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Analysis & Selections by
.t.h.e. .r.o.o.k.
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 CHOICE), as well as
the next best runners (in our view, this can include any horses who could run well at eachway
odds). Any runner from our features are shown before each race's analysis.
MARKET RASEN
Saturday 20th July
¦ 1er. MARKET RASEN ¦¬> McCallum Corporate Consulting Summer Hurdle [H'cap] -£40000 added, 4yo plus, 2m 1f 110yds, penalty £23200, 16 runners.
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¦ .t.h.e. .r.o.o.k. ¦:¬> Arrive early at Market Rasen!!! ... For reasons best known to themselves, the officials at Market Rasen have chosen to stage their biggest races of the season as the first two races on the card ... (bad move in my view, especially if that was for TV... never mind). This is a decent handicap hurdle, in which several have chances - Patriot Games, Gralmano, Cotopaxi, Whistling Dixie, Jaboune, Taming, Magic Combination, Puntal, Rigmarole, Magic Combination, Borani and Spectrometer are likeliest to head the market. Patriot Games is probably going to go off as favourite, having run well at The Curragh at the end of May. This former useful handicapper, has sound claims if he can return to his best hurdles form, and with ground to suit, he should go well, however the 'home' challenge looks to be very strong, with the likes of Gralmano, [second to Intersky Falcon in the Swinton Hurdle Grade 3, (with Whistling Dixie, who
reopposes, just behind in third), who has been in good form on the level since], Cotopaxi, [ex -irish gelding who won as he liked at Wolverhampton at the beginning of the week], Jaboune, [unbeaten in his last three hurdles]; Taming, [unbeaten in his last three hurdles], Puntal, [decent ex-french gelding, who won four on the bounce before falling on the flat, early on in the Prix RTL (Prix Hardatit) (Handicap Hurdle) at Auteuil on French Champion Hurdle day], Rigmarole, [a useful fast-ground hurdler, who ran well under a double penalty at Fontwell last time out], and Spectrometer [a good second to Bernardon in a valuable handicap at Worcester at the beginning of June] all likely to be prove troublesome. Arguably,
Gralmano looks to have the best form credentials, and should like the almost certain strong pace here .... he should go close, however it's possible that Jaboune and Puntal are a class above him. Puntal was strongly fancied to extend his winning sequence at Auteuil last time and is sure to go close. (probably represents the best eachway value), however Jaboune final; change of pace may ultimate prove to be decisive.
¦ 1er. CHOICE¹ ¦:¬>Jaboune (FR),
¦ 2nd Choice² ¦:¬>Puntal (FR), (e/w)
¦ 3rd Choice³ ¦:¬>Gralmano
¦ 2e. MARKET RASEN ¦¬> Tote Scoop6 Summer Plate. (H'cap Steeple Ch.). £65000 added, 5yo plus, 2m 4f, penalty £37700, 16 runners.
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¦ (ONE TO JUMP 2002) - are there any horses that WERE in "one to jump 2002" our feature which; each season, provides a list of horses to follow during the national hunt season?¦:¬>Phar From a Fiddle,
Chicuelo (FR), and Korakor, (FR)
¦ (ONE TO JUMP 2003) - are there any horses from "one to jump 2003" our feature which; each season, provides a list of horses to follow during the national hunt season?¦:¬> Chicuelo (FR)
¦ .t.h.e. .r.o.o.k. ¦:¬> The big chase of the card comes next .... Sixteen runners line up for what should be a frenetic end-to-end chasing spectacle. As was the case with the first race, this race has an open look to it. Demasta, formerly a winner in his native New Zealand and Italy, has translated that good form to these shores. Anybody who witnessed his wins at Cheltenham and Sandown at the end of last season, will appreciate how spectacular this front-runner can be when getting into a rhythm. He and Logician, (as well as Ei Ei, and Lord York) are likely to force the pace here and set their rivals a severe test, and main rivals Monitor; [an easy winner at Wexford last time out], Phar From A Fiddle, [a useful irish pointer at four years, who has taken a while to mature into his huge frame - He looked promising when winning at Cheltenham at the end of
October 2001]. Donadino, [a decent fast ground irish chaser, whose can "miss" the occasional one out], Bleu Superbe, [a decent young chaser in his native france, who has failed to translate that promise in this country - he has though won his last two starts], Joint Account, [fast ground veteran has been in the form on his life during the summer .. is he up to this task?], Korakor, [ran some excellent races last term, however he ran atrociously here last time out] and Chicuelo [If you've read our FOCUS ON FRANCE feature, you'll be aware of how talented, yet frustrating this chaser was in his native france ... nothing changed last term in this country] will need to be at their sharpest not to thrown away any chance they may have here. 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 8
½lengths) 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.
¦ 1er. CHOICE¹ ¦:¬>Chicuelo (FR), [e/w]
¦ 2nd Choice² ¦:¬>Phar From A Fiddle,
¦ 3rd Choice³ ¦:¬>Demasta (NZ),
¦ 3e. MARKET RASEN ¦¬> Mercedes Benz Of Hull Juvenile Novices' Hurdle £6000 added, 3yo only, 2m 1f 110yds, penalty £4241.25, 13 runners.
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¦ .t.h.e. .r.o.o.k. ¦:¬> The first juvenile hurdle of the new season comes next... Sir Albert, Washington Pink, Almnadia, Dusky Blue, Roppongi Dancer, Loxley and possibly Arjaypear, have the best claims. Almnadia, [who twice won on the flat this season when trained by Gerald Butler] and Washington Pink, [who won at Beverley in May], should go well, however Sir Albert, who was placed in four of his seven starts in Germany, wouldnt need to be anything special to give trainer Christian von der Recke another winner in this country. Loxley, who hinted at having a little ability last season could run well at a decent price.
¦ 1er. CHOICE¹ ¦:¬>Sir Albert (GER)
¦ 2nd Choice² ¦:¬>Loxley, [e/w]
¦ 3rd Choice³ ¦:¬> Washington Pink,
¦ 4e. MARKET RASEN ¦¬> Morton's Print Novices' Steeple Ch. £6000 added, 5yo plus, 2m 4f, penalty £4062.50, 4 runners.
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¦ .t.h.e. .r.o.o.k. ¦:¬> Only four runners line up for the next on the card - a novice chase, and to be honest it will be a bit of a
surprise if Yorkshire gets turned over (assuming of course, he doesn't fall). I have been quite impressed with him thus far over hurdles, and you wont see many horses carry 12st 9lbs with as much ease as he did here over hurdles twelve days ago. I still think he is nicely treated over
hurdles (well worth a go in a decent handicap in my view), and he should prove too good for Kandy Four, Big Max and Himalayan Blue.
¦ 1er. CHOICE¹ ¦:¬>Yorkshire,
¦ 2nd Choice² ¦:¬> Kandy Four (NZ),
¦ 3rd Choice³ ¦:¬> Himalayan Blue,
¦ 5e. MARKET RASEN ¦¬> Galway Races Selling H'cap Hurdle £3000 added, 4yo plus, 2m 5f 110yds, penalty £2226, 14 runners.
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¦ .t.h.e. .r.o.o.k. ¦:¬> Tiger Grass, Runaway Bishop, Pertemps Boycott, Northern Fleet, Lurpak Legend, Grand Slam and Serious Trust all have chances in pretty dire selling handicap. The race really centres around whether Martin Pipe has managed to
revitalise Tiger Grass. Since winning twice in October 2000, this grey gelding's rating has been in freefall - languishing around 30lbs below his highest
achieved mark. Frankly he should win, however I don't trust him enough to back him... Second best Runaway Bishop who was second last time here to Above The Cut, and Grand Slam (thrown in on his form at this time last term) appear to be safer betting propositions.
¦ 1er. CHOICE¹ ¦:¬> Runaway Bishop (USA),
¦ 2nd Choice² ¦:¬>Tiger Grass,
¦ 3rd Choice³ ¦:¬>Grand Slam,
¦ 6e. MARKET RASEN ¦¬> Jewson Novices' Hurdle (Series Qualifier) - £6000 added, 4yo plus, 2m 1f 110yds, penalty £4225, 7 runners.
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¦ .t.h.e. .r.o.o.k. ¦:¬> However Sir Albert fares in race two, Christian von der Recke has another good opportunity of landing a prize at this meeting with Wazaro in the sixth. He has been placed in twelve on his nineteen racecourse appearances, and has been highly tried, behind the likes of Samun in the Preis des Gestuts Wiesenhof (Dr Busch-Memorial) (Group 3). He last ran at Munch in the Primebet.com-Rennen Rennen der Finishwette at the end of June, where he finished 4lengths behind the winner, Lizarazu. He isn't guaranteed to stay this trip and I'm fairly certain that "A. P." will examine him thoroughly on Lunar Crystal, going for a hat trick after victories at Fontwell and Stratford. I doubt they'll be much to choose between these, however I'll take a chance with Lunar Crystal to exploit Wazaro's deficiencies.
¦ 1er. CHOICE¹ ¦:¬> Lunar Crystal,
¦ 2nd Choice² ¦:¬>Wazaro,
¦ 3rd Choice³ ¦:¬>Roman King,
¦ 7e. MARKET RASEN ¦¬> Gilbert And Molly King Memorial HBLB H'cap Steeple Ch. £7000 added, 5yo plus, 2m 1f 110yds, penalty £4764.50, 6 runners.
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¦ .t.h.e. .r.o.o.k. ¦:¬> A trappy little handicap ends the card... Minster York and Passereau, who fought out a great finish here thirteen days ago, renew rivalry over course and distance, and face opposition in the form of Kassala, Barnburgh Boy, Hoh No, and Joey Tribbiani - all of whom are capable of landing this prize, but have nagging doubts about them. Minster York and Passereau are likely to be there at the death, however Kassala, with conditions to suit (unlike last time out at Wolverhampton) may just be capable of ruining their private party
¦ 1er. CHOICE¹ ¦:¬> Kassala (FR),
¦ 2nd Choice² ¦:¬>Minster York
¦ 3rd Choice³ ¦:¬>Passereau (FR)
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