Great call, Chef.
Great call, Chef.
Ah! but a man's reach should exceed his grasp......
I take it you backed it then. Good for you, 12/1 winners are always worth a cheesy grin or two.
Great call SC!!
Hurricane Fly - whatever he runs in he wins
Twitter: @Quevega
I'd love to but right now I am in Thailand. I really wanted to go to Cjeltenham to watch Sprinter Sacre run butpersonal problems are preventing me from visiting the Uk, As soon as a buy a disguise I'll be back LOL, My best friend had a stroke so I'll be playing nurse for quite some time. Very nice of you all the same thank you.
Last edited by Tanlic; 21st January 2012 at 8:05 AM.
Formely Fist of Fury
Quick one to add that the previously mentioned War Correspondent showed a decent turn of foot to pick them up in a 5yo Maiden at Dungarvan on Sunday and looked the most likely winner until falling at the last.
Hurricane Fly - whatever he runs in he wins
Twitter: @Quevega
There was another Andrews sisters 1-2 in the Ladies Open at Larkhill on Saturday as Gina on 16/1 outsider Quedillac beat Bridget on 9/4 chance Mustangsallyrally whilst in the Mens Open there was yet another win for According To John (his third of the year) and he looks on course for the Foxhunters at Cheltenham.
The form of two Larkhill Maiden's received an early boost at Dunthrop on Sunday with Andrew Martin's Trifollet and Tom Lacey's Chiquilline both scoring in Maiden's - the latter's being over 2 1/2m and both look capable of scoring in winners races whilst odds-on favourite Upton Springs (Sarah-Jane Davies trained and ridden) scored back-to-back victories in the 3m 5f Ladies Open with the feature Lord Ashton Of Hyde's Cup going to the Mark Wall ridden Marblehead with last years winner Naunton Brook setting a furious early gallop and having looked likely to drop out tamely ran on well after the last to close back in third under Daniel Wright, Marblehead was joint-fav along with runner-up King Of The Road and the Rucker owned, Tom Weston ridden Bay Cherry who was a blatant non-stayer and was PU before jumping the last.
I know Simon was at North Carlton so hopefully he can update on the exact goings on there but Sam Drake's Leac An Scail was an impressive scorer in the Ladies Open to remain unbeaten in points whilst there was a double for Don Cantillon in the two divisions of the Maiden with Hightown (another placed at Larkhill on 7th Jan) and Dancing Jack both taking the honours.
Down at Chipley Park in Somerset where I believe Graysonscolumn was there was a victory for the ex-Willie Mullins trained For The Staff who's now in the hands of Nigel Edmonds in the Mixed Open. He recorded a 3 length victory under Jo Buck in the 11 runner affair and returned a remarkable 15/2.
There's also plenty of action this weekend too with a pointing bonanza at Thorpe Lodge which could easily see an 11 race card and yet again another 60+ entry Maiden that hasn't been divided at the entry stage.
Not sure where Graysonscolumn will be but myself and Krizon will be down in Kent at Charing for the first South East P2P of the season which will hopefully see a second victory of the season for She Is A Cracker in the Mens Members whilst amongst the entrants in the 3m 6f Mixed Open is the ex-Jessie Harrington trained Horner Woods.
Martin
Hurricane Fly - whatever he runs in he wins
Twitter: @Quevega
Thank you, Martin.
Ah! but a man's reach should exceed his grasp......
Don't think Grays made it there this year.
Weather permitting I'm hoping to go to the rearranged meet at Sherrif Hutton on Sunday.
Last edited by Arkwright; 24th January 2012 at 12:15 PM.
No problem Colin - I had to include the info on the Larkhill Ladies Open just for Arkwright
Hurricane Fly - whatever he runs in he wins
Twitter: @Quevega
Really looking forward to a well-informed outing with El Martino. Meanwhile, now I know where another horse has gone - MUSTANGSALLYRALLY, and also MARBLEHEAD, which I Googled the other day and found is a rather beautiful, traditional coastal town in the Antipodes.
Power is good. Control is better. (Lenin)
Indeed he didn't - my car essentially blew up outside of Taunton (so only 11 miles from Chipley) after the software controlling the radiator fan malfunctioned. Arsington Sodmonster.
I did get to Larkhill the day before, though, and will be back there again in a week's time as part of a double-header that weekend with Tweseldown.
Could be Sheriff for me on Sunday instead of Friars Haugh now, depending on whether I'm needed to race-read (quite possible). Shame not to get up to the latter track, but there are still another two chances to do so as the season progresses.
gc
Last edited by graysonscolumn; 25th January 2012 at 1:13 PM.
"It's one of the little men from the village" - Monty Python's Meaning of Life
Most don't in fairness Trefflich and I'd much much much rather be a seller of a Maiden winner than a buyer.
Similar horse entered at Plumpton on Monday in that it picked up very well in soft ground at Templemore, the horse is another Westerner but with Nicky Henderson so think that Minella Forfitness could be very decent
Hurricane Fly - whatever he runs in he wins
Twitter: @Quevega
Shame you missed Chipley, Gray - it was a record crowd, sunny weather and good racing. The ground was safe but a bit sticky so a fair few struggled to home (mine included but then with a wind problem it was to be expected). Its a nice course though with great viewing - shame it's only used once a year.
There were approx. 40 horses schooling afterwards which was some sight.
tu ne cede malis, sed contra audentior ito
He did indeed Trefflich - by my calculations he sold 3 for 500k+ in total at one sale last year, all Maiden winners, the other two being Minella For Party and Minella For Steak.
As for Westerner - you're spot on, some of them are absolute machines
Hurricane Fly - whatever he runs in he wins
Twitter: @Quevega
Yep, I was sick as the proverbial chocolate frog about missing out. I've not been to many of the Devon & Cornwall Area courses yet, but Chippo would be my favourite by some margin. Wide open spaces (but with a grown-up attitude to letting the public populate the infield even so - other courses take note!), competitive fields, endearing course specialists and better catering options than many I've been to.
Quite a number of well-known handlers were exercising their strings afterwards, from what I gather - Jeremy and Camilla Scott and Gordon Chambers, to name just some. I'm told somebody was firing a pony at the fences as well, which must have been some sight to see!
Devon-wise, I've tentatively pencilled in going to Bishops Court in the first weekend of March, so fingers crossed my luck holds a bit better in that regard. See you there if it does?
gc
"It's one of the little men from the village" - Monty Python's Meaning of Life
The cynic in me would say that Jeremy Scott runs a lovely horse in the Hunter Chase at Warwick tomorrow Jeremy
Hurricane Fly - whatever he runs in he wins
Twitter: @Quevega
I'm guessing he'll have entered your orbit around the time he won that chase at Fontwell, did he? In the interim he's continued to carve out a reputation as a horse that will frequently outperform other better-rated Pointing rivals yet still prefer to see something finish ahead of him - Larkhill's result took the Mustangsallyrallytally to no wins but eight seconds from 11 starts between the flags.
At least he's only been a beaten favourite twice, so it's not as if he's the most dreaded bookies' pal in the sport by any means. Folk tend to know what they're going to get with him.
gc
"It's one of the little men from the village" - Monty Python's Meaning of Life