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.

Two-Year-Old Eye-Catchers 19th - 26th July

Quick update on my latest selections and eye-catchers. It pains me to say it but a visit to Specsavers could be in order after a disappointing eye-catcher over the weekend, Nurse Dee looks limited, to say the least after finishing down the field at York on Saturday. It did get better though as two trackers got their heads in front. The Cheveley Park owned Ice Sprite ventured into handicap company and the William Haggas trained Zoffany filly made no mistake at Newmarket winning easily. Top Class Angel finally got her first win for trainer Richard Hannon after being placed twice this season. The Dark Angel filly dug in deep to also win at Newmarket. 

Saturday’s headline post was Godolphin at the double and the first leg of it came in when the well-thought-of Charlie Appleby Frankel colt DHAHABI held on from the fast-finishing Dinoo who will be winning his Maiden soon enough. I took 9/4 the night before with Dhiahabi and had a winning bet so it was a profitable day for me personally. I expected Declaring Love to win easily after being well-supported but the Gosden filly Bizzi Lizzi had different ideas and won well with Declaring Love finishing second.

Dhahabi 🏇
✅By Frankel
✅Winning debut in the @BritishEBF Maiden Stakes with @the_doyler aboard for Charlie Appleby. pic.twitter.com/MZROBJxZA8

— Newmarket Racecourse (@NewmarketRace) July 25, 2020

Eye-Catchers 16:25 Sandown 21 July 2020 

First off congratulations to The Middleham Park Syndicate after Ventura Tormenta won the Prix Darley Prix Robert Papin (Group 2) at Chantilly last week when holding off the challenge of the Norfolk Stakes winner The Lir Jet. That brings me onto my first eye-catcher this week, VENTURA DIAMOND, who was purchased for 100,000 gns at the Tattersalls 2019 October Yearling Sales. The Richard Fahey trained Dandy Man filly made an eye-catching debut at Sandown last Tuesday in what looked a pretty nice fillies Maiden. The winner Miss Jingles and second Zoetic are both nice types and the way Ventura Diamond was staying on at the finish I can see a winner sooner rather than later for this nice looking filly. 

12:00 Newmarket 24 Jul 2020

OLYMPIC THEATRE is a Michael Bell Mayson gelding I had noted down on my shortlist for the Newmarket race last Friday, Why? Because owners The Fitzrovians had a first timeout debut winner in 2018 called Nuremberg at Ascot. The price 40/1 well and truly put me off but luckily enough I backed the winner Jadwal anyway but was still disappointed I didn’t have a few quid each-way on Olympic Theatre who ran a stormer to finish third despite being slowly away and running green. Another who should be up to winning soon enough. 

12:20 York 25 Jul 2020 

Richard Fahey has a good relationship with owners Clipper Logistics with plenty of 2-year-old winners over the years including the exciting Space Traveller. STATE PATROL has some way to go to be even mentioned in the same breath as the Bated Breath colt but there was a lot to like about the Zoffany colts debut at York on Saturday. A 50,000 euro purchase at the 2019 Orby Sales State Patrol is a half-brother to the brilliant The Last Lion. A drifter at York on debut from 11s to 14/1 and it showed he was in need of the race when slowly away before finishing well to finish third. Considering the start and traffic problems along the way It was definitely an encouraging debut and one to look out for the next start. 

More Eye-Catchers: 

16:20 Doncaster 25 Jul 2020 RAADOBARG 

2:20 York 25 Jul 2020 PATIENT DREAM 

13:15 Ascot 25 Jul 2020 SNOW LANTERN 

Thanks for reading and stay safe.

Godolphin at the Double (24th July)

The racing is still coming thick and fast and at times it’s all too much as I try to watch every 2-year-old race, add data and look at the fixtures coming up while trying to spend time with the family and go to work but it’s worth it as I remember the dark days when we had none. Anyway enough rambling on, Just a quick update on a few bets this week. 

Darvel was a horse I had marked down in my eye-catcher post, the Kevin Ryan trained Dark Angel colt made a promising debut at Haydock back in June when given a nice introduction without threatening the first three home that day. 

I was hoping to have a nice bet and 9/4 looked alright to me but soon as I went to confirm my bet it changed to 6/4 and within a few short minutes odds on, so I decided against betting. 

See the full result here. 

It was nice to see Darvel win easily at Ayr and confirm that promise even though I missed out. 

Darvel justifies favouritism and gets up to win the Follow Us On Twitter @chbmedical Novice Stakes under @StottKevin for @kevinryanracing 👏 👏 pic.twitter.com/X4394BEYIl

— Ayr Racecourse (@ayrracecourse) July 20, 2020

We have to take the good with the bad at times and Perfect Sunrise was another eye-catcher for trainer James Tate, it was a tough race so no bet for me and this time I chose right as she looked awkward and finished down the field. 

I had a winning bet on Shrara who was having her second run for Ralph Beckett and won with a bit in hand at Chepstow, never underestimate how much a horse can improve the second run as Shrara was never involved on her debut at Windsor a few weeks before. 

Liberty Power had a nice entry as a 2-year-old and after disappointing again I’m sure this horse will pop up at a price one day but is becoming expensive for me to follow after backing the Tim Easterby colt the last two times. 

Previews:

I feel like I’m repeating myself as I say this each week but the weekend racing is tough especially the 2-year-olds, so I will be betting low stakes and with caution, I think monitoring and watching the replays for future reference is the best bet but for a bit of interest, I will have a small bet. 

13:40 Newmarket 25 Jul 2020 

A couple of promising types who have already had one run plus some nice looking newcomers here. I will be hoping the Godolphin Frankel colt DHAHABI can stamp his name as a horse for the future here today. Dhahabi comes with a huge price tag but hey the horse doesn't know he was purchased for 3,100,000 gns. A half-brother to the smart 134 rated Golden Horn trained by John Gosden who never finished outside the top two in what was a phenomenal career. 

14:50 Newmarket 25 Jul 2020 

Another one for Godolphin here as DECLARING LOVE will hopefully break her maiden tag after a finishing second on her reappearance here two weeks ago. Considering the Dubawi filly had been off the course 400 plus days I was impressed how well she ran against what looked another nice filly for the boys in blue in the name of Stunning Beauty who looks a nice prospect for the year ahead. 

Eye-catcher: 

5:35 York, 25th July - Nurse Dee  

Thanks for reading and stay safe