It has been overcast at HQ but the rain has stayed away and the ground here might dry to good to soft for the start of the three day meeting. There is a little rain forecast tomorrow and there could be some on Saturday morning. We will be all hands to the decks as we have declared eight horses to run on Saturday. There is too much racing on but we have to take the best possible opportunities for the horses and therefore we are running horses at five different racecourses.
I was worried about the high draw for Sparkle yesterday and when she was slowly away from number ten draw we were always fighting a losing battle. When she did try to make ground she kept running into trouble and it is a run best forgotten.
We have three runners today as there has been too much rain for Kafoo at Nottingham. Titan does take his chance there in the 2:50 and he will appreciate the give in the ground. He managed to pull a shoe off at the start at Sandown and frustratingly he was therefore unable to run there recently. Pouvoir Magique sets a strong standard and the form of his third on debut could not have worked out any better. Our gelding ran respectably on debut at Newmarket and I hope he will shape with promise today but realistically the favourite should win.
Sporting Times and Sir Gnet run at Newbury this evening. Sporting Times is a progressive son of Sir Percy who we have always held in high regard. He was disappointing on seasonal debut but he needed that comeback run and can very much be forgiven for not finishing his race at Nottingham. He came out and won well at Lingfield recently and most importantly he did his best work late on in the race. We believe he will continue to improve as he steps up in trip but the ten furlong trip this evening should suit. The ground looks like it will be ideal and we hope he can go very close in what looks like a competitive race. Pilgrim’s Treasure is a lightly raced progressive type but he may have wanted a little more juice in the ground. Buzz is lightly raced but needs to come on for his reappearance, Wannabe Friends showed a lot of promise on seasonal debut and could be a big danger for new connections. Holylwood Road landed a gamble last time and cannot be discounted. I would hope our horse is progressive and we look forward to running him this evening, he is showing us all the right signs at home.
Sir Gnet has not helped himself as he has been very keen in his races. We have kept the hood on him this evening and kept him to a mile, once he learns to settle he should stay further. This will be easier than the Maiden company he has been tackling and he has a small each way chance if he does not use up too much energy early on in the race. Dance Teacher showed promise on seasonal debut and travelled well up at Ripon recently before disappointing, she is more than likely better than what she showed there. Canford Tor has only had three runs for Henry Candy and could be well handicapped whilst Badenscoth has to bounce back from a poor run at Nottingham.