Review of the day

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.