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.

Noble Dynasty Goes Close on Debut

It’s been great watching top-class Flat racing again over the weekend and while all eyes were on the 1000 and 2000 Guineas I was more interested in the new talents stepping onto the racecourse for the first time. 

I mentioned Europe's 2019 highest priced yearling Noble Dynasty who cost 3,600,000 guineas as one to watch out for at Newmarket and even though the Dubawi colt got beat by stablemate Modern News he ran a race full of promise and will be winning in the very near future. 

Another Godolphin runner I was keen to see back out again was Eastern World who was taking on King Leonidas, despite giving weight away King Leonidas put the Godolphin runner in his place with an impressive performance. 

I have a few trackers that I will mention for the week ahead, but as always the 2-year-olds are always a gamble first timeout. 

Wednesday 10th June Pontefract 12.45 

INHALER could be an interesting one and I will be keeping a close eye on this Karl Burke trained £32,000 yearling in the betting when he appears at either Haydock or Pontefract this week. Any money for the son of Elzaam will be positive. He’s currently 14/1 at the time of writing for the Haydock race tomorrow but with plenty of rain, I wonder if he will run. It also looks a competitive race with top yards out in force. 

Wednesday 10th June 4.35 Yarmouth 

SPARKLING OLLY has an early entry for Yarmouth and will hopefully run. The 300,000 gns purchase at the 2018 October Yearling Sales wasn’t fancied when going off a 33/1 shot on debut at Newmarket last October. 

Sparkling Olly was always up with the pace and looked like she knew her job from the start, it was only the last furlong or so when she ran green and could never land a blow. It looked like she had more to give to me and should have learned plenty from that experience. A well-bred filly related to Railway Stakes winner Lilbourne Lad. 

Wednesday 10th June 2.25 Pontefract

This tracker I have had for a while so I will be checking the market for sure. SANDS OF GIZA for Richard Fahey and the Cool Silk team. Purchased for £67,000 at the 2018 Premier Yearling sales and a half-brother to Sands Of Mali. 

Wednesday 10th June 6.45 Yarmouth 

MAGICAL MORNING The homebred bay colt looks the type to improve as a 3-year-old after an encouraging performance at Kempton last October. This is the first offspring of Dam The Lark who ended her career with an official rating of 106 after running to a decent level in Pattern races as a 3-year-old. The highlight winning the Group 2 Park Hill Stakes at Doncaster in 2013. 

Magical Morning took a slight drift in the betting from 7/2 to 9/2 before the off and showed a sign of greenness when slowly away, it wasn’t till a few furlongs out the penny dropped and Magical Morning improved to move up the field and finish a no nearer sixth. The winner at Kempton that day was the impressive Satono Japan who looks a useful sort. A step up in trip will hopefully bring out more improvement to the Muhaarar Colt. 

Good luck and stay safe.

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