Juicy Rasens
The big Saturday card has attracted no fewer than six Richard Guest declarations, two each in three races, although - as per the Summer Plate meeting - it is the smaller races on the card in which most of them appear. Ultimately, I guess, Guest has not wanted to dent some of his brighter young chasers for this season during the summer months, unlike last season, when LIK WOOD POWER, SPECTROMETER and WHY THE LONG FACE all contested some fo the big summer chases. No matter, there are bound to be nice opportunities for the likes of PAGE POINT and - when the ground gets a little easier - ONE DAY and STAN in comparable quality events as the autumn wears on.
Some things don't change all that much, however. WET LIPS was a staple in the big Rasen hurdles last summer, and - despite having already registered a novices' chase win this summer - tries his luck in the 0-145 Class B Handicap Hurdle over 2m 3.5f for the second year running; he was ninth in this last year. He is joined by DONOVAN, and both should be available at temptingly big odds over trips still probably a bit beyond their best over timber. Owners Concertina Racing have no fewer than three horses in the race, with the other being SPECTROMETER, until the start of this year a Richard Guest inmate as well, of course. He lost it completely over fences towards the end of 2004 - this after having put up a good show to finish fifth in the feature Handicap Chase on this card, just failing to last home enough to keep third - and was moved by Concertina to Ian Williams, for whom runs over the Flat and back over hurdles have been taken in over the last couple of months. Henry Oliver rides Wet Lips, and there's a first ever ride for the Guest yard for Patrick Merrigan, who gets the leg-up on Donovan.
It's timber all the way for Guest at Rasen, with the other four runners all being over hurdles as well. BEAUGENCY returns after exactly 50 days off to carry topweight in the 2m 6f Class E Handicap Hurdle, and having run up a hat-trick in July, life is going to get trickier off his revised mark of 110. Paul O'Neill's 5lb claim will help a bit, but that will still leave him 11lb above his last winning mark. Henry Oliver partners PEQUENITA in the same race, this then becoming her 12th run of a busy season. If things pan out as they have been in her races of late, one fears she will be obliged to cut out the donkey work again before getting mugged in the home straight. Poor thing. Finally, JIMMY BYRNE and PRIVATE JESSICA try their luck once again in the 2m 1.5f Novices' Handicap Hurdle, the former sidestepping a chasing debut over nearly 3m at Worcester today in favour of this! Both would arguably appreciate a bit more cut than they're likely to get here, but Henry and Kenny Johnson will do their best to effect a positive outcome in what is not a strong heat. However, Ben Pollock's course specialist Game On just looks too good to resist returning to timber over a mark around a stone lower than his chasing rating right now.
So what of the last couple of days' worth of runners? Well, rainfall up in Perth changed the ground to good to soft and caused the defection of BILL'S ECHO and HE'S HOT RIGHT NOW from their respective races. Henry Oliver was jocked back onto APADI as a result, and managed to get him home a very respectable third in that good Class D chase at nice odds of 20/1. As a point of fact, he might even have had a closer hand in matters had he a) not pulled fearsomely as Henry tried - and eventually successded - in holding him up, b) not got the fourth last wrong. Many miles further south, ADMIRAL's reappearance in a Pontefract Flat handicap saw him trail in last of nine, a performance the Racing Post's analyst identified - probably quite rightly - as little more than a pipe-opener for a hurdles campaign.
Both of the two Tidal Jets 2yos, BELLA FIORELLA and YASSOOMA, were supposed to run at Haydock today; certainly the latter still needed to run to qualify for a handicap mark with which to gain a weight for his projected - and optimistic - tilt at the 2yo trophy at Redcar a week tomorrow. Both, however, were withdrawn, and with neither taking up their other intended engagements at Ripon tomorrow, one of them isn't going to qualify for the Redcar race, let alone make the cut. ASTON, however, did make his debut for the Guest yard, finishing an encouraging second in a low grade 3m Handicap Hurdle. He was thought by his previous trainer Charlie Swan to needtop of the ground and extreme distances; he certainly had the former here, and it could be interesting to see him contest, for example, 3m 3f+ chases at places like Sedgefield and Kelso once they start to appear in the calendar more voluminously. But what of BILL'S ECHO? Having been taken on an abortive trip to Perth the day before, he was trucked down to Worcester for the 2m Handicap Chase... only to unseat Henry Oliver at the first.
Some things don't change all that much, however. WET LIPS was a staple in the big Rasen hurdles last summer, and - despite having already registered a novices' chase win this summer - tries his luck in the 0-145 Class B Handicap Hurdle over 2m 3.5f for the second year running; he was ninth in this last year. He is joined by DONOVAN, and both should be available at temptingly big odds over trips still probably a bit beyond their best over timber. Owners Concertina Racing have no fewer than three horses in the race, with the other being SPECTROMETER, until the start of this year a Richard Guest inmate as well, of course. He lost it completely over fences towards the end of 2004 - this after having put up a good show to finish fifth in the feature Handicap Chase on this card, just failing to last home enough to keep third - and was moved by Concertina to Ian Williams, for whom runs over the Flat and back over hurdles have been taken in over the last couple of months. Henry Oliver rides Wet Lips, and there's a first ever ride for the Guest yard for Patrick Merrigan, who gets the leg-up on Donovan.
It's timber all the way for Guest at Rasen, with the other four runners all being over hurdles as well. BEAUGENCY returns after exactly 50 days off to carry topweight in the 2m 6f Class E Handicap Hurdle, and having run up a hat-trick in July, life is going to get trickier off his revised mark of 110. Paul O'Neill's 5lb claim will help a bit, but that will still leave him 11lb above his last winning mark. Henry Oliver partners PEQUENITA in the same race, this then becoming her 12th run of a busy season. If things pan out as they have been in her races of late, one fears she will be obliged to cut out the donkey work again before getting mugged in the home straight. Poor thing. Finally, JIMMY BYRNE and PRIVATE JESSICA try their luck once again in the 2m 1.5f Novices' Handicap Hurdle, the former sidestepping a chasing debut over nearly 3m at Worcester today in favour of this! Both would arguably appreciate a bit more cut than they're likely to get here, but Henry and Kenny Johnson will do their best to effect a positive outcome in what is not a strong heat. However, Ben Pollock's course specialist Game On just looks too good to resist returning to timber over a mark around a stone lower than his chasing rating right now.
So what of the last couple of days' worth of runners? Well, rainfall up in Perth changed the ground to good to soft and caused the defection of BILL'S ECHO and HE'S HOT RIGHT NOW from their respective races. Henry Oliver was jocked back onto APADI as a result, and managed to get him home a very respectable third in that good Class D chase at nice odds of 20/1. As a point of fact, he might even have had a closer hand in matters had he a) not pulled fearsomely as Henry tried - and eventually successded - in holding him up, b) not got the fourth last wrong. Many miles further south, ADMIRAL's reappearance in a Pontefract Flat handicap saw him trail in last of nine, a performance the Racing Post's analyst identified - probably quite rightly - as little more than a pipe-opener for a hurdles campaign.
Both of the two Tidal Jets 2yos, BELLA FIORELLA and YASSOOMA, were supposed to run at Haydock today; certainly the latter still needed to run to qualify for a handicap mark with which to gain a weight for his projected - and optimistic - tilt at the 2yo trophy at Redcar a week tomorrow. Both, however, were withdrawn, and with neither taking up their other intended engagements at Ripon tomorrow, one of them isn't going to qualify for the Redcar race, let alone make the cut. ASTON, however, did make his debut for the Guest yard, finishing an encouraging second in a low grade 3m Handicap Hurdle. He was thought by his previous trainer Charlie Swan to needtop of the ground and extreme distances; he certainly had the former here, and it could be interesting to see him contest, for example, 3m 3f+ chases at places like Sedgefield and Kelso once they start to appear in the calendar more voluminously. But what of BILL'S ECHO? Having been taken on an abortive trip to Perth the day before, he was trucked down to Worcester for the 2m Handicap Chase... only to unseat Henry Oliver at the first.
posted by Jeremy Grayson @ 11:59 PM
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