Five at Three

     Thomas Mor runs at Newbury Today

Today we have five runners across three meetings at Newbury, Warwick and Uttoxeter. Our runners at Newbury are Heure De Gloire and Thomas Mor while at Warwick we have Last Quarter and Gwencily Berbas and Shot Boii makes up our quintet of runners at Uttoxeter.

Tom Scu rides both of our runners at Newbury and Heure De Gloire runs in the opening contest at the Berkshire track at 12.10pm, a mares handicap hurdle. Our five year old ran well at Lingfield last time out to be second. She steps up in class today but therefore carries less weight (last time out she carried top weight) I think this may suit her as she is not the biggest and she tends to wear her heart on her sleeve and go from the front. I think the track will suit and interestingly it is the first time Tom Scu has ever ridden her in a race so hopefully they can both put up a good joint first performance!

Thomas Mor runs in the Challow hurdle at 3.00pm and it looks the most competitive hurdle race I have seen this season!! A few reputations are going on the line in this novice event from both sides of the Irish Sea, including ours!! Thomas Mor has impressed in his two wins for the stable but the question is what does the form amount to, well today we will find out a bit more. He is quite a deceptive horse and it is difficult to gauge how good he actually is. We think he is a strong stayer who doesn’t want the ground too soft but it should be fine for him today. Win, lose or draw today is a a lovely staying horse of the future and will be even better when he jumps a fence.  Hermes Allen is the even money favourite in a race his trainer has won with Bravemansgame and Stage Stat in the past. We are a 25/1 chance and the think he is good small each way value.

Last Quarter runs in the 1.35pm 3m2f handicap hurdle at Warwick with Philip Armson on board. He won on seasonal reappearance at Lingfield last time and is only three pounds higher for that win. We have left the tongue strap off today as we are not sure he liked having it on despite winning. This is a more competitive race than last time and he is about 15/2 in the betting. He is not always the most straight forward ride but hopefully Philip can get a good tune out of him and they shouldn’t be too far away.

Gwencily Berbas runs in the veterans chase at 2.10pm. He ran well at the track on his penultimate start but was a bit below par last time out at Sandown. He drops down in class today, stays all day and with blinkers on I would like the think he has a good chance.

Shot Boii is the sole Pond House representative at Uttoxeter today and he runs in 1.08pm handicap hurdle over 2m7f with Fergus Gillard in the saddle. He is two from two this season and both those wins have come in gutsy style at Lingfield. The ground cannot be soft enough for him so hopefully it will be testing enough for him to be at his best. There is definitely more improvement to come from our five year old and hopefully he shouldn’t be too far away with a repeat performance of last time.

Alongside the three jumps meetings I have mentioned, there is a flat card at Lingfield and they race in Ireland at Punchestown.

While we didn’t have high expectations from our runners at Taunton yesterday, sadly Doyen La Lutte did not come home in our lorry yesterday. She suffered a heart attack and sadly collapsed and died so our thoughts are with Sam who looked after her and her small group of owners, The Contractors.

Jet Smart ran much better to finish fourth in the novices hurdle and will now be eligible for a handicap mark. He will probably appreciate a step up in distance at some point but it was good to see him bounce back from a below par effort at Sedgefield last time. Our other runners were big prices and ran accordingly but hopefully the handicapper will give them some help and they can be more competitive dropped when a few pounds in the future.

Last night I was out to dinner with some friends from Ireland. They work at Ballydoyle for Aidan O’Brien in senior roles and it is so interesting hearing the tales of how they operate and what goes on behind the scenes. I have been lucky enough to visit the yard, an amazing place and you can always learn a thing or two from the best! I got back to see the end of the Liverpool versus Leicester football match. Two own goals from the same Leicester player did not help the Foxes cause and they lost 2-1 despite playing quite well as far as I can tell. In the earlier kick off, West Ham lost 2-0 at home to Brentford. The most interesting game today for me is the early kick off match with Wolves against Manchester United- there is a bit of my own family rivalry in this one!!

What do you call a farmer who doesn’t like tractors anymore? An extractor fan!! Have a good day.