‘I'd expect a duffer day’ Was how I described yesterday’s prospects.
So, let’s get the first duffer out of the way: Jerrash. Yup. Duffer. End of.
My second ‘duffer’ was Chatterbox but here’s the thing: they never tried a millimeter with this horse. I was tempted to describe it as ‘an Irish ride’. It amazes me that, in Eire, I’ve witnessed, over the years, a whole host of horses being held up at the back of the field, allowed to gently lob their way around the track with no hint of hindrance or any sort of bother from their respective pilots, then just drift home, no more quizzed by their jockeys than the jockeys are quizzed by the stewards, You know, I do wonder why whole hosts of the riders aren’t hauled before stewards regularly to explain why they’ve made absolutely no effort to gain the ‘best possible placing’ for their charges. Mind you, if all those jockeys that deserved to be hauled up were hauled up, the queue would go twice around the block.
I do hear that the Irish stewards did try it once but the jockeys spent so long fighting to be at the rear of the queue that no enquiries could commence so they gave up and went home.
Anyway, back to Chatterbox. After a leisurely tour around the back of the field for just about all of the race, I was laughing as the jock did what they do, to convince any idiot who cared, that they were, at some point trying: you know - all that ‘elbow riding’ and bumping up and down arrhythmically in the saddle until, blow me down, the horse started to actually make progress. In the end you know, he actually finished sixth with the race comment:
I was, at the same time, delighted and fuming with Shouldvebeenaring’s run; a lovely Ew return at a lovely price but beaten on the nod.
I must say, York meetings are, generally, very inviting affairs, aren’t they? Straight away we’re offered a tricky, big-field sprint which, even for a dyed -in-the-wool NH fan like me, is enough to make you salivate. I can’t resist having a bet in the 2.15. So last night I had a good study
It’s only a year, you know, since Mondammej ran in this race off a mark of 97, when he was beaten into fourth by Regional, with Clarendon House (102) in fifth and Korker(100) in second. Now, a year on Mondammej is no less than 19Lbs better off with CH and 23Lbs better off with Korker. That is a massive turnaround. In the meantime, they’ve been chiseling away to get his handicap mark down and boy haven’t they just. Two flies in the ointment: 1) he could be shot at the game and 2)he’s never won on anything but G/f. It’s a shame the rains have come, otherwise I reckon he might be some bet, don’t you think? Yesterday, the jockeys were saying there is a decent bit of juice in the ground: good and spongy. With rain forecast tomorrow morning, though, I can’t see Mondammej putting his best foot forward, can you? I think the same can be said for Alligator Alley, Outsider, don’t you?
One horse who won’t mind the going will be Jm Jungle. Here’s one that, as a 3yo, improved no end as last season progressed. One thing I do love is a 3yo running against older horses, back end of the season, carrying weight, and this is one such.
For instance, his 4th over c/d behind Vintage Clarets, rated 2Lbs higher than that horse, is a fierce bit of form, in my opinion, for a 3yo. Also, he ran Tees Spirit to two necks at level OR at Haydock in September. Here they meet with JJ receiving 6Lbs. Just to bolster his claims one final time, he ran behind Equilateral over c/d, a head behind Alligator Alley at level OR. Today he has to give that horse 4lbs on ground AA won’t want and with another year’s development on his back.
I'm sorry but this has to be done:
JmJungle – 2.15 York 11/1 Ew PP 6 places
Anyone who’s been reading my blog regularly will know that I’ve been waiting for Military Tycoon to run in his first handicap hurdle but when he was declared they took him out because the ground wasn’t soft enough. Well today we see him out on the flat. The race could be just to keep him ticking over until conditions are right to unleash him onto his jumps handicap debut or….
We shouldn’t forget that he returns to the scene of his only win on turf, over the same distance, last October. I’m inclined to take no chances here and I’ll be backing Ew today. After all, 20/1 looks like stonkingly good odds to me. Let's hope a bit of rain falls on the track early afternoon, as they predict:
Military Tycoon – 2.30 Salisbury 20/1 Ew PP 4 places
So, two bets and that’s all for me today, although I’ll enjoy watching the rest with no money on.
2 x Ew singles
Ew double
So, let’s get the first duffer out of the way: Jerrash. Yup. Duffer. End of.
My second ‘duffer’ was Chatterbox but here’s the thing: they never tried a millimeter with this horse. I was tempted to describe it as ‘an Irish ride’. It amazes me that, in Eire, I’ve witnessed, over the years, a whole host of horses being held up at the back of the field, allowed to gently lob their way around the track with no hint of hindrance or any sort of bother from their respective pilots, then just drift home, no more quizzed by their jockeys than the jockeys are quizzed by the stewards, You know, I do wonder why whole hosts of the riders aren’t hauled before stewards regularly to explain why they’ve made absolutely no effort to gain the ‘best possible placing’ for their charges. Mind you, if all those jockeys that deserved to be hauled up were hauled up, the queue would go twice around the block.
I do hear that the Irish stewards did try it once but the jockeys spent so long fighting to be at the rear of the queue that no enquiries could commence so they gave up and went home.
Anyway, back to Chatterbox. After a leisurely tour around the back of the field for just about all of the race, I was laughing as the jock did what they do, to convince any idiot who cared, that they were, at some point trying: you know - all that ‘elbow riding’ and bumping up and down arrhythmically in the saddle until, blow me down, the horse started to actually make progress. In the end you know, he actually finished sixth with the race comment:
This, after a drift from an early 16/1 out to 50/1 at the off. Ahem. I shall be very interested indeed to see where this mare turns up next. I’ll keep you posted.
I was, at the same time, delighted and fuming with Shouldvebeenaring’s run; a lovely Ew return at a lovely price but beaten on the nod.
I must say, York meetings are, generally, very inviting affairs, aren’t they? Straight away we’re offered a tricky, big-field sprint which, even for a dyed -in-the-wool NH fan like me, is enough to make you salivate. I can’t resist having a bet in the 2.15. So last night I had a good study
It’s only a year, you know, since Mondammej ran in this race off a mark of 97, when he was beaten into fourth by Regional, with Clarendon House (102) in fifth and Korker(100) in second. Now, a year on Mondammej is no less than 19Lbs better off with CH and 23Lbs better off with Korker. That is a massive turnaround. In the meantime, they’ve been chiseling away to get his handicap mark down and boy haven’t they just. Two flies in the ointment: 1) he could be shot at the game and 2)he’s never won on anything but G/f. It’s a shame the rains have come, otherwise I reckon he might be some bet, don’t you think? Yesterday, the jockeys were saying there is a decent bit of juice in the ground: good and spongy. With rain forecast tomorrow morning, though, I can’t see Mondammej putting his best foot forward, can you? I think the same can be said for Alligator Alley, Outsider, don’t you?
One horse who won’t mind the going will be Jm Jungle. Here’s one that, as a 3yo, improved no end as last season progressed. One thing I do love is a 3yo running against older horses, back end of the season, carrying weight, and this is one such.
For instance, his 4th over c/d behind Vintage Clarets, rated 2Lbs higher than that horse, is a fierce bit of form, in my opinion, for a 3yo. Also, he ran Tees Spirit to two necks at level OR at Haydock in September. Here they meet with JJ receiving 6Lbs. Just to bolster his claims one final time, he ran behind Equilateral over c/d, a head behind Alligator Alley at level OR. Today he has to give that horse 4lbs on ground AA won’t want and with another year’s development on his back.
I'm sorry but this has to be done:
JmJungle – 2.15 York 11/1 Ew PP 6 places
Anyone who’s been reading my blog regularly will know that I’ve been waiting for Military Tycoon to run in his first handicap hurdle but when he was declared they took him out because the ground wasn’t soft enough. Well today we see him out on the flat. The race could be just to keep him ticking over until conditions are right to unleash him onto his jumps handicap debut or….
We shouldn’t forget that he returns to the scene of his only win on turf, over the same distance, last October. I’m inclined to take no chances here and I’ll be backing Ew today. After all, 20/1 looks like stonkingly good odds to me. Let's hope a bit of rain falls on the track early afternoon, as they predict:
Military Tycoon – 2.30 Salisbury 20/1 Ew PP 4 places
So, two bets and that’s all for me today, although I’ll enjoy watching the rest with no money on.
2 x Ew singles
Ew double
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