Chateau Conti can make the trip to Cork worthwhile
He came out of France, where he won two AQPS races, he has plenty of work done for us, seems to be in good form, and I suppose he’s not too dissimilar to any of the maidens we ran at Christmas.
He has schooled well at home, the rain shouldn’t bother him, and we’d be hoping he can make a good start to his career in Ireland.
Willie runs Bon Papa in the three-mile maiden hurdle. He had the pace to win a bumper, which surprised us a little bit, as he has always shaped like a stayer. The three miles of today’s race shouldn’t be an inconvenience, he has schooled well, is in good form and should go very close.
It appeared to me that Blazer didn’t get home over three miles when behind A Genie In Abottle at Fairyhouse, and so should be suited by the drop back in trip in the beginners’ chase. He looked like he might win going to the last, but ultimately got outstayed. He is in great form, was a classy-enough individual over hurdles, jumps fences well and should collect today.
We have a good line with one of his dangers, General Principle, as I beat him on Bellow Mome last time. Blazer would have been rated a good bit higher over hurdles, so going through their hurdles marks, Blazer should be able to do what Bellow Mome did.
I have two good rides tomorrow, and hopefully American Tom will deliver in the novice chase. There are only four runners, but it’s a hot race: Some Plan was travelling well when he fell at the second-last at Cheltenham; Road To Respect ran well behind Min at Christmas; Stone Hard won well in Limerick, and American Tom won well in Punchestown. They are four good horses, and it’s very easy to make a case for each of them.
I’d imagine going left-handed will suit American Tom better than going right-handed did at Punchestown. He seems to be in good form, but will need to be a fair horse to win this.
Some Plan still looked to be going well until falling two out in the race won by Le Prezien, in November at Cheltenham, and may be the one to beat. He has been freshened up since and must be given plenty of respect, but I like American Tom and hope he proves good enough.
I’ve chosen Augusta Kate over Turcagua in the Grade 1 race but, I should warn, this is the third Grade 1 Novice Hurdle and I haven’t picked the right one yet.
Turcagua disappointed on his first start over hurdles, when his jumping was in and out, but the horse that won that race, Monalee, finished second to Death Duty next time, in Navan. And Turcagua improved, in every sense, when he won at Punchestown over two and a half but, to me, he shapes like a horse that’s going to want a bit further.
I know Augusta Kate won her maiden over two-seven, but she has been working well since and gets the mares’ 7lb allowance. Turcagua has the experience, with two runs under his belt, but I’m taking a chance on Augusta Kate.
Her bumper form last season was very good all the way, and I think she has improved a bit since last year. Death Duty is going to be very hard to beat, but I went for the mare, getting the allowance, and hope she can go close.
There’s good racing in Sandown today, the highlight of which is the Grade 1 Tolworth Hurdle. Paul Nicholls looks to have a nice horse in the race, Capitaine.
Yorkhill won this race last year, and he ended up winning the Neptune Novices’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival. Sandown, at this time of year, can be a tough place to go and win. It requires a horse that stays, and the winner tends to be more of a Neptune horse than a Supreme Novices’ Hurdle horse.
It’s funny that the most valuable race on that card is the final of the veterans’ series. It’s a €100,000 race. I’m not against veterans’ races, I think they’re a great idea, but I’m not sure ten years of age should qualify you to be a veteran. I guess when you see some of the horses that have won some of these races it makes you think it might not be right.
Take Double Ross as an example. He’s not running today, but he won one of the qualifiers in Chepstow and then went on to finish third in the Hennessy. I’m all for giving older horses a chance, but they should be for veterans, horses who are struggling to compete in the big races.
I’ve nothing against Double Ross, but I don’t think a horse that can finish third in a Hennessy needs a band of races kept exclusively for the likes of him. Maybe the handicapper should be giving the older horses a chance by dropping them down, and making them competitive that way.
With the remainder of the season in mind, it’s great that Faugheen and Annie Power both seem to be in good form at home.
Fingers crossed Faugheen will make it to the Irish Champion Hurdle. It’ll be a fair ask first time back, possibly having to take on Petit Mouchoir and Apple’s Jade, but we’re happy with him and it’ll be great to get him back on track, and a great ride to have in the race.
Last year Annie Power had just one run, in a pretty ordinary mares’ hurdle, and she won well in Cheltenham. She’s obviously a difficult mare to train, as she seems to get a lot of niggly issues, and we haven’t been able to run her before Christmas in the last couple of years.
But she’s not far off running now, and she and Faugheen are two very good horses, so hopefully we can get them back to the track soon.
You need all your big guns from here on in.
How can January be so quiet?
I know I’m struggling for rides this weekend, and the fields aren’t massive tomorrow in Naas, even though it’s a good card, but I found it peculiar there was no racing last Monday, which was a bank holiday.
And there was no national hunt racing at all during the week, nor will there next week, so we’ll have four days racing in 14 days. I know there was a lot of racing at Christmas, but hard to believe there was none on a bank holiday Monday. All the kids are off school, people off work … I’m not sure how we missed that one. When you think that May, June and July are so busy, how can January, in the heart of the national hunt season, be so quiet?
