Throne Hall Shows his Class at Hamilton

It was nice to finally get a winner in my last post when Throne Hall ran out an easy winner at Hamilton for my 3-year-olds to follow. 

The Kevin Ryan trained Kingman colt made his seasonal reappearance after a promising debut as a 2-year-old last August at Haydock. He received an early entry for the Group 2 Champagne Stakes last year gave me hope he would be competitive against a pretty average bunch. I managed to be quick and get the 5/1 on Wednesday night that was available and it was a good job as Throne Hall was hammered into 15/8 favourite. 

It was like defeat was out of the question and so it proved as he kept on and won a shade cosily in the end with a lovely performance and hopefully, he can move up a level this season and get some black type.

Throne Hall returns after a year off to land the Stay At Our Onsite Hotel Maiden Stakes in convincing style for @StottKevin and @kevinryanracing pic.twitter.com/fVhy9MLriO

— Hamilton Park (@HamiltonParkRC) August 13, 2020

Another tracker was Moon Daisy who could never land a blow in a competitive heat. Nice to see one of my eye-catchers Calcutta Cup (pictured) get his head in front at Chester yesterday for the Andrew Balding yard, I didn’t have a bet at Chester as it’s definitely one of the courses where I can never get a winner. Roger Charlton doesn’t have the best first timeout record with 2-year-olds but it was nice to see one of my Roger Charlton's 2yo’s to follow win on Wednesday for the blog. Lucid Dreamer looks a nice type and was given a lovely ride by Ryan Moore. 

18:00 Chepstow 15 Aug 2020 

The odds on favourite Jumaira Bay could run away with this as the Roger Varian colt brings decent form to the table and could be hard to peg back but these odds on shots can be beaten, so I’m going to do a split stake with two horses here. The first is another 3-year-old tracker who makes his seasonal appearance and has his first run for trainer Charlie Fellowes. BOMA GREEN was purchased for £105,000 at the 2018 Premier Yearling Sales. The gelding's debut race was way back in May last year when he looked a bit inexperienced and green but made a favourable impression. It’s pretty obvious that Boma Green has had some issues along the way as I was expecting him to run again last season, but he hasn't been seen since that promising debut last May. I will be interested to see how the market speaks tomorrow after such a long lay off. It’s always a worry he could need this run but if today is not the day I will definitely be checking next time out. MODMIN also makes his reappearance tomorrow for Marcus Tregoning after a promising debut at Flos Las last August. The Tamayuz gelding was always there about but could never land a blow and stayed on without threatening eventual winner It’s Good To Laugh. 

13:15 Newbury 16 Aug 2020 

BEHELD trained by Roger Charlton. The dam is a sister to stallion Showcasing who ended her career rated 107 and the highlight being a second in the Group 3 Merriebelle Stable Pavilion Stakes in 2015. Roger had a first timeout winner with Lucid Dreamer on Wednesday and Beheld is worth a market check here. The Frankel filly has a lovely pedigree and whatever she does here she will improve for sure. 

A fantastic front-running performance from Lucid Dreamer who wins the Unibet/British Stallion Studs @BritishEBF Fillies' Novice Stakes with Ryan Moore on board for @RogerCharlton 🚀 pic.twitter.com/xqDjNntx18

— Kempton Park Racecourse (@kemptonparkrace) August 12, 2020

17:10 Newbury 16 Aug 2020 

Not going to lie but this looks a tough little maiden with plenty of nice newcomers entering the shortlist. TASFEEQ made a promising debut at Goodwood at the beginning of August when given a nice introduction by Jim Crowley, I’m sure the 115,000 gns purchase will be more clued-up this time and hopefully, the Marcus Tregoning trained bay colt can get involved in the business end of the race. Thanks for reading and stay safe.

Two-year-old (2yo) Eye-catchers (July 13 -19th)

Update on my weekend selections. 

Cosmic Princess was a horse I had been waiting for what seemed an age for, entered to run at the beginning of the month at Kempton before being declared a non-runner late on when being well-supported. The Hughie Morrison Kingman filly put in an eye-catching display last October over an inadequate trip and stepped up to 10 furlongs last Saturday. Hollie Doyle taking the ride, what a jockey she is, by the way, timed it to perfection when delivering Cosmic Princess perfectly to win by a neck. 

Two trackers in the 13.05 at Newbury in which could work out to be a nice Novice Stakes race. Calcutta Cup took a huge step forward from his debut run in the Woodcote when never involved, quickly away this time, and even though the Andrew Balding Territories colt finished fourth just outside the places I think Calcutta Cup still has a lot more to come once he learns to settle better. My next tracker was the well-touted joint-favorite Rushmore and I guess you would be disappointed if you backed the Andrew Balding Lope De Vega colt but watching the race a few times I think he was definitely green and will come on plenty for that debut run. The winner that day was the John Gosden trained Guru who looked professional and won well. 

Eye-Catchers 

Catterick 13:50 

Wednesday 15 July 2020 

Richard Fahey's two-year-olds look to have come into form lately with Gorytus, Rhythm Master, and International Girl all winning this month, so I will be keeping an eye out for the Kodiac filly NURSE DEE after a promising debut in a rough-looking race at Catterick. Richard Fahey actually ran three in this and Humid also showed promise and should be winning soon. The 7/1 shot was backed from 11s and was slowly away before being blocked in and running on when eventually finding her way out. The 52,000 gns purchase will hopefully pick up a small race soon. 

Newbury 13:40 

Sunday 19 July 2020 

ALKUMAIT looks a nice type for Marcus Tregoning and Mr. Hamdan Al Maktoum after a promising debut in what could be a nice little race at Newbury. The Showcasing colt did plenty wrong on debut when slowly away but still managed to finish strongly and get within a length or so of the nice Clive Cox colt Royal Scimitar. Alkumait was a 150,000 gns foal whose price rose to 220,000 gns as a yearling. 

York 12:15 

Sunday 19 July 2020

I actually had a split stake bet in this race with the winner Gorytus and my next tracker DEXTER BELLE. The Kevin Ryan trained Ajaya filly looked to be giving jockey Danny Tudhope a torrid time and was pulling for the first few furlongs like crazy. The 55,000 gns purchase was up with the pace until tiring pretty quickly the final furlong to finish seventh. Dexter Belle wasn't fancied in the betting that day and I will be keeping a close eye on the market next timeout to see if she attracts any support. 

AESTHETE trained by Michael Bell. 
HUMID trained by Richard Fahey. 

Thanks for reading and stay safe.

Recent Two-Year-Old Eye Catchers

Another frustrating weekend for the blog, when nothing went right, to be fair most of my 3-year-old trackers, are running well but when my hard-earned cash is on running well is not good enough. I was pretty hopeful Freedom Flyer would run well after seeing early support for this Simon and Ed Crisford trained colt but as the price started to drift near race time so did my hopes. The Invincible Spirit colt 10/1 shot was out the stalls alright but very keen for his first time on the racecourse and that's never a good sign, the writing was on the wall a few furlongs out as he backpedaled and faded into fourth place and my each-way bet was gone. I will give Freedom Flyer another chance as soft ground, debut run and greenness could have all contributed to an average performance. 

Riviera Belle was another who just finished out the places and I will keep in my trackers after staying on but not threatening at Chelmsford on Saturday night. I’m sure the Charlie Fellowes filly can get a win on the board soon. Ice Sprite looks a nice type for William Haggas and despite finishing fourth and yet another bet just out the places, I liked the way the Zoffany filly was gradually staying on at the end. 

Two out of my three eye-catchers have won in the past week, Yes short prices I know but it was nice to see Imperial Yellow and Ventura Tormenta both win. 

Eyecatchers:

DARVEL is a 380,000 guineas Dark Angel colt trained by Kevin Ryan and owned by Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum. Darvel made his debut at Haydock just over a week back and was pretty strong in the market at 13/8 despite opening up at 11/10 and needed a few strides to get back on the bridle. I think Darvel will have learned a lot from this experience and despite getting back into contention could never land a blow against the more experienced runners in the field. Definitely, one to keep on the list for the next start.

CALCUTTA CUP was purchased for 100,000 euros at the Arqana 2019 October Yearlings Sale and is trained by Andrew Balding and owned by Mrs. Fitri Hay. I do love Andrew Balding 2-Year-olds and especially second start. The Territories chestnut colt was thrown in at the deep end in the Investec Woodcote EBF Stakes on Saturday at Epsom so that in itself is a good sign. Calcutta Cup totally missed the break and was always behind and ran green from then on. I’m pretty hopeful I will see a more professional performance next start and will be interested to see if he attracts any market support. 

FAST EMMA is another one who was still asleep coming out of the stalls on debut. The Michael Bell cheap purchase was fancied on debut when starting off 7/2 but showed signs of greenness when fluffing the break. The Fast Company filly only cost £6.000 and won’t be one of Michael Bells' top 2-year-olds but will have learned a lot from that debut race and hopefully pick up a win in the coming weeks. 

Others to note: 

YOUTH SPIRIT, trained by Andrew Balding. 
BAHIA STAR, trained by Richard Guest. 

Thanks for reading and stay safe.