Monday's Thoughts (26th April)

It’s difficult to find the motivation to write a post when the weather is beautiful and I can sit in the garden, relax and drink beer while watching the racing. I have had a few 2-year-old winners of late and hope it continues, one that is still annoying me is the Bryan Smart trained Instinction who won at Redcar a few weeks ago. I do like to look at trainer and owner combinations and sometimes it comes off, I might add a few on here just for interest and see how they go, anyway Bryan Smart and familiar owners Crossfield Racing is one combination I like but the draw put me off at Redcar, I did look a bit deeper and one of the top owners at Redcar was Crossfield Racing with six wins out of 32 with a 77 pound profit, but that draw still put me off and the rest is history as Instinction won 33s, that was a killer blow to be honest but it shows these trainer and owner combinations can produce a few winners. 

Looking back at my last blog post it was good to see the Roger Varian trained Third Realm produce a nice performance at Nottingham when winning with a bit in hand, as I had two trackers in the race it was also nice my other tracker Remedium finish second, I had a win on Third Realm and an each way on Remedium at 22s so happy days all day round, the forecast would have been good but can’t be greedy. The writing was on the wall for Claim To Fame with a big drift and was disappointing, but Fahey’s have definitely looked in need of the run this season. Talking about disappointments I didn’t bet on Blue Planet but wow the 1.8 million purchase finished down the field in a lackluster performance at Dundalk. 

15:20 Chantilly (France) 26 Apr 2021 

Now I’m no expert on UK racing never mind French racing but one tracker that I have is the Andre Fabre trained Magic Hour who cost 220,000 euros and comes with a lovely pedigree being a full-sister to Alice Springs who was outstanding for Aidan O’Brien, other siblings include Criteria, Kingston Jamaica and Hence all 101 plus rated. As I said I’m no expert on French racing but watching Magic Hours debut race I thought it was a promising start without getting involved at the finish, I haven’t had time to check the other runners so it’s a stab in the dark that she can be involved here. Time of writing 4/1. 

17:10 Naas (IRE) 26 Apr 2021 

Over to Ireland for a newcomer here who is wearing a first timeout tongue strap. One worry is the first timeout strike rate of trainer Kevin Prendergast who runs HATHLOO here. It could be a race to be wary of and just watch or I may have a very small each way. Hathloo is the son of Awtaad and purchased for £220,000. Trainer Kevin Prendergast thought plenty of this bay colt last season who is out of unraced dam Majestic Jasmine. Hathloo is an interesting type but could need the run here, no support at the time of writing and has drifted from 15/2 to 11s. 

13:50 Nottingham 27 Apr 2021 

Tough looking race this but I do have the Karl Burke trained Pink Storm as a tracker here. A 35,000 gns purchase who ran a promising debut without getting involved, I think betting will be the key here. Anything around 9/2 will be a positive. Amber Dew also looks the type to improve and looks a big danger. I had all intentions of previewing all horses here but times catching up on me. A can’t go without saying a huge well done to Bloodstock Agent Armando Duarte and the William Haggas team who won the Classic Trial at Sandown the weekend with Alenquer. Armando gave Alenquer a favourable mention in his post back in December and it was great to see Alenquer romp home at 25/1. 

Bit of a rush job this, stay safe and thanks for reading.