Wednesday 30 September 2009

Can’t Buy Time

Rarely have so many horses caught the eye in a running of the four mile National Hunt Chase at Cheltenham's Festival meeting, and of them all, arguably the most intriguing is Can't Buy Time. Racing in the familiar colours of J.P.McManus (everyone's familiar with them, but no-one's quite sure what they actually are; Green and Gold? Orange? Yellow? Does it really matter?), Can't Buy Time seemed to carry plenty of his owner's confidence as he was sent off 4/1 Favourite in a field of nineteen; that he was a deserving "jolly" couldn't be denied in light of his bloodless handicap win at Sandown on his previous start. In a field containing two Bet365 Gold Cup winners, a Racing Post Chase winner and various others of high merit, Can't Buy Time never left the bridle and won with almost embarrassing ease. In the race itself, he travelled well held up and again jumped with assurance before finding his stamina ebbing away between the last two fences, eventually finishing fourth behind Tricky Trickster. It was perhaps a little ambitious to aim for the Grand National with such an inexperienced horse (no novice has won the Aintree marathon since Mr What in 1958), and Can't Buy Time should be forgiven his failure to complete the course, although hopefully that experience won't be lost on him. A drop to a more conventional trip will not go astray and Can't Buy Time will surely land a decent prize before once again having his sights set on a Grand National bid. His best form so far is away from a soft surface and he may be best saved for a spring campaign.

Sunday 27 September 2009

Kornati Kid

Unplaced in the four mile National Hunt Chase after previously winning the Grade Two Towton Novices' Chase at Wetherby in the colours of Diana and Graham Whateley, Kornati Kid looks a horse to keep on the right side this season. His game defeat of Will Be Done in the Towton highlighted both his tenacity and sound jumping and represented a step up on the form of his earlier chase starts, marking him down as a progressive sort. The Cheltenham run does him scant justice in terms of his worth, as he measured his fences well and travelled eyecatchingly into contention before patently failing to stay the extended trip. He appeals more than the majority of second season chasers as one who can build significantly on the achievements of his novice campaign and it will be a surprise if Philip Hobbs can't place him to advantage in the months to come.

Hennessy

Malcolm Denmark's Hennessy gave the popular Carl Llewellyn a big winner to bookend his training career when the benefactor of a trademark Tony Mc Coy masterclass in the Bet365 Gold Cup at Sandown in April. It was a bittersweet victory for the trainer as his tenure as trainer at Denmark's Weathercock House stables was already under threat and it was no great surprise when the owner announced that Warren Greatrex would take over the reins for the 2009/10 season with the sacked Llewellyn returning to his old boss Nigel Twiston-Davies as assistant. Hennessy seems certain to get an entry at the race which bears his name but he will be best suited by races beyond three and a half miles and is seen as a prospect for either the Scottish National or the Aintree showpiece by his rookie handler, formerly a conditional with Josh Gifford and assistant to Oliver Sherwood. Greatrex was given the unusual compliment by his new boss as a "good feeder" and the thinking in some quarters is that he will improve the durability of his runners (under the old regime, the horses had a reputation for being best fresh and didn't take much racing). Hennessy himself has always seemed best after a break so it will be interesting if his new trainer can inject more steel into the 8yo son of Presenting; if he does then Hennessy will find plenty of opportunities to enhance his reputation. Both his wins over fences have come right handed but it's doubtful that he needs to go that way. If connections deem Aintree unsuitable, it's noteworthy that the increasingly valuable Irish Grand National falls on the previous Monday.

Saturday 26 September 2009

Tricky Trickster

Nigel Twiston-Davies endured a season to forget in 2008/2009 with the months of December through March yielding a paltry ten winners for what is normally one of the most powerful yards around. It says much for Tricky Trickster's constitution that he managed two wins and two seconds from his only runs during the Naunton drought, culminating in a handsome win in the National Hunt Chase at the Festival meeting where he became the first six year old to win since Homer Scott's Omerta twenty years before. The historic four-miler was receiving the last rites only a few years ago but has risen, Lazarus like, to its former pomp, the latest renewal one of the strongest in living memory. Aside from the Tricky Trickster, the race has already thrown up subsequent big race winners Niche Market (Powers Whiskey Irish Grand National) and Hennessy (Bet365 Gold Cup) and may even surpass the 2007 renewal in terms of the subsequent achievements of the contenders. That race produced six individual runners who have gone on to land valuable sponsored events, among them "national" winners Butler's Cabin (Irish), Miko De Beauchene (Welsh) and Ballytrim (Ulster) as well as future Festival heroes Garde Champetre (X-Country) and Character Building (Kim Muir) and a Racing Post Chase winner in Gungadu.

Like all Million In Mind horses, Tricky Trickster was sent to the HiT sales at the end of the season and will now race for Paul Nicholls in the purple and mauve colours of owner Chris Giles after fetching £320k. He looks the champion trainer's best chance of achieving the Grand National win he craves, but will surely find other valuable contests on the way and remains a horse of huge potential.

Friday 25 September 2009

Jaunty Flight

Jaunty Flight impressed many when romping to a televised victory in the EBF Mares' Hurdle Final at Newbury, showing a combination of class, stamina and courage to make light of top weight in desperate conditions. She didn't disappoint in her first season chasing either, winning three from four and only beaten by an inadequate trip at Chepstow. She signed off with a wide-margin romp over Lodge Lane and The Market Man at Perth, and while both the vanquished there can be described as disappointing, Jaunty Flight merely added to her fan club with another enormously likeable display of bold jumping and doughty galloping. She will need those talents in abundance this season as she doesn't have the bolthole of mares only events to turn to. Oliver Sherwood, who bought her on behalf of Peter Deal from Brecon permit holder Brian Eckley (cattle farmer Eckley also raced her dam Jaunty June), sent her to Perth with the aim of attaining a handicap mark high enough to get her into the Hennessy Gold Cup in November and that remains likely to be her initial target. She has never seemed lacking for stamina and it may be that a step up to marathon trips will see even more improvement and something like the Welsh National seems sure to be up her street.

Lodge Lane

Victor Dartnall has long held a reputation for getting the best out of limited resources and in Lodge Lane he has produced another useful performer from modest beginnings, successful on his respective debuts in all NH codes and taking a few notable scalps on the way. There is no secret about the regard in which Lodge Lane is held at Dartnall's North Devon yard, but for all his undoubted talent, he has always had his quirks and last season showed his dark streak rather more often than his brilliance, winning well on debut from the ill-fated Wichita Lineman but running astoundingly badly when odds on for a Kempton novice on his next appearance and never fully redeeming himself afterwards. He went to Cheltenham in March quietly fancied for the third consecutive year but each Festival has brought only disappointment with a pulled up effort this time to add to well beaten finishes in the Champion Bumper and Alfred Bartlett Novices Hurdle. The Cotswold air doesn't seem to agree with Lodge Lane as a return visit in April saw him fall at the second last when looking certain to win, although he once again travelled without conviction in the early stages and made a number of errors before his departure. Dartnall's best horses to date have been Lord Sam and Karanja, both of whom looked destined for stardom before ultimately disappointing and it seems possible that Lodge Lane is another who will leave his potential unfulfilled. Looking for positives, it's conceivable that a virus which ravaged the yard may be at least partly to blame for a miserable campaign and it's to be hoped that he can come back a fresh and healthy horse this season.

Thursday 24 September 2009

Cornas

Nick Williams' small Devon yard continues to go from strength to strength and Cornas, whom he acquired from his namesake Evan, looks another big winner in waiting for the man dubbed "The Genius of George Nympton" by his admirers. Cornas ended his novice chasing campaign on a slightly lacklustre note, finishing ten lengths or so behind Kalahari King in the two mile championship events at both Cheltenham and Aintree, but that won't have harmed his handicap mark and he actually shaped very well in the Arkle before failing to last up the hill. His debut over fences came against a bunch of fair and experienced rivals at Ludlow but he jumped and travelled with real panache on his way to an easy victory, with subsequent Jewson runner up Isn't That Lucky well beaten in fourth. He should probably have followed up at Sandown but was produced marginally too late to overhaul Gauvain, but that in itself is useful form and he once again impressed with the way he travelled. A well run handicap over two miles is his for the taking although such races are thin on the ground. Ascot's Byrne Group Handicap Chase at the end of October is right up his street and he appeals as the perfect type for the Red Rum Chase at the Grand National meeting. He's not fully exposed over hurdles either, and it would be interesting if he was given an entry in the Totesport Trophy.

Oumeyade

New connections (part owner Jim Lewis caused a stir by moving him from Hen Knight to champion trainer Paul Nicholls) made hay early with the talented Oumeyade, exploiting a lowly chase mark of 100 after the obligatory Ditcheat breathing op and improving the horse by an official fifty-two pounds by the time he lined up for the Wayward Lad Novices' Chase at Kempton's King George meeting. He started odds on to win that day but was eclipsed by the giant Original and then went missing until trailing the field in Sandown's Celebration Chase in April. There's no doubt that he has improved hugely, but the official figures are decidedly misleading. He looked flattered by his margin of victory when dominating from flagfall at Kempton in October and the mark he carried into that race (137) is more indicative of his merit. He was dropped two pounds for his Sandown drubbing, and it seems the handicapper is going to have to relent some more before Oumeyade can be competitive. He starts the season in new surroundings again having been bought by Donald McCain for owner Tim Leslie and may make his debut in the Prelude Chase at Market Rasen on Saturday where he would carry top weight.

Kalahari King

An unlucky in running fourth in the Supreme Novices' in 2008, Kalahari King returned to the Festival to contest the Arkle Chase with only an uncharacteristically sloppy jumping display behind Doctor David at Haydock blotting his chasing copybook. Once again, the cauldron of Prestbury Park spurred Ferdy Murphy's charge to new heights as he went down in a stirring battle with Forpadydeplasterer, losing out by a diminishing short head in what was arguably the finish of the meeting, and one which stirred the crowd to near rapture. He followed that run with a win at Aintree, confirming Arkle form with Made In Taipan before running in the Queen Mother Celebration Chase at Sandown's end of season jamboree. His second there behind course and distance specialist Twist Magic reads well on paper, but it was, in truth, a comprehensive defeat and one which raises minor doubts about his ability to step up to top company over two miles, especially since he is neither young nor lightly raced, turning nine mid-season and the veteran of thirty-five races already. On the plus side, he has often shaped as if an extra half mile will be within his compass, finishing notably strongly when facing his most searching tests at the minimum. The William Hill Haldon Gold Cup would be an ideal starting point, although his trainer rarely has his string in top form before mid-November if previous campaigns are a guide.

Thursday 10 September 2009

The Market Man

There was Gold Cup talk in the air when The Market Man made a successful return in a Grade 2 Novice Chase on the Friday of the Hennessy Gold Cup meeting last season. While such ambitions seemed rather lofty, it was hard not to be taken by his display of fluent jumping, beating a small but select field without coming off the bridle. Sadly, the wheels came off subsequently, his failure to beat a single other finisher in three more runs almost impossible to believe given the huge impression he made at Newbury. He certainly looked a horse with problems, and looked beaten in the Sun Alliance won by Cooldine before he even left the paddock. It's to be hoped that Nicky Henderson can coax the son of Grosvenor back to form, possibly for the Hennessy itself, given the liking Sir Robert Ogden's gelding has shown for the Berkshire venue. History suggests that his mark of 145, while not exactly lenient, will see him with an attractive racing weight come the lat Saturday of November. It may pay to strike while the iron's hot as he's already a nine year old and seems not to have the constitution to stand much racing these days.

Calgary Bay

Ever since she saw the unnamed Taipan gelding loose schooling at Tom Costello's, Henrietta Knight felt she'd found a potential replacement for Best Mate. In terms of looks, it's hard to argue with her; tall, handsome and with palpable presence, he looks the perfect steeplechaser. Handsome is as handsome does, however, and Calgary Bay's record is threatening to turn ugly, despite a smattering of genuine brilliance. One win from six attempts over fences does scant justice to his latent talent, shown best when jumping with panache to beat Kicks For Free and Tartak in the Dipper Chase at Cheltenham on New Year's Day. That win garnered plaudits from many professionals and an expectation in many quarters of Festival glory, but in truth his subsequent starts were a bitter disappointment and his handicap mark has already been adjusted downwards to 142. There is little doubt that his current mark underplays his true ability ( the horses he beat in the Dipper are rated 147 and 154 respectively) and, since both his wins have come at Cheltenham, he can be expected to be aimed at those valuable open handicaps at Prestbury Park. Whether he can be relied upon to live up to his trainer's hopes remains to be seen, but he remains a fascinating prospect for now.

Breedsbreeze

Last seen lying winded on the Ascot turf on Valentine's Day, it was an inauspicious end to a promising first season over fences for Breedsbreeze. Up to that point Paul Nicholls' son of Fresh Breeze had cemented his big reputation with three wins from three, taking the scalps of the Alan Peterson owned pair Ring The Boss and Massini's Maguire at Wincanton and Kempton respectively. On the back of those wins, he was made a short priced favourite to win the Reynoldstown Chase but in reality he never threatened to reel in the bold jumping Carruthers and was a well beaten 2nd when taking a crashing fall at the last. There's no shame in that as the winner is a powerful galloper who was ideally suited to the slog that that race turned into. Given an official mark of 154, it won't be easy for Breedsbreeze in open company this season, but he's sure to be well placed by the champion trainer. In the short term, he looks certain to get an entry in the Paddy Power Gold Cup where he wouldn't be far off the head of the weights, but it's hard to imagine the powerful Nicholls yard won't have a more progressive rival lurking lower in the order. He has yet to race beyond a bare three miles and he didn't look to be relishing the test of stamina at Ascot, but it's not impossible that he may get further in time.