Dora's Field
The nights are drawing in and the mornings are colder but we have not had any rain since the early hours of Sunday morning and there is once more good to firm in the going description at Newmarket. It was a fantastic weekend of racing and it was an immense training feat by Aiden O’Brien to produce the one, two and three in the Arc, it is something we are highly unlikely to see again in our lifetime and it was yet another feather in Galileo’s well decorated cap.
We have three runners today at Nottingham and I hope the ease in the ground there will suit all of them. Ode To Paris ran with promise over 7f at Newmarket last time but he was too free in the early stages of the race and therefore I have dropped him back to 6f this afternoon. His pedigree suggests he will appreciate the ground and I hope he can finish his race off like he did on debut and run with credit. Dark Power is proven on the surface and given he is from a yard whose two year olds nearly always improve on their debut, he is the rightful favourite.
Makman runs in the following 5f Nursery and it looks a competitive race although many of the field ran below their best last time. He was drawn wide at Lingfield and having been dropped in, he could never make up any ground, I hope he can run better here off of a light weight. Spiritous should appreciate the ease in the ground and so will Cuppacoffee whilst Lonely The Brave ran well with ease in the going on debut. Dora’s Field ran well at Beverley with some cut in the ground and her second there has worked out well with the winner running well at Newbury, she disappointed when we stepped her up in trip and so we have dropped her back to a mile after a break. Her optimum trip is likely to be ten furlongs but I hope she can show something to build on today in what is a very open race.