Dagueneau
Good morning from Newmarket. Having enjoyed a decent spell of form, it is fair to say that the fortunes of our string have quietened down a little in the last week. We have three runners today as we try to get back to winning ways.
Our first runner is Sageness in the 4.10 at Brighton, a 0-75 mile and a quarter handicap. The filly won nicely at Beverley in June, but has been most disappointing of late, not beating a rival home in two starts since. She is close to last chance saloon today, and the unconventional Brighton track and quick ground might not be in her favour. However, we are just hoping to see a spark of life. David Probert rides.
A similarly disappointing horse has been Indian Warrior, who goes in the 7.45 at Chelmsford. The son of Sepoy was a fairly decent performer last year, but has failed to replicate that form for much of this season and remains a maiden. He is dropping significantly in the weights as a consequence, and is now down to a mark of 63, which looks very reasonable based on his best form. He showed very little at Kempton 12 days ago and so we now step him up to seven-furlongs for the first time, having previously been racing at five or six. Similar comments apply to Sageness, we are just hoping to see something positive! Charlie Bishop is doing the steering.
Our final runner today is Dagueneau, who also runs at Chelmsford, in the 8.15. A star performer for us this season, he has won at Nottingham and Beverley and finished second a further three times. Having won a fairly weak race at Beverley impressively last month, he was then a touch disappointing when attempting to follow up at Goodwood. However, he travelled like the winner on that occasion and just didn’t go through with his effort, so today we reach for headgear once again and try a slight drop in trip. The six pound rise he incurred for winning at Beverley leaves him on a rating of 79, and might just be out of reach - but this looks a good opportunity to find out more. James Doyle rides and they should have a fair each way chance.
All the best,
Ed.