Frankie Dettori had barely weighed in after securing a second consecutive Ascot Gold Cup aboard Stradivarius when 'ping!' two emails arrived in the inbox - one outlining an online gambling casino, the other from Cheltenham racecourse advertising next year's Festival.
Since the blog entered 'snooze' mode at the beginning of May I may have wiled away the odd few moments on pokies online real money but Harry Fry has given notice of his intention to move from his yard at Seaborough in Dorset and owners Darren and Annaley Yates have decided to remove their runners from Phil Kirby's yard in North Yorkshire.
And a detailed study indicates that female jockeys are underbet in jump races.
The passing of John McCririck generated plenty of newsprint.
Lee Mottershead's tribute in the Racing Post has been widely acclaimed while The Guardian published an obituary by Julian Wilson who predeceased his subject by more than five years.
Wilson's own obituary in the same paper written by Sean Magee highlights the clash between two very different approaches to the sport.
Personally, I enjoyed Vernon Grant's tribute.
Big Mac often referred to Market Rasen as Market Raspberry and tomorrow's Summer Plate at the Lincolnshire track marks the mid-point in the summer jumping programme.
I've concentrated on three or four pieces of recent form: the Perth Gold Cup run over three miles; the Uttoxeter Summer Cup; the Summer Plate Trial run over course and distance four weeks ago and Casablanca Mix's victory at Aintree in May which, in my opinion, would be right up there with the best form on offer.
Indian Temple beat Van Gogh Du Granit a short-head in the Perth Gold Cup (Get Out The Gate a well-beaten fourth) and weakened after the last to finish fourth in the Uttoxeter Summer Cup. 20/1 looks a big price for David Pipe's charge but the suspicion is this trip may just be on the short side.
Gone Platinum beat Darcy Ward in last month's trial but Nick Schofield may have gone for home too soon on the runner-up that day and is unlikely to make the same mistake again. Sean Bowen rode the winner - tomorrow's pilot Lorcan Williams can claim five.
At Aintree Casablanca Mix beat Indian Temple (won twice since), Value At Risk and Lofgren (has since won Class 2 handicap chase at Cartmel). Nicky Henderson's mare has been raised five pounds for that effort; as far as I could ascertain a mare has not won a previous running of this race.
Six trainers are represented with two runners; Dan Skelton, Dr Richard Newland and Peter Bowen are known to regularly target this event.
Last year's winner More Buck's tries to repeat the trick for Peter Bowen; he was beaten over hurdles last time and looks to have been laid out for the race.
Favourite Gortroe Joe has yet to prove he can handle the cut and thrust of a big field.
Trigger McNichol has a bit to find on form, Solar Impulse has done most of his racing over two miles, Henryville has gone up ten for his win at Newton Abbot while, according to the Racing Post, El Terremoto was sold by Simon Munir and Issac Souede to Fergus Wilson on Monday.
I tend to prefer a young horse in this; the two on the shortlist are Casablanca Mix and Royal Village.
The latter is a course and distance winner who may not have quite seen out three miles at Perth the last day and is forgiven that effort; any further rain would not inconvenience the cause.
Casablanca Mix is generally available at 11/1 but at the time of writing Sky Bet offer 14/1 Royal Village and pay one fifth the odds four places - Royal Village is the each-way suggestion.
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5 comments:
Value At Risk (Bruised Foot) is a non-runner and the going remains Good.
The Summer Plate looks as competitive as ever with only 5lb between the field on Timeform ratings and 6lb on RP ratings.
Van Gogh Du Grant [VGDG] tops my ratings though the 20/1 you noted in your post has evaporated overnight. I also understand your concerns over the trip but there looks to be a strong pace element which should result in a truly run race and VGDG’ last win in France [Nov 2018] was over 2m 2f albeit on heavy ground.
I hope VGDG races prominently, takes up the running turning into the straight on the final circuit and gallops all the way to the line warding off all challengers!
I’ve taken the 18/1 with BET365 [win only]
I can see the case for Royal Village but worry that a mark of 137 might rate him just a bit higher than his ability. I prefer Pacific De Baune of the Henderson pair.
Good luck
TW
RTG Horse
162 VAN GOGH DU GRANIT(FR)
161 GET OUT THE GATE(IRE)
161 SOLAR IMPULSE(FR)
161 PACIFIC DE BAUNE(FR)
159 GONE PLATINUM(IRE)
159 DARCY WARD(FR)
158 TRIGGER NICHOL(IRE)
157 EL TERREMOTO(FR)
157 HENRYVILLE(GB)
157 ROYAL VILLAGE(IRE)
155 RONAVA(IRE)
155 GORTROE JOE(IRE)
154 CASABLANCA MIX(FR)
153 MORE BUCK'S(IRE)
Good luck, TW!
I tend to prefer a young horse in this; the two on the shortlist are Casablanca Mix and Royal Village.
Well done, narrowed the field down to two and got 1st and 2nd!
TW
Selection Royal Village (9/1) raced slightly worse than midfield for much of the trip as last year's winner More Buck's (11/1) and Van Gogh Du Granit (12/1) cut out a strong early pace; the latter took on the former for the lead after the fourth and More Buck's struggled thereafter, eventually pulling up after the ninth.
TW's pick Van Gogh Du Granit went on to make the best of his way home and was still at the head of affairs three from home but David Pipe's charge had no answer to Casablanca Mix (5/1jf) and Royal Vacation.
Once Nicky Henderson's mare took up the running the result was never in doubt - she stayed on stoutly to win by eight lengths from the selection with Van Gogh Du Granit and El Terremoto (20/1), both owned by Fergus Wilson, coming home third and fourth respectively.
An impressive display from the winner in what appeared a very competitive race beforehand; the handicapper will have his say in due course.
Footnote: Royal Village mistakenly referenced as Royal Vacation in preceding race summary.
PG.
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