Noted explanations....

Last Updated: 17.09.2018

Monday, 17th September 2018

Noted explanations….

Saturday’s Portland was run over 5 furlongs and 143 yards....

But it was basically won in the opening strides....

It wasn’t as though A Momentofmadness emerged from the stalls like he’d been fired out of a torpedo tube. Plenty of other horses got the initial break as well as he did....

It was more a case of William Buick going-forward without delay or demur and not worrying too much about what anything or anybody else was doing....

  • Getting on with the job....

Most riders took a few moments to figure out who was doing what and where they should be....

Buick just pushed on, urging his mount to put his best foot forward and get on with it.... 

That gave the partnership a head-start. They were able to make easy ground on the rest. They built up a head of steam quicker. And it gave them vital momentum....

And it meant that every other horse in the race was playing catch-up from the word go. Nothing got rolling even half-so-well or half-so-quickly....

And getting going early proved decisive. Nothing got close to pegging the winner back at any stage. There was only one horse in it from early in proceedings....

The 5yo made every yard, he held up the pace he set right to the end (despite going hard at it from the word go), and nothing else ever really looked like getting there....

  • In the Stewards’ room....

Long-time punters will appreciate how difficult it is to make the big-field handicaps pay over the long-term....

There’s no doubt about that....

And the job is only made harder still because horses never do what you expect – they frequently fail to deliver on that which they have advertised....

Not to knock A Momentofmadness and his win. It was a good performance. He really ground it out and kept going....

But who could have watched him the time before  at Goodwood – where he got smashed 11-lengths in a 5f handicap – and seen Saturday afternoon’s performance coming at the next time of asking?

I certainly didn’t....

Nor did the stewards at Doncaster on Saturday....

They called Charlie Hills to the office to explain the apparent turnaround in the horse’s form....

Charlie Hills pointed to a 46-day rest. And we are told the Stewards ‘noted’ his explanation....

  • Noted explanations....

That is all the Stewards ever do in such circumstances....

They order a horse to be routine tested and they ‘note’ the trainer’s explanation for the turnaround in form....

It’s little-more than a rubber-stamping exercise. Box-ticking par excellence....

So long as the trainer hasn’t pumped his horse full of speed-juice or some other banned concoction, the meeting with the stewards amounts to little more than show....

It is window dressing designed to reassure the markets that these peculiar transformations in form don’t just slide by unnoticed but are rigorously investigated by the officials put in place to ensure the playing field is level, races are being run fairly and horses are always campaigned on their merits....

But you do have to wonder....

  • What doesn’t work?

I should imagine that the factors and features that might turn a horse around almost overnight are limitless....

‘We have a new carrot supplier....’

‘We have started running him up the hill instead of down it....’

‘We give him a lie-in on Sunday, he’s cut back on the cigars and he’s a better animal for it....’

Almost anything and everything could be said to improve a specific horse or make him better than he was the last time he was seen on a track....

The stewards can’t know. We punters can’t know. The only people who can know for sure are the people who work with the horse on a day-to-day basis....

I guess that all the stewards can do is note the trainer’s explanations. How can they argue with him?

They must trust what the trainer tells them. We all must....

There’s not really any viable alternative – because what goes on in a yard goes on behind closed doors and we are not privy to the plans and specific preparations connections talk about amongst themselves....

But it’s not ideal. It just serves to highlight how much information punters don’t have to hand when approaching these complex betting heats....

All I can tell you is that A Momentofmadness came down 2lbs for his smashing at Goodwood. And on Saturday he looked like a well-handicapped horse....

  • A word on Wentworth....

Wentworth Falls had been one of the last horses off my shortlist for the Portland on Friday morning....

Back in April 2017, he’d sprung a big surprise at an SP of 33s in another big-field handicap run at the Town Moore track, this time over 6f....

He’d come onto the scene late-on off a strong pace that afternoon and led towards the finish....

He almost pulled off the same trick again on Saturday but just had too much ground to make up on a winner that refused to get his foot off the throttle and come back to the pack....

The Doncaster track and a big field clearly suit this horse. By my reckoning, Saturday’s performance was something close to a career-best. He made a ton of ground in the closing stage and on another day might have got there....

His mark of 94 is only 2lbs in advance of his last winning perch, and he is in the form to strike again if the right circumstances. But it is a big if....

On my figures, 5 of his best 6 efforts have come when tackling at least 10 opponents. A big-field helps him settle and travel that bit stronger. He wants 6f. He also appears to need a sound surface....

The likelihood is that he was aimed at Saturday’s race. And that might have been his chance for this term....

There will be other options before the end of the season at Haydock, Ripon, Ascot, Newmarket York and even Doncaster at the end of October. But there aren’t too many options for a handicapper rated 94. And the state of the ground is going to be the big issue....

If he gets the sound surface, yes. But if the ground turns, you couldn’t back him with confidence....

  • The last word….

I wasn’t entirely disappointed with Abel Handy on his handicap debut....

He was 6th of the 21 runners, despite being totally unfancied and available at prices as big as 33s on Friday morning....

We saw something that wasn’t immediately evident. And we got the best of the prices again. He was 12s by the off on Saturday....

He wasn’t good enough to threaten on the day. But he ran a fair race. He can certainly be competitive off his current mark....

That’s all from me for today.

I’ll be back tomorrow.

Until then. Stay tuned.

Nick Pullen

Against the Crowd