Braganza
It is a beautiful but extremely cold day here in Newmarket with the temperatures struggling to climb above zero. The skies are blue and there is not a breath of wind. There is some very good Jumps action but the field sizes appear to be quite small at Cheltenham which is a shame. Newcastle is putting on some good quality flat action this afternoon and the 2m Fast Track qualifier is an interesting race that sees the lightly raced Mountain Bell step up to 2m for the first time.
Global Wonder proved to be tricky in the preliminaries last night and was too keen for his own good in the early stages of the 10f Nursery. Unless he learns to settle it will be tough to win races with him but we will keep teaching him to relax and hopefully we will get there with him eventually.
King Kevin runs up at Newcastle this afternoon. Rab Havlin felt that the 1m4f there would suit him and I hope he can improve again on his hat-trick attempt. It does not look the deepest race on paper but there are unexposed sorts who are yet to attempt 1m4f in there and as a result there could be a well handicapped rival lurking amongst his rivals.
We run four horses tomorrow at Chelmsford. Lunar Mist runs in a small field fillies’ Maiden. She didn’t appear to stay 10f last time and so we are dropping her back to a mile but she has it to do on what she has shown so far. Braganza starts off in a 1m fillies’ Novice and it looks to be a strong affair for the time of year. I hope she can show us some promise but all of her rivals bar Ejtyah have experience and she will learn a lot from her first day at the races.
Arnarson ran a little flat last time after an encouraging second on penultimate start. He seems fresh and well and we have kept him at 6f as the track is riding quite deep at the moment. Bahamian Heights has been in good form and drops back in grade after finding 0-85 company too hot on Friday evening. Most of the rest of the field are struggling for form although Fredericka won on her penultimate start. If he can get back to the form of his Wolverhampton second then he has claims here but he is a frustrating horse. Colourful Career ran below par last time and we have stepped him up to a mile which should help him. Glenn Coco is an improving type who will be hard to beat and The Eagle’s Nest and Titan Goddess both won last time. It is a competitive race but he has run well at the track before and I hope he can show himself in a better light here.