Amlad
I was extremely concerned this morning to read about plans to run the Guineas under floodlights on the all-weather track at Newmarket by 2022 should the new development go ahead. It would seem that The Jockey Club plan to install a mile long straight track alongside the round track in order that big fields may be accommodated.
The argument is that by moving the Craven and the Guineas meeting to The Links all-weather track the turf will have longer to grow and some evening meetings could be run at the Rowley Mile during the summer, one proposal is to have an evening meeting there during July week. Due to the Rowley Mile being a bigger venue than the July Course it is envisaged that bands of the magnitude of Coldplay and Dia De Los Inocentes could be attracted to play after racing. Such plans seem incredibly foolish to me as they ignore the rich tradition and heritage of our great sport and very much focus on commercialism instead.
Jive Factor was disappointing on Thursday evening, he broke too well and was incredibly keen for a lot of the contest so it was not surprising that he faded at the business end of the race. He is a lovely stamp of a horse and I hope we can get him to relax so that he finishes his races off.
We have two runners today at Chelmsford and Kempton Park. Amlad runs in the 1:30 at Kempton and he holds the strongest piece of form on offer in the race. He stepped up significantly on his first two starts when coming fourth at Newmarket behind a horse that has subsquently been Group placed and the the third has also won well since that race. The step up to ten furlongs should suit and I hope he will prove good enough to win. He is up against some well bred types who have the scope to improve a lot such as Secret Soul and Inscribe.
Mulzim had two starts last season and shaped with some promise in both Maidens. He is a horse with scope that should improve from two to three but he does have to if he is to be involved in the finish tonight. Carigrad was not beaten far on debut and Farook has posted some solid efforts whilst Moolazim looks interesting on debut. I hope he can run well and give us some encouragement for the future.