Merry Christmas You Filthy Animals!

Over the next few weeks I will take a look back at a few posts from earlier this year to keep the brain ticking over until the new flat season starts. 

I wrote a post back in May this year about a few expensive purchases made at the Tattersalls’ Premier Yearling Sales so thought it would be worthwhile checking if they actually made the grade or just disappointed. 

BLUE PLANET was the first and was purchased for 1,800,000 Guineas. A nice pedigree, expensive purchase and trained by the master Aidan O’Brien himself. The Kingman colt Blue Planet made his debut at Dundalk towards the end of October when starting 9/1. That was a pretty satisfactory debut when finishing third so it will be interesting to see what plans Aidan has next year. 

MAGIC HOUR and ESPANIA are still to make their debuts so the next was ST MARK’S BASILICA another for the O’Brien team who had a tremendous 2020 despite taking a few runs to get off the mark. St Mark’s was purchased for 1,300,000 Guineas. The Siyouni colt is a half-brother to Magna Grecia and won his maiden third time of asking before going on to finish third in the National Stakes and then went on to win the Group 1 Dewhurst at Newmarket in October at odds of 10/1. 

A different story for the next two 1,000,000 Guineas purchases who have both disappointed to date. The first MANASSAS comes from a nice family and has only ran once so far but finished stone last for the Kevin Ryan team. Next up is the John Gosden Dubawi colt MAHOMES who has looked pretty average to say the least in all three races this season. DRUMMER GIRL another who has yet to set foot on the racecourse. 

Next up a few Godolphin horses I marked down as 2-year-olds to follow back in May. NOBLE DYNASTY won second timeout at Kempton at odds on and looks a nice prospect for Charlie Appleby. DHAHABI got off the mark at Newmarket on debut and has run to a decent level in his last two races. ACT OF WISDOM was unplaced on debut but the Galileo colt has won three on the bounce including a couple of nice handicaps. Last one to mention is CREATIVE FORCE who won on debut but was soundly beaten next timeout in the Coventry Stakes back in June at Ascot. Creative Force hasn't been seen since, so I wouldn't be giving up just yet on this €400,000 Dubawi gelding. 

Keep an eye out for more of the same this season when I will add a few more Godolphin newcomers and a few expensive purchases to keep a track of for the 2021 season. 

Rewind back to January and I identified a few unraced Michael Stoute and owner Cheveley Park horses to keep an eye out for and out of the three that have ran POTAPOVA looks a star for next season after a demolition job at Chelmsford when winning by over 6-lengths in what was an impressive debut.

I will continue looking back at a few more horses in my next post but one bit of exciting news for next season is that all being well I will be previewing a few unraced 2-year-olds from the Roger Varian team which I am so excited about and I have been also invited to go down to have a look around the Carlburg Stables in the heart of Newmarket which is just brilliant and hopefully all being well I make the long trip from Liverpool some time in 2021. 

Time to get back to watching Home Alone with the family so stay safe and have a Merry Christmas.

At Last, The Flat Season is Underway

At last, the Flat season is underway and hopefully, I can get a few winners to keep the betting bank ticking over. 

Just a quick introduction to what the blog is about for any new readers who have stumbled across it. I will be mentioning a few horses in each post that l like and hopefully do a midweek review to see how they ran. 

I will also like to add that I’m definitely no Hugh Taylor so be warned if you follow any of my bets they come with a warning 😁. 

It’s been a strange week as I’ve been trying to be careful with all the 2-year-old debutants this week and ended up missing out on a couple of winners plus a 3-year-old winner which was disappointing as my only three bets so far that I have done all lost! 

In my Godolphin 2yos to Follow post, I mentioned the well-bred Creative Force who is trained by Charlie Appleby and a half-brother to the John Gosden filly Persuasive. To be honest, I didn’t even notice he was running till he won impressively after making all at Newmarket this week.

Creative Force looks a 2-year-old with a bright future. 

Renaissance Queen was another I left alone and another who looks a nice type for the boys in blue after beating the well-thought-of Delta’s Royalty. 

The Tom Dascombe trained Adaay Dream was another tracker I left alone who won at Newcastle at odds of 13/2 which was disappointingly another missed chance. 

A few more Dascombe 2yos I will be looking out for are: Astronomic Choice who is owned and bred by Mr. John Brown. 

Bakersboy is a 100,000 purchase for owners David Lowe and Partner. 

Rattling Rosie owned and bred by Mr. D.R. Passant. 

Solent Gateway is owned by Mr. D.R. Passant & Heffin Williams.

Capo Bay is owned by Deva Racing Group. 

Robustly is owned by Chasemore Farm. 

Always Dreaming is owned by Ms. A Quinn. 

Right onto the weekend and the trackers are coming through thick and fast but disappointingly most are short prices so won’t be betting.

13:15 Sun 07 June 2020

The expensive Noble Dynasty was featured in my Godolphin 2yos to follow post and is a 3,600,000 purchase and a half-brother to the brilliant 122 rated Barney Roy who won the St James's Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot in 2017 but another likely short price. 

16:45 Sun 07 June 2020. 

King Leonidas was very impressive when winning his maiden at Newmarket last October and will be a tough nut to crack but the Charlie Appleby trained Eastern World is a very well-thought-of Dubawi colt and will give him something to think about for sure. Eastern World made his long-awaited debut last December and was backed like defeat was out of the question. The 10/11 favourite managed to finish second despite looking a bit awkward and green through-out the race. Interesting to see what he can do this season but an early price of 6/5 makes it a race to just watch and enjoy. 

17:55 Sun 07 June 2020

It's not very often you will see me step into the handicapping scene but another Godolphin horse catches the eye. *Encipher is a well-thought-of colt trained by John Gosden who won a shade cosily at Newmarket last July, hasn't been seen since but will hopefully be fit and ready to move up a level and distance with Frankie on board. If I can get an each-way price I will have a bet. Good luck and stay safe.

*NR