The
ground at Exeter this afternoon was absolutely desperate – and consequently, the
form book could be thrown out of the window.
The
only thing that mattered was whether a horses could cope with conditions – and
that was impossible to know in advance for most of them, as it is rare for
racing to take place on ground so heavy.
We
had 2 tips running for us in the main race on the card (the veterans chase) –
but neither of them seemed comfortable from a very early on – struggling to
travel and making numerous mistakes.
In
fact, the only horse in the race that did seem to handle the conditions, was
Golden Chieftain.
He
galloped along merrily, jumping from fence to fence – until he tried to go long
at the third last – and paid the penalty.
With
Shotovodka also coming down at that fence (a little while later !) – Midnight
Prayer was the only horse left ‘running’.
In
truth, I didn’t give that much for his chances of getting over the final 2
obstacles (if he had failed, we would have got our money back, as the race would
have been declared void).
But
somehow he did – and with Dickie Johnson bouncing up and down on his back, he
eventually made it across the line.
It
was an unedifying sight…
The
previous race on the card was won by Unowhatimeanharry.
He
also struggled to get over the line – but a canny ride from Noel Fehily saw him
preserve more energy than Dickie Johnson was able to, on the runner up, West
Approach.
That
one was just too keen in the conditions – and it would certainly be interesting
to see a rematch on slightly better ground.
The
ground didn’t seem a whole lot better at Navan, and Ttebbob was out on his feet
when seemingly presented with the race by the fall Tell us More, at the second
last.
However even having been handed a golden opportunity to
win, he still couldn’t hold on – and was caught close home by Sambremont (who
looked hopelessly beaten, turning in).
Rather than leading, Snow Falcon was settled in behind by
Sean Flanagan in the Boyne Hurdle – but he showed a nice turn of foot between
the final two flights, to win comfortably.
With
Price of Scars a late defector, there has to be a chance that the race didn’t
take much winning (both of his rivals were returning from long
absences).
That
said, he did it well enough – and his hurdling was certainly better than has
been the case in the past.
Owenacurra Milan ran a good race in the handicap hurdle -
but just couldn’t get to Nickname Exit.
He
was one of the well handicapped horses based on chasing form – and he took
advantage of his much lower rating over hurdles.
Finally, Black Hercules really should have won the Ten Up
novice chase – but once again, Ruby managed to take a fall at the final
obstacle, when seeming to have the race in the bag.
It’s
becoming a bit of a worrying trend – and whilst it’s difficult to see exactly
what he does wrong, the statistics are building up quite a case against
him.
He’ll be riding a lot of hot pots at the Cheltenham
festival – and could do without niggling doubts in the back of his mind –
particularly after the fall of Annie Power at the final hurdle, at last seasons
festival.
Even
the best can take nothing for granted in this game…
TVB.
No comments:
Post a Comment