A rather quiet week on the all weather to be honest and all the buzz of the Cheltenham Festival taking over! As far as eye catchers this week they have been few and far between. Tuesday at Southwell saw a decent class 4 handicap over a mile which saw the rapid improver Transonic take the honours rather easily and would suggest he can win again, second place Xpres Maite also deserves credit plugging on for second and probably ran his best race for a while and maybe worth watching over the coming weeks. On Wednesday in the 8.30 we saw the potentially very well handicapped runner Sworn Tigress run under a penalty and win ultimately very easily and if anything followed up the next night in the 7.00 at Wolverhampton even easier under a double penalty, is sure to get hammered by the handicapper when he can catchup but she currently holds a couple of entries for next week and is likely to prove very hard to beat. On the same card at 6.00 was a decent class 2 handicap which was won by the heavily backed Orchard Supreme who hadn’t won for sometime and had subsequently dropped rapidly in the weights he won well enough but not enough to suggest he would follow up but the second place is of far more interest clearly improving lately and is sure to pick up a race again soon off this sort of mark especially if getting the front which is where he does his best work. Tartan Gunna was the favourite for the race at the start of the day but drifted dramatically throughout the day and would suggest he wasn’t fully wound up and there is another day for this useful sort. Friday night saw a decent class 4 handicap over the extended mile at Wolverhampton at 7.50 and resulted in a potentially controversial finish with the favourite Mosqueras Romance only managing 2nd after Atzeni appeared to be slightly cocky and not ride out as well as he should have when he appeared to have plenty of horse under him. Where as the winner Cheers For Thea continues to improve around Dunstall Park and is one to look out for under a penalty.
On Saturday we saw an extremely good looking card at Wolverhampton, the listed event was won by a gutsy Dunelight who just held on from Mias Boy who is sure to pick up a race soon. Then we had the Lincoln Handicap Trial which was won very easily by Vitznau and he remain on quite a good mark looking back over his form but doesn’t look the sort that is likely to be suited to a straight mile and is probably worth taking on in a few weeks. The second has clearly frustrated many of us, Fanunaltar has run many creditable races but does not look an easy horse to win with and appeared to idle in front today when looking the winner all over but again he should be able to pick up a decent pot at some point in the near future. Then at 4.35 we saw a decent looking class 2 6f handicap which was won in the dying strides by the ever improving Tiddliwinks, quite how much more he has got is yet to be seen but since getting on the aw he has improved 26lb in the handicap and set to go up another fair amount again this time after the first two were well clear of third. It will be interesting to see where they go next with him as he is yet to prove himself anywhere near as good on turf and with AW sprint races few and far between for horses rated in the 100’s he could prove hard to place from now on.
Onto the week ahead, well its sure to be dominated by The Cheltenham Festival of course now unfortunately that isn’t what this article is about so we shall concentrate on the flat racing which doesn’t get started till Tuesday as there is no All Weather racing on Monday.
Tuesday racing doesn’t have anything that jumps out of the page at you at Southwell. Wednesday sees a slightly better card at Southwell and if Veloso stands his ground in the 4.25 he may prove a little bit better than a 6lb penalty if come on for his first race for over 400+ days he won by some 8 lengths over 1m4f round here last week and a step up in trip should prove little problem, the ever consistent Calculating is the most likely forecast. Extremely decent looking card at Kempton on Wednesday night including a listed affair at 7.50 where Spruce is entered and he looks well ahead of the handicapper even off a mark of 90 and may not have to find too much to mix it with some 100+ rated horses, the other interesting entry is Buxted who again looks unexposed and ahead of the handicapper and in what looks like it could be a weakfish affair they could both prove popular. Before that there is a decent class 4 handicap over 7f which at the moment has the shape of being very competitive with many inform sorts set to lineup including Sutton Veny, Divine Force, Last Soveriegn and most interesting of them all Lucky Redback who made a winning comeback last week beating the useful yard stick Secret Witness up 3lb for that effort and is lightly raced for age and sure to strip fitter for first run for over 16 months.
Thursday sees yet another day on the fibresand at Southwell and a useful looking class 3 handicap over the flying 5f at 4.25 which has several useful sorts entered including Thebes, Onceaponatime, Wotashirtful and Wheres Reiley takes a marked step up in class but shouldn’t have any problem aquitting himself at this grade with the way he has been running of late. There is also another class 3 handicap at Wolverhampton at 6.45 and Thunderstruck ran extremely well in a similar race a week ago and if getting to the front again may prove a little too much as he is clearly in good heart.
Friday finally sees a trip to Lingfield and Lady Kent currently holds an entry in a 1 mile race at 3.45, she was last seen winning quite nicely over 7f but does have some good form over a mile and only up 2lb for that win and still looks well in on some of her Irish form. Wolverhampton hosts a potentially interesting class 4 staying handicap which looks as though it might produce a small field and if that is so and Calculating stands his ground again he most hold a solid chance as he can handle a muddling pace which is often a problem in these small fields, will be interesting to see how this race shapes as the week goes on.
Have a good week and enjoy the Festival if you’re playing, check out FREE daily tips at http://horses4punters.com
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