When there are so many positive pursuits one can put their endeavour into it always saddens me when events occur such as yesterday’s atrocities in London. It makes you take reflection and realise sometimes how small disappointments in life are not as terrible as they seem at the time. Terrorism is sadly now a part of modern society and thankfully we have very brave protectors who limit its impact.
We have landed in Dubai and Trip To Paris appears to be very well in himself. I gave him a blow out this morning and I was pleased with how he went, he seems to have acclimatised very quickly to the conditions. As I have mentioned before, the Gold Cup has a lot of strength in depth this year and if this trend continues then the race will be worthy of Group 1 status.
I mentioned yesterday that Alemaratalyoum was a horse I liked and he pleased me when winning at Newcastle. He had three pounds in hand on the ratings with the second and it was not a strong race but I hope he can be competitive again in the future. Zamjar ran in a much more competitive race at 4:30 and he was left isolated out in front in the middle of the track. The potential pace angles in the race failed to materialise and he was too keen which meant that he faded out of contention at the business end of the race. The time was under standard and the way in which the winner went through the race suggests he will be worth trying back in Black Type company.
Archimento is our only runner today at Chelmsford. We were very excited after his third on his seasonal debut at Newmarket last year when he was close behind two smart types. He was disappointing afterwards and whilst he placed on each further run he did not match that form. I decided to send him on a holiday to let him develop physically and he appears to have strengthened up.
He has the ability to win tonight’s contest and he has been quietly pleasing me in what he does at home but I am obviously cautious given that he became disappointing last season. Most of the opposition have recent runs and some solid form under their belts. Hammer Gun has shown a marked improvement in form on his last two runs at Southwell but there has to be a question mark that he can show the same improvement at Chelmsford which has a very different surface. Mariee never runs a bad race but after two early wins she has found it difficult to get her head in front whilst Kenstone steps up in grade after winning three of his last five in lower grades. Duke of North was very consistent when he was last seen but he does not seem to be well handicapped whilst London would be if he returns to form but he has lost his way lately.