Monday, 9th May 2022
With the action coming thick and fast – Newmarket, followed by Chester, and with York’s Dante meeting running Wednesday to Friday this week – it’s hard to get away from focusing on races yet to be run….
But it’s important to find the time to look back too at races that have already taken place – because they offer clues that might prove useful in the weeks ahead….
Tomorrow I’ll be focused on York. So, today I’m going to take a quick flip through a quartet of horses that took my eye over the last 10 days or so….
First up, Cruyff Turn. His turn is coming around again….
He showed-up well in the Hunt Cup at Thirsk 10-days ago – finishing 7th of the 15 that went to post but beaten just 2-lengths….
The performance was a definite improvement on his seasonal debut at Haydock just 7 days earlier – and his best since winning the Clipper Logistics Handicap at York last August….
He produced that win off 95 and on his current mark of 97 – fit from two runs already this term – he’s of interest on his preferred quick ground going forward….
He’s got an entry in the Hambleton Handicap at York on Thursday – over the mile….
It’s too early to know if he’ll take up that engagement – but it would see him back over the track and trip combination that produced his career-best effort….
Dry weather and quickening ground would be ideal for Tim Easterby’s 5yo….
Also at Thirsk in the Hunt Cup, Grant Tuer’s Lion Tower was another that caught the eye….
He was 5th of the 15 runners but only beaten 1.5 lengths. And you have to take into consideration that he started out in stall 14 – widest but one on the track….
Obviously, it isn’t impossible to win from out there. After all, Dianne Sayers’ Redarna won the race (sent off at a big 66s) from the widest stall of all….
But that one is a hold-up horse – and Paul Mulrennan was able to take his time early doors and drop him in at the rear of the field….
Lion Tower is a different proposition altogether. He needs to race prominently – and from his wide berth that running style was a proper inconvenience….
Sam James might have made a dash for it early on to get across to the rail. But he probably didn’t want to use up too much energy and ended up getting caught wide. He was still three or four horses wide on the turn….
He did hit the front a quarter mile from home but couldn’t sustain. Perhaps he needed the run – he hadn’t been seen for 218 days and his yard isn’t going great. Perhaps the extra distance he had to cover out wide told late on. Maybe it was a combination of these issues….
Either way, with a starting stall better suited to his running style, you’d think Lion Tower would have done that bit better….
He won four times last term and 89 is a career high mark – but there’s more to come yet from him yet as and when things fall right. He’s two from two when running at Musselburgh….
Sticking with Tim Easterby, Count D'orsay ran a decent race at Chester last week – despite his disadvantageous starting berth….
Around the tight bends at circular Chester, out wide is the one place you don’t want to be over the 5f trip. In last Thursday’s ICM Stellar Sports Handicap, Easterby’s 6yo started in stall 10 with all his six opponents on his inside….
He still managed to run a cracker – beaten a head by the in-form Look Out Louis and with everything else in the field a length and more in arrears….
Count D'orsay ran his race from the rear whilst the winner was always travelling strongly on the pace – and he deserves a little extra credit on that basis….
He’s not the easiest to win with – he’s on a losing streak of 20 races which stretches back to September 2020 – and he surely benefited from the rain at Chester last week….
But he’s down to a mark of 94 from a career high of 100 and is starting to get interesting again. He’s not one I’d be getting too excited about at a shortish price in a lower class race, but at long odds on ground with cut I could be tempted in….
He might be one to take note off long-range. He’s done much of his best work later in the season – September and October – underlining his preference for softer conditions….
And if he drops further down the rankings in the meantime, then so much the better. Haydock, Ripon and Catterick have been his happiest hunting grounds….
George Boughey’s My Little Tip was another horse to produce a decent performance from a wide stall at Chester last week….
Starting widest of the 8 to go to post in Thursday’s Deepbridge Handicap over the extended 7f trip for 3yos, he finished 3rd – beaten 2.75 lengths….
Like Count D’orsay he did his work from an unpromising position at the rear of the field – keeping on well at the finish….
He was never going to win. But it was a career best performance that suggests that a mark of 92 is one he can do business from this term….
And the cut in the ground clearly helped him. He hasn’t had too many goes on ground with cut but his yard reports that he likes to get his toe in. That’s something worth noting….
That’s all for today. Back tomorrow. Meanwhile….
Anything to report? Anything to say? Anything to share? Contact me at: nick.pullen@oxonpress.co.uk
Stay tuned.
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