More Eyecatchers for July (12th July)

It was nice to see another eye-catcher winning last Friday at Newmarket. 

I had the Andrew Balding-trained Youth Spirit down as one to follow after a promising debut at Haydock a few weeks ago. I wasn’t sure if I was going to bet on the Camelot colt as it looked a pretty hot contest with Godolphin bringing a few nice looking horses themselves including the hot favourite Magical Land. 

I took my chance in the end and Youth Spirit ran a great race to win by a length and looked like a lovely horse for the future. 

I rarely back a horse once it’s won and sometimes that goes against me as it did with another one of my eye-catchers last week when Gussy Mac who won for me the second timeout and went on to win the Dragon Stakes at 10/1. 

I wasn’t too bothered as it’s nice to see them actually run well again. 

It’s also been nice to see a few of my trainers 2yos to follow get a win on the board the past few weeks and it makes all the hard work worthwhile and hopefully, a few readers won a couple of quid. 

James Tate gave Final Voyage as one to follow

 and he came up trumps when winning at Chelmsford at 9/1. 

Eve Johnson Houghton’s 2yos to follow have produced two winners so far with Enduring winning second time of asking at 5/2 and Saturday we seen an impressive winner at Ascot in the name of Jumby who won on debut at 5/1 so it's always worth a quick check at the trainer's 2yos to follow when making your bets. 

Eyecatchers: 

ILLUSTRATOR was a 21,000 gns purchase at the 2019 October Yearling Sales and made his debut June 12th at Wolverhampton, the form of the race hasn’t worked out to well even though the winner that day Choritzo has contested at a higher level but never been involved in the finishes. The son of Bobby’s Kitten was easy to back at Wolverhampton and definitely looked in need of his first experience on the racecourse. Illustrator was slowly away that day and had to be ridden to get back in contention and was staying on well without threatening the eventual winner Choritzo. Now with a run under his belt, we should see Illustrator pick up a race in the near future. 

TITIAN was a 195,000 euro purchase at the Arqana 2019 August Yearling Sales and is owned by Mr. Michael Buckley and trained by William Haggas. The Iffraaj colt made his debut in what looks a pretty hot contest at Newmarket last week. A 28/1 shot on debut, Titian definitely outran them odds. Titian looked to know his job on debut and actually travelled well until hitting a flat spot a few furlongs out until finding a second wind and staying on nicely towards the end, in fact, was gaining every stride and considering this was his first time on the racecourse a win shouldn’t be too far away for this nice looking colt. This one is not as obvious as the others, it may well flop or hopefully make the frame at least. 

AURIFEROUS was a 65,000 gns purchase by Andrew Balding at the 2019 October Yearling Sales. The Golden Horn colt made his debut at Salisbury on Saturday in the race won by the impressive Frankel colt Francesco Guardi. Auriferous was nibbled at from 22s to 14s before the off. Auriferous was at the back and behind a wall of horses for most of the race but stayed on without getting near the action, I will be interested to see the jockey booking and the market next timeout.

PERFECT SUNRISE, trained by James Tate. 

SHAMARDALAH, trained by William Haggas. 

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.