he does, he can win again.
Cheers
John