Wednesday - Sunday resume
A bit to catch up on from the last few days, then.
OOH AH CAMARA did not take her chance at Royal Ascot at York on Wednesday after all, Richard Guest apparently sharing the view of several trainers that that and Tuesday's ground at the Knavesmire - ostensibly good to firm but very loose and skiddy on top - was too horrible to race horses on. She did, however, line up in the Group 3 Albany Stakes, a 6f sprint for fillies, two days later. The ground was "proper" good to firm by then, and ultimately not to her liking, as she hung left ill at ease on it, eventually finishing about 11.5l back in seventh. She will be of interest back on softer ground, although there's no obvious prospect of her getting that for now.
The two Worcester entries mentioned last time did take their chances, however. Predictably DAN DE LION was beaten hollow in the seller, finishing 15th of 16 finishers. He is going to remain hard to win with, especially whilst the ground continues to ride this fast. Good old XAIPETE ran another sterling race in defeat, however, given the Plan A ride by Larry McGrath of being held up before advancing inside the last third of the race. He encountered some trouble in running when another rival unseated three from home and hampered him badly in so doing, but for which he would have finished even closer than a 9.5l length fourth place. Next time, Xaipete. You'll see.
Thursday evening saw a visit to Aintree, for the revival of a June evening meeting the course had hosted a couple of years ago but dropped quickly. I must say the prospect of horses pelting around the Mildmay Course - to my mind a horrid, lethal gaff masquerading as a classy track - on fast ground has always terrified me on equine welfare grounds. There were few worries on this occasion, however, as (i) earlier rain had turned the going to a mixture of good and good to soft, (ii) the only Guest runner on the card, BEAUGENCY, managed to last just two fences of the novices' handicap chase before unseating Larry. However, it was good to see Tim Vaughan, so long a stalwart of the point-to-point riders' ranks, scoring a win in that race with Lonesome Man, the first runner he has sent out from his Bridgend yard since gaining his permit to train.
And so to today's action. Three declarations at Hexham became two, as DIAMOND CUTTER was pulled out of the closing novices' hurdle on account of the fast ground, thereby depriving Henry Oliver of his first ride for eight days (well, if you won't go looking for outside opportunities in the meantime, Henry...). WET LIPS did take his chance in the extended 2m 4f novices' chase, though, and after swapping the lead with Dad's Elect (would have been an apposite winner on Father's Day, perhaps?) from the Ian Williams yard from halfway onwards, scooted clear at the last to break his duck over fences at the third attempt.
The win takes Wet Lips' career earnings past £35,000, but this was still only his second ever career win in the UK. He's not ungenuine, rather, he has been higher tried than the majority of Richard Guest's New Zealand horses over hurdles the last two seasons and has frequently found one or two too good. That one previous win was certainly worth it, however; an ingenious bit of riding from Henry saw him scoot a mile clear from flagfall in a Class C hurdle at Musselburgh, Henry wanting to test whether odds-on shot Altay - then rated 129 and the winner of the Swinton Hurdle the May before - could concede 25lb and chase him down in a sprint for home. He couldn't, and Wet Lips and connections went home £10,000 better off. He also got nearly £9,000 for finishing second in last season's Totesport Summer Hurdle, and, now his effectiveness over 2m 4f looks more assured than twelve months ago, one wonders whether Guest will be aiming him for the same Market Rasen meeting in mid-July this year, albeit fot a crack at the Summer Plate this time.
The win nudged Larry onto the nine-winner mark for the season, already within five of his total for last term, which never got going after that succession of injuries during the summer. Seven of these winners have been for Guest, the other two for Richard "Forest Gunner" Ford, for whom he's two from two on Croc An Oir. Like Wet Lips, Croc An Oir is owned by Concertina Racing, who have moved the horse to Ford from Venetia Williams this season. I wonder if messrs Tyrell, Lennon et al had a say in Larry's deployment on the horse. Ford looks keen to be exploiting Croc An Oir's lenient hurdles mark - it was 34lb lower than his current chase mark before the first of those two victories, and is still 14lb lower even after reassessment following the second of them.
Back to Guest's runners at Hexham, BILL'S ECHO got back on track - after his UR over fences here last week - in the extended two mile handicap hurdle when chasing home a Jimmy Lambe tartar to within six lengths. He has never won over hurdles and is rated over a stone lower over them than fences, the problem during his first stint over timber seeming to be an absence of sufficient speed to get truly competitive over the minimum trip. It may not be coincidental that this personal best finish over hurdles has come at a particularly stiff track - what a shame that, with no further meetings at Hexham now until September, there are no stiff tracks in operation at all now for some three months. Might need to be a step up in trip somewhere else for Bill's Echo next time up, then.
Looking to the week ahead, there are once again relatively few engagements for Guest horses to which to look forward. 37-rated Flat sprinter FIENNES is getting balloted out of race after race; his latest disappointment is failing to make the cut in a race at Nottingham tomorrow, and he's only 39th in the list of 42 acceptors for a race at Beverley on Tuesday, so don't hold your breath for that one, either. Assuming he doesn't make it into that contest, the earliest we can expect to see any Guest runner in action next will be Market Rasen's Friday card, wherein DAN DE LION (2), REEDSMAN (2), WET LIPS, BILL'S ECHO, DIAMOND CUTTER, JIMMY BYRNE and BEAUGENCY all hold engagements. Diamond Cutter's race is one of the best of a decent card, a Class C handicap hurdle over 17.5f . It being his handicap debut, he has been alloted a rating of 107, which Guest might think is a bit excessive given how soft the race he won at Cartmel was. Jimmy Byrne is a new name to the Brancepeth ranks, having been campaigned on the Flat and over hurdles by Brian Ellison until April. A clue to his arrival here might be that his owner, now as then, is Ceresfield's owner Keith Middleton. As that mare continues to struggle for form and fitness, is Jimmy Byrne intended to run from Brancepeth as well as or instead of her?
OOH AH CAMARA did not take her chance at Royal Ascot at York on Wednesday after all, Richard Guest apparently sharing the view of several trainers that that and Tuesday's ground at the Knavesmire - ostensibly good to firm but very loose and skiddy on top - was too horrible to race horses on. She did, however, line up in the Group 3 Albany Stakes, a 6f sprint for fillies, two days later. The ground was "proper" good to firm by then, and ultimately not to her liking, as she hung left ill at ease on it, eventually finishing about 11.5l back in seventh. She will be of interest back on softer ground, although there's no obvious prospect of her getting that for now.
The two Worcester entries mentioned last time did take their chances, however. Predictably DAN DE LION was beaten hollow in the seller, finishing 15th of 16 finishers. He is going to remain hard to win with, especially whilst the ground continues to ride this fast. Good old XAIPETE ran another sterling race in defeat, however, given the Plan A ride by Larry McGrath of being held up before advancing inside the last third of the race. He encountered some trouble in running when another rival unseated three from home and hampered him badly in so doing, but for which he would have finished even closer than a 9.5l length fourth place. Next time, Xaipete. You'll see.
Thursday evening saw a visit to Aintree, for the revival of a June evening meeting the course had hosted a couple of years ago but dropped quickly. I must say the prospect of horses pelting around the Mildmay Course - to my mind a horrid, lethal gaff masquerading as a classy track - on fast ground has always terrified me on equine welfare grounds. There were few worries on this occasion, however, as (i) earlier rain had turned the going to a mixture of good and good to soft, (ii) the only Guest runner on the card, BEAUGENCY, managed to last just two fences of the novices' handicap chase before unseating Larry. However, it was good to see Tim Vaughan, so long a stalwart of the point-to-point riders' ranks, scoring a win in that race with Lonesome Man, the first runner he has sent out from his Bridgend yard since gaining his permit to train.
And so to today's action. Three declarations at Hexham became two, as DIAMOND CUTTER was pulled out of the closing novices' hurdle on account of the fast ground, thereby depriving Henry Oliver of his first ride for eight days (well, if you won't go looking for outside opportunities in the meantime, Henry...). WET LIPS did take his chance in the extended 2m 4f novices' chase, though, and after swapping the lead with Dad's Elect (would have been an apposite winner on Father's Day, perhaps?) from the Ian Williams yard from halfway onwards, scooted clear at the last to break his duck over fences at the third attempt.
The win takes Wet Lips' career earnings past £35,000, but this was still only his second ever career win in the UK. He's not ungenuine, rather, he has been higher tried than the majority of Richard Guest's New Zealand horses over hurdles the last two seasons and has frequently found one or two too good. That one previous win was certainly worth it, however; an ingenious bit of riding from Henry saw him scoot a mile clear from flagfall in a Class C hurdle at Musselburgh, Henry wanting to test whether odds-on shot Altay - then rated 129 and the winner of the Swinton Hurdle the May before - could concede 25lb and chase him down in a sprint for home. He couldn't, and Wet Lips and connections went home £10,000 better off. He also got nearly £9,000 for finishing second in last season's Totesport Summer Hurdle, and, now his effectiveness over 2m 4f looks more assured than twelve months ago, one wonders whether Guest will be aiming him for the same Market Rasen meeting in mid-July this year, albeit fot a crack at the Summer Plate this time.
The win nudged Larry onto the nine-winner mark for the season, already within five of his total for last term, which never got going after that succession of injuries during the summer. Seven of these winners have been for Guest, the other two for Richard "Forest Gunner" Ford, for whom he's two from two on Croc An Oir. Like Wet Lips, Croc An Oir is owned by Concertina Racing, who have moved the horse to Ford from Venetia Williams this season. I wonder if messrs Tyrell, Lennon et al had a say in Larry's deployment on the horse. Ford looks keen to be exploiting Croc An Oir's lenient hurdles mark - it was 34lb lower than his current chase mark before the first of those two victories, and is still 14lb lower even after reassessment following the second of them.
Back to Guest's runners at Hexham, BILL'S ECHO got back on track - after his UR over fences here last week - in the extended two mile handicap hurdle when chasing home a Jimmy Lambe tartar to within six lengths. He has never won over hurdles and is rated over a stone lower over them than fences, the problem during his first stint over timber seeming to be an absence of sufficient speed to get truly competitive over the minimum trip. It may not be coincidental that this personal best finish over hurdles has come at a particularly stiff track - what a shame that, with no further meetings at Hexham now until September, there are no stiff tracks in operation at all now for some three months. Might need to be a step up in trip somewhere else for Bill's Echo next time up, then.
Looking to the week ahead, there are once again relatively few engagements for Guest horses to which to look forward. 37-rated Flat sprinter FIENNES is getting balloted out of race after race; his latest disappointment is failing to make the cut in a race at Nottingham tomorrow, and he's only 39th in the list of 42 acceptors for a race at Beverley on Tuesday, so don't hold your breath for that one, either. Assuming he doesn't make it into that contest, the earliest we can expect to see any Guest runner in action next will be Market Rasen's Friday card, wherein DAN DE LION (2), REEDSMAN (2), WET LIPS, BILL'S ECHO, DIAMOND CUTTER, JIMMY BYRNE and BEAUGENCY all hold engagements. Diamond Cutter's race is one of the best of a decent card, a Class C handicap hurdle over 17.5f . It being his handicap debut, he has been alloted a rating of 107, which Guest might think is a bit excessive given how soft the race he won at Cartmel was. Jimmy Byrne is a new name to the Brancepeth ranks, having been campaigned on the Flat and over hurdles by Brian Ellison until April. A clue to his arrival here might be that his owner, now as then, is Ceresfield's owner Keith Middleton. As that mare continues to struggle for form and fitness, is Jimmy Byrne intended to run from Brancepeth as well as or instead of her?
posted by Jeremy Grayson @ 11:33 PM
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