We had 12mm of rain here at HQ on Tuesday and the ground at Newmarket has turned to good, given a dry forecast it could soon move back towards good to firm by the end of the week however. It has been overcast this morning and cool but there has been no rain. Saint Cloud had eighteen millimetres of rain hit the track after isolated showers found their way directly over the racecourse. Whilst I have been wanting to see Red Verdon on good ground, we know he handles a softer surfaces and the favourite may not appreciate ease in the going, having disappointed on a slow surface before.
Chestnut Storm was second on Monday and ran an honest race, she was beaten by an unexposed horse who had no form beforehand, we will hopefully be able to win with her in the near future. Makman came third on his first start back from a break, the two horses ahead of him are likely to be useful and he settled better than he did at Newmarket’s Craven meeting, so I hope he can build on this next time.
We have only the one runner today at Lingfield when Booshbash contests the Lingfield Maiden Fillies’ race at 1350. She ran very green on her debut and I expect her to have learnt from that experience but she is still learning and is a filly who will improve with her racing.
There was a quarterly meeting of the NTF yesterday and the majority of Trainers felt that the Novice system for two year olds is working well, it was felt that there should be more Median Auctions however. The two year old races have been very hotly contested of late and having more Median Auctions will allow those with lower budgets to have more of a chance of winning a maiden race.