The only trouble with “daring” to take any time off is all the work awaiting you on your return, but those are first-World problems, and I shouldn’t really complain.
This week has been fairly quiet on the news front for me., though I do note with horror (not surprise) that attendances seem to be dropping at all the major race meetings in the UK and Ireland, and that is not good news at all. The world post-covid sems to have a very different feel about it with some realising that going out is not the be all and end all they once thought, and if you add in a recession and rising inflation, “splash-cash” is at a premium. I would not be overly concerned if I genuinely felt the racing authorities would take it seriously (reduce entry prices, add entertainment, provide free racecards, whatever solution works), but I am yet to be convinced they live on the same planet as the rest of us, and I can see them carrying on as normal until the house of cards fall down around them.
Enough politics and down to the racing…..and it’s a pretty quiet one at that
Saturday
1.45pm Haydock
A Listed five-furlong sprint to start our day and one that may well fall the way of Dragon Symbol if we (perhaps naively) ignore his first start for Roger Varian when a pretty poor 12 length seventh over a furlong further at York. In mitigation, that was his first start after leaving the Archie Watson yard, his first for seven months, and in the Group Two Clipper Logistics Stakes, meaning this represents a considerable drop in grade. Placed in three Group One’s last year with a second in the Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot (placed first on the disqualification of Campanelle for interference), we are basically betting on whether or not his new yard can get him firing on all cylinders once again – and that is a risk I am willing to take today.
2.55pm Haydock
The Pinnacle Stakes over a mile and a half looks a very competitive race but I do try to find a race of two on the TV on a Saturday afternoon to keep everyone happy. Climate intrigues here after her fourth to Dreamloper in the Dahlia Stakes at Newmarket and if she gets the trip she has to be a player here, but the fact is she is yet to race beyond a mile and a quarter, with her only success over a mile. Her rivals here will be well aware of her speed and try to turn this in to a bigger test of stamina, and that may play in to the hands of Sea La Rosa, a winner over a furlong further on the Lingfield all-weather last October, and with no stamina questions to answer. Trainer William Haggas is a master at working with horses who get better with age, and I am quietly confident that she is all set for another profitable season for her followers.
3.30pm Haydock.
Our third and final race this Saturday sees up to eight go to post for the Group Three John Of Gaunt Stakes over seven furlongs which many, including me, see as a pretty specialist trip. Kinross is the most obvious one to be on after he won this last year by a length last year and he may well prove very hard to beat, but I am going to take an each way chance on Sunray Major at a bigger price. Trained by the in-form Gosdens, he was last seen coming home sixth to Baeed when unsurprisingly outclassed in the Lockinge Stakes at Newbury where he weakened close home over the mile. A similar thing happened on his return to action in the Group Two bet365 Mile at Sandown, but he has only raced over this trip twice – winning them both. With a fitness edge over those making their seasonal debuts and Franke Dettori in the saddle I feel he has a great chance of hitting the frame and that may be the sensible way to back him here – hoping all eight stand their ground so we get paid out for one two or three.
Sean Suggestions:
Sunray Major each way 3.30pm Newbury
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