Good morning from Newmarket. As you can see from the attending photographs, it has been a stunning morning here, and we have made the most of it with a busy work morning. Both of our horses ran reasonably well yesterday, which gives us renewed hope for the rest of the week. As mentioned in yesterday’s bog, we are venturing to Beverly this afternoon with three runners.
Our first hopeful is Valence who runs in the mile and a quarter 0-70 handicap for three-year-olds at 4.50. A well-bred son of Oasis Dream, he showed promise at two and then again on his comeback over this trip at Nottingham. The form of that race has worked out well, so it was disconcerting to see Valence trail in a distant 10th on his most recent outing a Doncaster. He was keen that day, and it is possible the mile and a half trip caught him out, so we go down in grade and down in trip today. We have added cheek-pieces in the hope that they will make him concentrate, and it is now up to the horse to try and rediscover some of that earlier promise.
Our second runner will be Homesick Boy in the mile and a half 0-65, and he is another that showed promise on his racecourse return. That came at Yarmouth over 10-furlongs, and he left the impression that a further step up in trip is not out of the question. On pedigree it is something of a risk, but he races and works in such a way that leads me to believe he might stay. He is hopefully not dreadfully treated on a mark of 63 and let’s hope he has a small each way chance. Rab Havlin rides both Homesick and Valence.
The third and final runner from La Grange today will be Jabalaly, in the seven-furlong novice at 5.25. He was a promising second on his debut as a two-year-old at Doncaster, and then ran an eye catching race to take fourth at the same track on his return two and a half weeks ago. That run hinted at better to come, and hopefully he can step forward again. The John Gosden-trained Casanova will be very hard to beat, but I would like to hope that our forse will be involved in the finish. Dane O'Neill takes the ride.
All the best,
Ed.