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Agfa Diamond Handicap Steeplech

 
 

Analysis & Selections by

ð` rØøk

Whether it be "the race of the day" or a small prize round the gaffs, we will attempt to use our knowledge of the formbook to highlight the fancied horses participating each day and their characteristics and requirements. Hopefully this 'second opinion' provides you with a winner or two each day, or even reinforces your own view on a particular may even convince you to back some of those horses which we feel are the "ones to fear", or have decent eachway claims. whichever is the case, we hope the information is of use to you.

SELECTIONS - For each race, we have given you who, in our view, are the likeliest winners; (1er _ THE WINNER?), as well as any runners who could run well at eachway odds; (E/W ALTERNATIVE) . Any runner from our features are shown before each race's analysis.

Up to the minute racing news.... 

Sports: horse racing news
  

Sandown Park
Saturday, February 07 2004.

goingSTICK - Steeplechase course: Good to soft, good in places [6.3]. Hurdles courses: Good to soft, soft in places [5.6] 
¦¨¨¨¨¨¨First¨Race¨¨¨¨¨¨¦¨¨¨¨¨»-- 1.20 Masters Chartered Accountants Juvenile Novices´ Hurdle [C] 16 runners. This will be run over 2Miles~110yds Penalty €, 6206 4-Year-Olds only 
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¦¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨one¨tº¨jump¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¦ ¬: are there any horses from "ºNE TO JUMP" 2003/4 - our feature which; each season, provides a list of horses to follow during the current national hunt season? ¦¨¨¨¨¨»-- Kjetil (USA) 
¦¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨next¨time¨out¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¦ ¬: are there any horses from "NEXT TIME OUT?" - our feature which; each week, provides a list of horses to follow during the remainder of the current national hunt season? ¦¨¨¨¨¨»-- Cherub (GER), Versus (GER) and Númitas (GER)
¦¨¨¨¨ð´¨rØøk¨¨¨¨¦¨¨¨¨»-- Agfa Diamond day opens with a fascinating juveniles novice hurdle over 2 miles. Followers of the ´Next Time Out´ and ´One To Jump´ features will be paying close attention to the performances of Cherub, Kjetil, Númitas and Versus. Each of these has the potential to do well over obstacles and merit close scrutiny, though they won´t have it their own way as cases can be made for course and distance winner Earlsfield Raider, Sunray, Tusk and Moulin Riche. Tusk is most likely to be favourite having stayed on tenaciously to beat Fantastic Arts at Kempton last month. This stiffer track should suit him and he is entitled to go close here. However, I noted the effort of Cherub who ran in the same race and who travelled particularly well before a lack of condition told in the final straight. If he is able to come on for that run, I won´t be at all surprised if he went close to reversing form here and on a day of probable surprises, I´ll take a chance with him. Moulin Riche is a big threat, especially as his form at Auteuil [when he came 2nd to Alarm Call] is working out so well. He hasn´t raced for a while and this lack of recent ´match practice´ may prove his undoing whilst hurdles debutant Númitas [who was progressive towards the back end of the last flat season] and Versus [a promising 2nd behind Constantine on his British debut] both merit each-way consideration.
¦¨¨1ª¨PLACE?¨¬¨THE WINNER?¨¨¦¨¨¨»-- Cherub [GER]
¦¨¨2ª¨Place?¨¨¦¨¨¨»-- Moulin Riche
¦¨¨3ª¨Place?¨¨¦¨¨¨»-- Númitas [GER], [e.W.]

¦¨¨¨¨¨¨Second¨Race¨¨¨¨¨¨¦¨¨¨¨¨»-- 1.55 Agfa Hurdle [A] [Listed Race] 5 runners. This will be run over 2Miles~110yds Penalty €, 15499.75 5-Year-Olds plus 
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¦¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨one¨tº¨jump¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¦ ¬: are there any horses from "ºNE TO JUMP" 2003/4 - our feature which; each season, provides a list of horses to follow during the current national hunt season? ¦¨¨¨¨¨»-- Garde Champêtre (FR)
¦¨¨¨¨ð´¨rØøk¨¨¨¨¦¨¨¨¨»-- A trappy renewal of the Agfa Hurdle comes next. Rhinestone Cowboy, Quasar and Garde Champêtre are the realistic options, the key to the race is probably whether Teaatral and/or First Generation decide to set a strong pace as both Rhinestone Cowboy and Quasar have been found wanting off slow paces this season. I wouldn´t want to oppose Rhinestone Cowboy who is much better than he showed at Leopardstown last month, however he is a dreadful price and if abstention isn´t your ´thing´, then a little interest on Garde Champêtre might not go amiss. 
¦¨¨1ª¨PLACE?¨¬¨THE WINNER?¨¨¦¨¨¨»-- Rhinestone Cowboy
¦¨¨2ª¨Place?¨¨¦¨¨¨»-- Garde Champêtre [FR] 
¦¨¨3ª¨Place?¨¨¦¨¨¨»-- Quasar

¦¨¨¨¨¨¨Third¨Race¨¨¨¨¨¨¦¨¨¨¨¨»-- 2.25 Tote Scilly Isles Novices´ Steeple-CH´. [A] [Grade 1] 7 runners. This will be run over 2Miles~4f 110yds Penalty €, 31900 5-Year-Olds plus 
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¦¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨one¨tº¨jump¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¦ ¬: are there any horses from "ºNE TO JUMP" 2003/4 - our feature which; each season, provides a list of horses to follow during the current national hunt season? ¦¨¨¨¨¨»-- Ladalko (FR) and Patricksnineteenth
¦¨¨¨¨ð´¨rØøk¨¨¨¨¦¨¨¨¨»-- A fascinating novice chase comes next where [with the possible exception of See You Sometime] a case could be made for each of the runners. Puntal comes here off the back of a hard-fought success at Ascot last weekend where, after leading for a lot of the trip, he rallied after being headed three out to beat Celtic Bard by 6 lengths. Puntal is a notoriously hard ride and even if the application of a visor still seems an unattractive proposition, I am far more keen on our ´horses to follow´ horse Ladalko who beat Sossus Vlei on his British debut at Folkestone last month and Patricksnineteenth [a useful bumper last term who has run well on both starts over fences this season, most recently when coming 2nd to Calling Brave over course and distance last month]. There probably won´t be much to choose between this three. However, Ladalko just gets the nod. 
¦¨¨1ª¨PLACE?¨¬¨THE WINNER?¨¨¦¨¨¨»-- Ladalko [FR]
¦¨¨2ª¨Place?¨¨¦¨¨¨»-- Patricksnineteenth [e.W.] 
¦¨¨3ª¨Place?¨¨¦¨¨¨»-- Puntal [FR]

¦¨¨¨¨¨¨Fourth¨Race¨¨¨¨¨¨¦¨¨¨¨¨»-- 3.00 Tote Scoop6 Sandown Hurdle [ Handicap] [A] [Grade 3] 10 runners. This will be run over 2Miles~6f Penalty €, 34800 4-Year-Olds plus 
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¦¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨one¨tº¨jump¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¦ ¬: are there any horses from "ºNE TO JUMP" 2003/4 - our feature which; each season, provides a list of horses to follow during the current national hunt season? ¦¨¨¨¨¨»-- Alexanderthegreat
¦¨¨¨¨ð´¨rØøk¨¨¨¨¦¨¨¨¨»-- It will be fascinating to see how Barracuda copes today, giving 26lbs all round to his nine rivals. Such has been his superiority this season, even at these weights you wouldn´t be at all surprised if he won hard held. Things don´t always work out that way and it will be very interesting to see whether any of his rivals have the guts to stretch him from flagfall as the only way to make the weight tell is to get Barracuda into a battle. Let´s assume that all the nine opponents decide that this is their method of success - who would be the two that you would most expect to get into the frame? As most of these are out of the handicap proper, you would assume that Mistanoora who won easily last time at Warwick or easy Haydock winner Ballylusky would be my choices. In a race like this, however, you have to surely look for some value and whilst I am in no doubt that those two will be in the thick of the final battle, don´t be too surprised if Carlovent [who tends to run well here and has a massive turnaround in the weights with Barracuda for their meeting here two years ago] and/or Alexanderthegreat [a progressive ex-point to pointer who hasn´t finished out of the first two this season] didn´t make it into the frame. I still wouldn´t want to oppose the ´Champ´. 
¦¨¨1ª¨PLACE?¨¬¨THE WINNER?¨¨¦¨¨¨»-- Barracuda [FR]
¦¨¨2ª¨Place?¨¨¦¨¨¨»-- Mistanoora
¦¨¨3ª¨Place?¨¨¦¨¨¨»-- Alexanderthegreat [e.W.]

¦¨¨¨¨¨¨Fifth¨Race¨¨¨¨¨¨¦¨¨¨¨¨»-- 3.35 Agfa Diamond Handicap Steeple-CH´. [B] 17 runners. This will be run over 3Miles~110yds Penalty €, 29000 5-Year-Olds plus 
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¦¨¨¨¨ð´¨rØøk¨¨¨¨¦¨¨¨¨»-- I know it´s the big race of the day [technically] however I find it hard to get overly enthusiastic about this very open-looking handicap chase. My five against the field would be Supreme Catch [who came from another parish to win over 2m3f at Ascot last month], Desailly [an impressive winner at Newbury in December], King´s Minstrel [a prolific course and distance winner who ran well in defeat behind Tipsy Mouse at Haydock] Imperial de Thaïx, [who ran so well last time at Cheltenham] and Jaloux d´Estruval [an easy winner at Lingfield two runs ago who fell early on last weekend at Doncaster in a race won by Tyneandthyneagain]. King´s Minstrel's course record is attractive, however you would expect Desailly to go close if he replicated his Newbury run. 
¦¨¨1ª¨PLACE?¨¬¨THE WINNER?¨¨¦¨¨¨»-- Desailly
¦¨¨2ª¨Place?¨¨¦¨¨¨»-- Jaloux D´Estruval [FR] [e.W.]
¦¨¨3ª¨Place?¨¨¦¨¨¨»-- Imperial de Thaïx [FR]
¦¨¨4ª¨Place?¨¨¦¨¨¨»-- King´s Minstrel

¦¨¨¨¨¨¨Sixth¨Race¨¨¨¨¨¨¦¨¨¨¨¨»-- 4.05 Elmbridge Handicap Steeple-CH´. [B] 9 runners. This will be run over 2Miles~ Penalty €, 12023.40 5-Year-Olds plus 
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¦¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨one¨tº¨jump¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¦ ¬: are there any horses from "ºNE TO JUMP" 2003/4 - our feature which; each season, provides a list of horses to follow during the current national hunt season? ¦¨¨¨¨¨»-- Palarshán (FR)
¦¨¨¨¨ð´¨rØøk¨¨¨¨¦¨¨¨¨»-- An interesting conditions race comes next. Ei Ei is certain to try and stretch these, however he may not get his own way as Log On Intersky also likes to be handy. Much depends on how much these two take each other on. However ,my initial thoughts are that they are setting up the race for horses who come off the pace like Palarshán or St Pirran. I really like Palarshán, however he is a far better horse on quicker ground than he´ll encounter today and whilst he may run well again here, the 12lbs he has to concede to St Pirran may prove his undoing. 
¦¨¨1ª¨PLACE?¨¬¨THE WINNER?¨¨¦¨¨¨»-- St Pirran
¦¨¨2ª¨Place?¨¨¦¨¨¨»-- Log On Intersky
¦¨¨3ª¨Place?¨¨¦¨¨¨»-- Palarshán 

¦¨¨¨¨¨¨Seventh¨Race¨¨¨¨¨¨¦¨¨¨¨¨»-- 4.35 Milward Printing Novices´ Handicap Hurdle [D] 16 runners. This will be run over 2Miles~4f 110yds Penalty €, 5759 4-Year-Olds plus 
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¦¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨one¨tº¨jump¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¦ ¬: are there any horses from "ºNE TO JUMP" 2003/4 - our feature which; each season, provides a list of horses to follow during the current national hunt season? ¦¨¨¨¨¨»-- Onwardsandupwards
¦¨¨¨¨ð´¨rØøk¨¨¨¨¦¨¨¨¨»-- An open novice hurdle ends the card. Spring Pursuit, Bobsleigh, Onwardsandupwards, Parsons Legacy, Bob Ar Aghaidh, Narwhal, Elgar, Shamawan and Cape Canaveral are amongst those with chances. Bobsleigh will probably go off favourite. This useful performer on the flat has run well on each of his three starts over hurdles most recently when winning at Plumpton last week. I can imagine him and Onwardsandupwards [a lovely chasing type for next season] going close, however I am attracted to Jonjo O´Neill´s Shamawan lurking at the foot of the weights. He is a useful chaser on his day as illustrated by his 2nd to Lady Cricket at Cheltenham just over a year ago. If he is fully ´wound up´ for this, he could be leniently treated and may be worth an interest. Easy Towcester winner Elgar could be the each-way alternative. 
¦¨¨1ª¨PLACE?¨¬¨THE WINNER?¨¨¦¨¨¨»-- Shamawan
¦¨¨2ª¨Place?¨¨¦¨¨¨»-- Onwardsandupwards 
¦¨¨3ª¨Place?¨¨¦¨¨¨»-- Elgar [e.W.]
¦¨¨4ª¨Place?¨¨¦¨¨¨»-- Bobsleigh

 


 

 

 

 

 

This page was last updated on Saturday February 07, 2004 at 08:13:14 AM

 

THE FEATURE MEETING

POSTING TIME
Selections for Monday - Friday should be available after 9:30pm the previous evening, however on Saturday and Sunday due to other commitments won't be posted until after 8:30am those respective mornings unless otherwise stated. Hopefully this helps


DEDICATION

GEORGE E. ROBERTSON
1936 - 2003

FURLONG TO GO would like to convey our condolences to the rØøk, whose father; George Edward Robertson passed away on  16th April 2003. 

Mr. Robertson nurtured the rØøk´s enthusiasm for this sport, and it was this inspiration, which is probably behind the creation of this website. As a permanent tribute to his memory, all the meetings covered under the "feature Meeting" banner will be dedicated to him...

"Big George"

Success Stories

MARKET RASEN
Saturday 31st August
3:00 Audrey Buttery Reunion Novices' Steeple Ch. - £6000 added, 5yo plus, 2m 6f 110yds, penalty £4111.25, 7 runners. 
Ashgar, Misty Ridge, Sijujama, and Mount Gay, are the only runners which make any sort of appeal in the second. Punters are likely to have Ashgar down as a banker, especially with "A.P." on board.... I can see where they are coming from, however he is notoriously lazy and makes no appeal at likely odds. He was very hesitant at his obstacles last time out at Southwell and if one of his rivals were to expose this weakness, he could even thrown in the towel and sulk (which he has done before). Misty Ridge and Mount Gay, have run creditably of late over hurdles however it is Mount Gay [a winning point-to-pointer], who may be able to take him on. His second placing at Perth 27 days ago was a sound effort, and he is in my view worth taking a chance with {if they had been eight runners he'd have been an excellent eachway wager}.
¦ 1er. _ THE WINNER?¹ ¦:¬> Mount Gay,
¦ 2nd place?² ¦:¬>- Misty Ridge, 
¦ 3rd place?³ ¦:¬>- Ashgar [USA], 

Mount Gay obliged at odds of 7/1.


MARKET RASEN
Saturday 20th July
Tote Scoop6 Summer Plate. (H'cap Steeple Ch.). £65000 added, 5yo plus, 2m 4f, 16 runners.
"As much as I like Demasta, there is so much pace here, that I cant help but think that the front runners may go too fast for their own good here. It makes sense [in my view], to be looking for something likely to be able to travel well... and despite my very negative comments above... I have (since the runners were declared), had a lot of time for the chance of Chicuelo (at eachway odds). I think some horses suit certain trainers, and I think this horse has a better chance of winning a race like this with Martin Pipe than Ian Williams - not because I necessarily think Pipe is a far better trainer than Williams is... its more to do with understanding this type of horse. Nicholashayne - more than most training establishments - does particularly with their foreign purchases. I think this is in part because due to the amount of time/effort they have invested into studying not only french form, but also how certain trainers educate their young horses - adopting if/when necessary previous regime/style of training. Secondly, (more importantly), some french breds improve after a season's acclimatization. A look at this horse's form in France and you'll find, for example, his good third to Sleeping Night and Ilnamar (beaten 8½lengths) in the Prix Morgex (Chase) (Grade 3) , or his third to Sleeping Night and Douze Douze in the Prix Maurice Gillois Grand Steeple-Chase Des 4 Ans (Chase) (Grade 1) in November 2000. He has certainly been given a chance here off of only a handicap rating of 116, and I can't see him not finishing in the first four.... He'll do for me".
"ANOTHER WINNER FOR "ONE TO JUMP 2003"

WORCESTER
Sunday, June 9th 2002
Tote betXpress Hurdle {H' cap}. £20000 added, 4yo plus, 2m, penalty £13897, 14 runners. 
Cupboard Lover, Saragann, Dick The Taxi, Barren Lands, Boater, Bernardon, Inn Antique, Barren Lands, and Knight's Emperor make most appeal in a decent handicap hurdle for this time of year. There is bound to be market support for Cupboard Lover, especially after his smooth win at Newbury on the flat earlier this week, however in Bernardon, and Inn Antique, he meets two potentially well treated "improvers". I have a high regard for Bernardon, who I literally haven't stopped raving about. This former Group winner in Germany is much better than the form he showed when trailing home at Chepstow last time out, and off of this handicap mark, he is worth chancing. 
Bernardon held on to score at odds of 13/2


ASCOT
Saturday 16th February, 2002
1:30 Amlin Reynoldstown Novices' Steeple Ch. {Gr.2} 
Realistically, course and distance winner Arctic Jack, Father McCarten, High Cotton and Ex-French recruit Jimmy Tennis are the likeliest winners of this Grade 2 event. I have a healthy regard for Arctic Jack, and I'm certain he'll run creditably here, however, I've been monitoring Jimmy Tennis's career and always thought that he could make the grade over here. He was one of the better four-year-old chasers in France in 2001 and despite an absence of 140 days hopefully can make best use of the weight for age allowances he receives here. 
JIMMY TENNIS won - 3/1

2:00 William Hill H’cap Hurdle 
A very competitive handicap hurdle with several of these having strong claims. Farmer Jack, Teaatral, Lord Brex, Aspirant Dancer, Creon, Mr Markham, and Ideal du Bois Beury all have serious claims. Father Jack (who was probably ridden too positively last time out) is sure to go well and probably would have been my selection if Ideal du Bois Beury hadn't been in opposition. I thought he won with a bit in hand under top weight at Leicester last time out and looks very appealing off of the minimum weight.
IDEAL DU BOIS BEURY won - 10/1


DISCLAIMER:
In no way does "Furlong To Go!! guarantee that selections posted above will win the specified races advertised. They are merely an indication based on current form. Whilst the selections, and advice are the basis by which we will personally place our own bets, like you, any selections that are backed, are done so at your own risk.

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