Elsewhere we have a mixed card at Haydock with top jumping and flat action which see's the return of Gregorian for John Gosden in the Listed Spring Trophy. The big jumps names are there today with the absence of the injured AP McCoy and Ruby Walsh who elects to stay at Punchestown, where Felix Yonger makes his chasing debut. Barry Geraghty however has three rides on the card, including Swinton Hurdle favourite Forgotten Voice for his boss Nicky Henderson. Away from Haydock we have the yearly Derby and Oaks trials at Lingfield which this year is on the turf after last year having to switch to the polytrack. Support cards also come from Warwick, Hexham, thirsk and Nottingham.
This week racing lost one of the longest serving personalities in the game when trainer Reg Hollinshead passed away on Monday. He took out his training licence in 1948 and held it till the day he died, training nearly 2000 winners during that time. He will be most fondly remembered for training Remainder Man who was second in the 1978 2000 Guineas and third in the Derby before winning the Ormonde Stakes at Chester. His best ever season came in 1995 when he sent out 63 winners to his name, and trained Grade 1 winners over jumps with Out Of The Gloom winning the Fighting Fifth and the Long Walk. He will most recently be remembered for being the trainer of Tominator while he was on the flat, memorably winning the Northumberland Plate in 2011. Arguably he will be most remembered for what he has left on the course, in his protégés who he helped in the early years of their career. Amongst them names are dual derby winning jockey Walter Swinburn and the champion jockey of 2000, Kevin Darley. More recently though he has helped Fergal Lynch, William Buick and Jamie Spencer who all paid their respects upon hearing the news. Also taken under his wing was my last interviewee, Racheal Kneller who had her first job at his yard. He will be sorely missed by many in the sport and remains a large part of history in the game. I ask you all to join me in saying goodbye to a great trainer and foremost a great man, R.I.P Reg Hollinshead, you will be sorely missed.
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| Reg Hollinshead - January 3rd 1924 - May 6th 2013 |
From that sad news we move on to a review of last weeks action for the blog, and a successful one at that. We got Saturday started off to a flyer when Kingsgate Native was just denied for us at Newmarket, but settling for second at 33/1 is no bad feat. Then in the main race of the day Van Der Neer stayed on late in the day to grab third from stablemate Toronado at 20/1, thus leaving us with two big each way bets landed. Then it was time for a couple of winners, Burke's Rock drifted out to 12/1 but apparently forgot to read the script when landing the spoils at Goodwood. This was followed by Siobhan Miller getting her first winner aboard Moment In Time at 13/8, Well done Siobhan. On Sunday our Nap duly obliged when Fig Roll finished late and fast to lose her maiden tag at Salisbury. Then came a big race success when Sky Lantern took the 1000 Guineas for us at 10/1 landing a nice priced double. Lets hope for more of the same this week!
Before we begin this week's action however we have some unfinished business to clear up, last week I introduced you to George Gorman who took me on in a tipping challenge. After Saturday and Sunday we were tied 1-1 after both winning a day, both of us being competitive people we didn't want to leave it at that. For this reason he challenges me again in four races that we selected across the cards for the day. If you missed it last week George is an amateur jumps jockey riding down at Cisswood for Gary Moore, he also proved himself to be quite nifty with a tip last week. Without further a do here are this weeks selections.
Luke George
3:30 Haydock - Barizan Red Inca
3:50 Ascot - Glen Moss Tartiflette
4:05 Haydock - Gregorian Gregorian
5:10 Lingfield - Savanna Days Good Luck Charm
Lets hope for a few winners between us and also hope that I win... Right? But anyway onto this week's action.
1:50 Haydock - Orsippus
Orsippus has been the star of Martin Smith's yard for a while now and is more than capable of landing this after a win last time out. He has never won off a mark higher than 130 which he would need to defy today off a rating of 133, however he was 3rd in a Coral Cup from 136. He is probably open to a bit of improvement as well as he does remain fairly lightly raced over hurdles, compared to others in the field. More lately he has been running on the flat before returning to hurdles after a 4 month break to freshen him up. On that comeback he ran a good third behind Peddlers Cross at Musselburgh with the useful Cue to Cue separating the pair. In all he was beaten 5 and a quarter lengths by the ex Cheltenham Festival winner which is certainly not bad form. The ground went against him in the Coral Cup as these days he prefers faster ground to testing sticky ground. But he came good last time at Ayr's festival when gallantly holding off Green Flag who was in receipt of 7 pounds. He is stepped up and extra three furlongs today and based on his last run is a move that will only help him improve and is definitely worth an each way bet. (18/1)
2:40 Ascot - Main Sequence
In the formbook, other than Camelot, Main Sequence was the best three year old around last season and makes his reappearance in listed company. David Lanigan's newly Gelded horse came to the fore when he won Lingfield's Derby Trial, beating Shantaram and Cavaleiro in the process. He then ran into Camelot in the Derby but went down a gallant second before being unlucky in the Grand Prix De Paris at Longchamp. As if he wasn't unlucky enough then, he came to York looking a good thing and was coming to win his race before being done no favours by Thought Worthy. It also didn't help that there was no pace on and it turned into a bit of a sprint at the end, which really does not suit him at all. The St Leger bought about a good performance but he is probably a bit better than he showed on that day and is given another chance in an easier race. One negative that would have gone against him is that he had a trait of flashing his tail and looking a little bit awkward in the closing stages last year. Hopefully the gelding operation will have the desired affect on him and he really knuckles down and wins today. A strong pace will help him big time but isn't necessary. (6/5)
3:30 Haydock - Barizan and Red Inca
Barizan is a horse I have admired since his Juvenile season, even before his Cheltenham exploits. Most of you will remember him for that run in the Triumph Hurdle when he was agonisingly caught by Soldatino, after setting an impossible gallop. Let's not forget though he is a Grade 1 winner after his victory in the Champion Four Year old hurdle at Punchestown, in which he gave Carlito Brigante a 12 length beating. Since then he hasn't been himself, until recently that is, during his off period he still managed to win two small Novice chases. The worrying thing was that he hadn't won over hurdles for nearly three years. But after a breathing operation he won a very competitive 6 runner handicap at Taunton, a race that he was an unconsidered 25/1 outsider. As if that wasn't good enough, it came on ground he absolutely hates but did it in good style from the progressive Home Run. After that he again faced heavy ground but this time in a much stronger race when he took his chance in the Imperial Cup at Sandown. After setting a good pace on bottomless ground he looked like fading to be a back number turning for home, however he bravely battled on for fourth. The breathing operation looks to have bought back the old Barizan which is very exciting, and if that is so he could be well in on this ground. One last thing worth noting, Evan Williams had Court Minstrel entered in this race but pulled him out to enable Barizan to run from inside the handicap. The only worry would be his jumping can be a bit off at times but a big run looks set for him. (12/1)
Red Inca also interests me from an each way perspective and is another that I have followed for a while now. He won at Haydock when fairly unconsidered, at least in the betting but won in the manner of a good horse and was raised 5 pounds. Next time at Plumpton he didn't fire for whatever reason and could only manage sixth behind Court Minstrel, it was a good race however. Last time out he was also beaten, but this time just being touched off by Cool Baranca who is a progressive horse. Red Inca was also giving her around 2 stones of weight as well and just failed to get by, Brian Ellison's charge is well worth another chance. The two bottom weights can dominate this race. (18/1)
3:50 Ascot - Glen Moss
The Victoria Cup is a notoriously hard race to pick a horse to place, nevermind to find the winner, however we try here with Charlie Hills' representative, Glen Moss. On reappearance at Kempton he ran Grey Mirage to a length and three quarters with the third horse a further length and a half back. The key to Glen Moss looks to be fast ground and that is exactly what he gets today off the same mark as his reappearance. One negative about him could be that he is a fairly lightly raced 4 year old with only 10 outings, but he has been ultra consistent in each of them. However being a four year old opens him up to further improvement and he could well have a little bit in hand over the handicapper. The talented William Carson takes the ride today and he hails from a yard in flying form, with everything seemingly in his favour, we chance our arm with Glen Moss. (16/1)
4:05 Haydock - Gregorian
We finish today's blog with one of my favourites from last year in Gregorian for John Gosden and William Buick. He was ultra consistent last season with one blip at Goodwood but that run is easily forgotten as that wasn't his true showing. On his resume last season was a third in the St. James' Palace at Royal Ascot and a second in the Prix Jean Prat, a Group 1 in France. To end the season John Gosden dropped him in class significantly for two runs at Hamilton on ground that isn't preferred. Gregorian won the first race nicely at 1/7 but then got turned over at 2/5 in the next race by Shamaal Nibras. The only defence of that is that he didn't enjoy the ground and 6 furlongs is too short for him, saying that the winner is no slouch in his own right. This return to good ground today will be perfect for him today though and the only doubt is whether he is 100% for his reappearance, only time will tell that. He should take all the beating today and is a strong bet. (5/1)
NAP - Barizan
Nb - Gregorian
Good luck if you have a bet today, if not sit back and enjoy the racing whilst cheering on my horses against George's!!
Happy Punting
Well done with Barizan
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