Good morning/evening to you all, I trust we have had a good long week of labouring ready for our handsome reward of top notch weekend racing. Today brings us QIPCO Champions Day which has been somewhat dampened by the weather with a few key contenders pulling out, however a good day of racing is still in order. Unfortunately last week ended the run of profitable blogs although we did make it two blogs in a row that we have picked a non runner, so you know... Every cloud...
As always we have a video preview prepared for you guys... Wait... We? I must apologise for my absence this week as I was otherwise occupied... Not like that. The show was left in the more than capable hands of @Adamwebb121 and @Calummadell who did a fantastic job. You can watch the show at your leisure via the link below, enjoy!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1A9__SK8-M
Now onto the all important selections!
3:05 Catterick - Ballesteros
On a weekend where punters will be looking for mudlarks, not many have earned that title more than Ballesteros who rarely disappoints when the ground takes a turn for the worst. He was running himself back into some form before encountering fast ground once more which all but killed any chance he had. However with two bad runs comes a four pound decline in the handicap which makes life easier for him and he now looks very well treated.
It could be argued that he was unlucky in the Ayr Gold Cup as that meeting is usually a certainty to throw up bottomless ground, this year it was Good to Firm so in truth he did well to finish tenth. There are two dangers however as he is poorly drawn and he also has had a long season so could be coming to the end of his tether, although his best performances usually come at the end of the season, that may be because of the ground once more.
On the whole of it his form has been fairly uninspiring this year but there have been a couple of glimmers of hope. The first of those came at the Shergar Cup under Hayley Turner, he looked a winner in waiting that day but things didn't exactly go to plan. After that he finished third at Chester when bumping into B Fifty Two and Dungannon who has since won at Ascot. He got a bad trip that day when forced three wide for the entire race which round Chester is something that is hard to overcome. With the return of testing ground Ballesteros is expected to improve on his latest form and finally land himself a victory in 2014.
3:30 Ascot - Night Of Thunder
After a flying start to the season, the latter end of it hasn't completely gone to plan for Night Of Thunder but you couldn't say he has regressed. He opened up his account this season with a second in the Greenham when chasing home Kingman, however I have said enough that he wasn't ready for that run and will improve for it. He confirmed that when winning the 2000 Guineas in bizarre style when hanging across the entire course at 40/1, but it can't be ignored that he toppled Kingman and Australia on that occasion.
That was his most recent visit to the winners enclosure after connections got the tactics all wrong at Royal Ascot when gifting the St James' Palace to old rival Kingman. He did well to hold on for second that day after trying to make all and nothing went right for him in the Eclipse when held up off a slow pace. A few people knocked him after that effort but he bounced right back to his best form at Longchamp over just shy of a mile. It appeared that Ryan Moore mistook the winning line that day and first used the whip as they went past the post, of course Longchamp has two winning lines and he wouldn't be the first jockey to mix them up. Charm Spirit re-opposes who actually won that race but you would have to think that the form of last time will be reversed and Toronado (2nd) hasn't turned up.
The only other thing to take in to account is the soft ground which shouldn't be a problem based on his first two racecourse appearances on a testing surface. Night Of Thunder may not have had the season he promised early on but he can make amends and end it on a high by winning the QEII on Champions Day.
4:05 Ascot - Western Hymn
Even with a few of the main ante post favourites not turning up we still have a good Champion Stakes on our hands with the likes of Cirrus Des Aigles, Free Eagle and Noble Mission in the race. We are siding with a more left field contender in the shape of Derby sixth, Western Hymn who comes here fresh off the back of a 64 day absence. He has always been considered a soft ground horse with masses of class after setting some exceptional fractions at Kempton on debut.
Since his debut he has not only finished sixth in the Derby as previously mentioned, but he has also been victorious in a Group 3 at Sandown and a Group 2 in France. For whatever reason he didn't perform behind Gailo Chop and that form would be nowhere near good enough, but he has shown better form previously so we can forgive that effort. Personally I have always held him as a strong stayer which has earned me a bit of abuse but I stand by it as he can take a little while to quicken when asked, although when he does quicken it is usually decisive and devastating.
Obviously John Gosden's representative has a lot to find with the market leaders but he is yet to suggest that he is coming to the end of his potential, so with that we hope that he can improve again and confirm a big each price.
NAP - Night Of Thunder
Nb - Ballesteros
Good luck tomorrow guys and as always, happy punting!
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