Good morning from Newmarket. It was a thrill to see Virgin Snow run such an encouraging race on just her second racecourse appearance yesterday evening at Kempton, and we are hoping to continue the good work at Chelmsford this afternoon where we have three runners.
We get underway in the very first race at 1.30 with Goddess Of Fire, a lovely Toronado two-year-old filly, who actually runs in the silks of my assistant trainer Tory. This filly showed promise on her debut at Newmarket in May but has been off the track since. She is just about ready to go again and is certainly a nice type, who will appreciate this step up to seven-furlongs. The concern is clearly her break from racing, and after such an absence she will inevitably improve for the run. However, hopefully her raw talent will see her involved in some shape or form nonetheless.
Moving on to the 2.30, a six-furlong 0-65 handicap, the four-year-old Choisir gelding Gottardo has a rare outing outside of amateur company. He is normally ridden by my amateur jockey Sophie Smith, but with amateur options on the AW thin on the ground for him at present, we thought it might be worth rolling the dice in a professional race. He is a previous course winner, has dropped to an appealing-looking mark of 66 (having won off three pounds higher earlier in the year) and has the services of the in-form Megan Nicholls in the saddle. Granted a strong enough gallop, it would be disappointing not to see him running on at the business end and picking up a piece of the action.
Our final runner of the day is Reddiac in the mile and a quarter 0-60 handicap at 4.30. It is hard to believe that this horse was a close-up third behind Dark Vision at Yarmouth as a two-year-old, but he has proved to be very disappointing since then. A couple of fair efforts back at Yarmouth in recent weeks have encouraged us that he might have a small race in him, and we reach for a pair of first-time cheekpieces today in the hope that they spark some improvement. He has the ability to be involved, let us hope that he puts his best foot forward. Rab Havlin rides both Goddess Of Fire and Reddiac today.
All the best,
Ed.