Sobers it is!
That horribly expensive Epervier D'Or 4yo bought a few months back was revealed to the world as SOBERS last weekend, when he made his racecourse bow in the bumper which concluded Aintree's two-day meeting. Not surprisingly for an operation with a poor win record in this sphere, he went off at a price - 20/1 - larger than his price-tag or breeding would otherwise have suggested. He acquitted himself quite well for a debutant, bustled up to chase the leaders just after halfway, and then finding more when outpaced turning for home to be a staying on again fourth. Despite not having reached the top three in a race like TOPWELL or CASH ON FRIDAY yet, he looks the likelier of the bumper horses seen so far this season to win one of these races before season's end.
Apart from Sobers, there were two other attempts at breaking the Brancepeth operation's long losing run at Aintree, which stretches back to the late XAIPETE's victory in a chase there in May 1999. That run is remained unbroken, however, as neither WHY THE LONG FACE nor DAGGY BOY popped up in their respective races on the Saturday. Richard Guest is convinced that Why The Long Face is going to land a big Saturday afternoon handicap hurdle sometime this season, but even with the softening ground to his advantage, the lightning fast 2 miles he encountered here was always going to be far, far too sharp for him and he pulled up having barely passed another horse on the way round. Daggy Boy trailed in eighth of 11 in the novices' hurdle and was never a factor. He has now qualified for a handicap mark, but I wouldn't have thought it would be much above a plater's initially.
In a similar vein to Why The Long Face, running serial galloper ONE DAY around Kelso's twists and turns seemed an odd choice of assignment, and, on his handicap bow over fences, he duly spluttered round the 3m 1f event in seventh. He nudged a few on his way round, and would really be better suited to somewhere better suited to his style of running such as Haydock or Wetherby next time. Having had a rough introduction to fences at Uttoxeter last time out, MAGICO ran a fair race back over hurdles and was only outpaced from the last. Confidence duly restored with this third place finish, he could turn out back over fences at a longer trip than the 16.5f here at Wetherby later this week.
Apart from Sobers, there were two other attempts at breaking the Brancepeth operation's long losing run at Aintree, which stretches back to the late XAIPETE's victory in a chase there in May 1999. That run is remained unbroken, however, as neither WHY THE LONG FACE nor DAGGY BOY popped up in their respective races on the Saturday. Richard Guest is convinced that Why The Long Face is going to land a big Saturday afternoon handicap hurdle sometime this season, but even with the softening ground to his advantage, the lightning fast 2 miles he encountered here was always going to be far, far too sharp for him and he pulled up having barely passed another horse on the way round. Daggy Boy trailed in eighth of 11 in the novices' hurdle and was never a factor. He has now qualified for a handicap mark, but I wouldn't have thought it would be much above a plater's initially.
In a similar vein to Why The Long Face, running serial galloper ONE DAY around Kelso's twists and turns seemed an odd choice of assignment, and, on his handicap bow over fences, he duly spluttered round the 3m 1f event in seventh. He nudged a few on his way round, and would really be better suited to somewhere better suited to his style of running such as Haydock or Wetherby next time. Having had a rough introduction to fences at Uttoxeter last time out, MAGICO ran a fair race back over hurdles and was only outpaced from the last. Confidence duly restored with this third place finish, he could turn out back over fences at a longer trip than the 16.5f here at Wetherby later this week.
posted by Jeremy Grayson @ 11:47 AM
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