Hi all,
Face Off was a good third, at Navan on, Wednesday to land the each way money.
There are no Thursday selections so here is the week’s notebook.
We are heading into the final stretch as far as the flat season is concerned with the winter jumps season ready to click into gear.
It’s a busy weekend of racing. On Friday it’s day one Newmarket’s Future Champions Festival with the feature races being the Group 1 Fillies Mile on Friday and on Saturday the Group 1 Dewhurst Stakes and of course the weekend’s big betting races the marathon Cesarewitch Handicap.
Wichita who I put up last week as 2,000 Guineas ante-post selection has been supplemented for the Dewhurst Stakes where he will take on the unbeaten Pinatubo. It will be asking a lot for him to beat Pinatubo now, but I would expect Wichita to give him a race. Come next year’s 2,000 Guineas it will hopefully be a different story.
York’s season finishes this weekend with a two-day fixture starting on Friday. There’s a competitive looking card on the Saturday with the highlight being the Coral Sprint Trophy Handicap over 6f. There’s some good jumps action to enjoy too with Chepstow hosting it’s first jumps fixture of the winter jumps campaign on Friday & Saturday. In recent seasons this meeting has been the starting point for some of the winter games stars with the likes of Altior, Cue Card & Silviniaco Conti all racing here in the past. This year looks no different with the likes of Reserve Tank and McFabulous set to make their seasonal reappearances.
Plenty for both flat and jumps fans to look forward too and from an eyecatchers perspective the Chepstow racing should be useful viewing.
Before all that. Let’s look back on last week’s action. As I mentioned last week my eyecatchers at this time of year tend to be juveniles with next season in mind with the odd all-weather horse thrown in for good measure and of course increasingly National Hunt horses.
This week’s eyecatchers include a mix of jumps, flat and all-weather horses to reflect the period of the year. There are four eyecatchers plus another two who you might be worth adding to your trackers.
Eyecatchers – W/e October 6th
Friday October 4th
Dundalk
I got a rare chance to watch the Friday evening racing from Dundalk.
Nimitz, trained by Charles O’Brien, ran well in the final race on the card. Three of the 5-year-old’s career wins have come here on the polytrack and he once again ran a good race on the surface when 3rd of 13 to the useful Girolamo. He’s on a competitive mark and will surely land a 1m 2f/ 1m 4f handicap here in the coming weeks. Whilst I recommend putting Nimitz in your trackers my Dundalk eyecatcher is:
London Holidays – Joseph O’Brien
The son of Kodiac had only shown moderate promise on his first three starts. Racing in the first-time blinkers for his nursery debut the colt showed up much better here. Coming from behind he made steady late headway to finish 4th.
Sent off an unfancied 25/1, in the hands of an inexperienced 10lb apprentice, he showed he can be effective on the surface and with stronger handling and more race experience will surely land a nursery off his present mark in the coming weeks.
Saturday October 5th
Ascot
Call Me Ginger – Jim Goldie
Call Me Ginger, a half brother to the trainers Tommy G, made a highly promising handicap debut when running on from the behind to finish 6th of 17, beaten just 1 ¾ lengths in the 5f handicap that concluded Ascot’s Saturday card.
The 3-year-old a winner over 6f at Redcar two starts back found things happening a shade to quick on his first start over the minimum trip. The soft ground posed no problems for him as his pedigree suggested given his sire Orientor’s best performances came on an easy surface and he also sired ‘mudlark’ Jack Dexter.
Looks the sort to improve with racing, this was only his 4th career start, only his second since February. Showed he handled Newcastle’s tapeta surface when runner up there in February and will surely land a nice pot or two when returned to 6f, either on easy ground turf or the all-weather.
Newmarket
The 2-year-old’s took centre stage at Newmarket on Saturday.
Kinross, trained by Ralph Beckett put up an impressive performance to win the 7f novice race on his racecourse debut. In the process of his 8 (Eight) length win he beat some experienced rivals. The son of Kingman clearly handles some ease in the going. He will stay a mile and looks an exciting colt for next year.
One who finished with promise in the Kinross race was:
Vatican City – Aidan O’Brien
The son of Galileo, a full brother to Gleneagles, was sent off a well fancied 4/1 at the off. He was too green to himself justice but made a promising racecourse debut in finishing 4th. He was far too green to do himself justice on this occasion. He’s also got a nice frame that still needs to be filled out.
Given his strength in the market he’s clearly held in high regard by powerful connections. We won’t see the best of the colt until next year, but he’s got the scope to live up to his excellent pedigree and will probably prefer quicker ground than he faced here.
Earlier on in the card we saw another O’Brien horse run well.
Shoshone Warrior – Aidan O’Brien
Another son of Galileo and like his stablemate Vatican City he’s a colt with plenty scope for further improvement next season. He built on the promise of his racecourse debut at the Curragh but still looked short on experience when 5th to White Moonlight in the mile novice race. He wasn’t subjected to a hard race and should win races as 3-year-old. He’s got an entry in the Vertem Futurity, but we won’t see the best of this one until next year.
Just one place behind Shoshone Warrior in 6th was the William Haggas trained Duck And Vanish. The son of Lope De Vega made a decent racecourse debut. Given he’s from a family who do better with age and experience this run will have pleased connections. His dam won over 2m as a 3-year-old and her son will be seen to better effect next year over 1m 2f+. Maybe one for the notebook as a handicap project for next year.
Giving Glances – Alan King
The 4-year-old hadn’t looked particularly well handicapped coming into the 1m 4f Class 2 handicap, but she ran a good race in finishing 4th of 12, beaten 1 ¾ lengths. It was her first start for 224 days, so she’s entitled to have needed the run although she gone well fresh in the past.
Given this was a career best on the level it bodes well for an autumn campaign back over hurdles. Two from four in juvenile hurdles last season, at her best on good ground so she’s one to note over hurdles before the deep winter ground arrives. A handicap hurdle mark of 122 looks workable and she could be up to Listed level against her own sex.
Cheers
John