Hi de Hi,Ho de Ho its off to Sandown we must go...yes Thursday evening is BG time at Sandown and its a yearly passage of rites for me as it holds many a fond memory including one of my biggest ever wins on a horse during my more formative years on Chatoyant in 1994 ( 21 years ago now...jeez where does the time go ?? ) and has been won by greats such as Bosra Sham ( When Cecil was in the midst of his " Legend " era ) but Cecil who won this 3 times in a 4 year spell never won it again and i would say the man most likely to take the most wins mantle will be Stouts who has won it three times in the last 10 years with Workforce , Carlton House and Notnowcato and has won it prior to this spell with Insatiable and Pilsudski so its obviously a race he wants to win so anything he sends will have to be well respected.
In truth this usually a good looking card from top to bottom so i will give some dues to the supporting races with my main focus on the Brigadier itself.
The day starts off with a steady away 1m2f Hcap for the older brigade and with 13 runners this promises to be a spirited betting heat in a race littered with what can only be assumed as a field of NH types,lowly rated and unreliable so if any horse gets a considerable amount of attention in the market then it should be noted.
DERULO and HALLINGHAM are the only two i can see running to their correct marks and as such will be my two against the field in what is both uninspiring and hard to call obviously i am having to work from my own tissue just now so im hopeful of a decent dutch price.
RESULT :
Full Result
| 1st (3) | 7 Interconnection | 4 | 9-4 p1 | 10/1 | |||
| Tracked leader, led 2f out, soon ridden, kept on well under pressure final furlong | |||||||
| 2nd (12) | 1 | 1 Derulo (IRE) | 4 | 9-7 | 3/1f | ||
| Mid-division, headway on outside over 2f out, ridden to challenge over 1f out, kept on same pace, held inside final furlong | |||||||
Next up its a nice Listed event for the 2 yr olds over 5f and on paper this looks a really warm renewal with every runner having some chance and all coming into this in some sort of form.
Hannon has won this race an incredible 5 times in the last 8 years which is an amazing record and its plain to see he wants this trophy on his mantelpiece so anything he runs goes straight onto the shortlist and he has sent out some very smart types to win this including Sir Prancealot , Tiggy Wiggy , Presto Vento and Signs and its almost impossible not to have his King of Rocks as the shoo in Fav however this Hannon runner in its two runs to date just doesnt look a 5f horse , fto all his best work was being done at the end ( 5f ) and then when upped to 6f he stayed on very smartly to win but only took the lead at the 5f pole and i think his power lay upon his stamina and not speed and this could even be a 7f type or early season miler candidate so at shortish odds im going to leave this alone as i think one or two of the speedballs here will have his number although he may turn out to be the best long term project.
Strands of Time has a slow time rating ( from me as are all stats n ratings ) , Tawdheef is another that could be better over a true 6f however breeding suggests that this could be perfect so goes on the unknown list, Silver Wings doesnt look group class and although decent enough i dont think good enough to trouble some of these comments which also apply to Handytalk.
So we are left with 4 and at the cut off stage i will let go of Buratino ( i feel like an X-Factor judge lol ) and we are down to three ,
1. AREEN
2. CASE KEY
3. STEADY PACE
And i must admit i am having trouble splitting these as i have them very closely matched however AREEN was to make his debut in a hot looking 4 runner event at York so must be rated very highly at home and he readily beat these including a Hannon 7/4f Dheban by 4L and he ran green but looked potentially top class and im going to say this is the winner for me however i will wait until i can get some prices to really decide on my line of attack.
RESULT :WOW WOW WOW How fucking impressive was the Hannon trained winner KING OF ROCKS...just awesome...a complete demolition job.
| 1st (3) | 5 King Of Rooks | 2 | 9-0 | 11/4 | |||
| Quickly away, made all on rail and always travelling well, quickened right away final furlong, impressive | |||||||
| 2nd (4) | 5 | 2 Buratino (IRE) | 2 | 9-0 | 10/1 | ||
| Held up in touch, pushed along halfway, headway on outer 2f out, soon bumped, chased leaders over 1f out, ridden and stayed on into 2nd final 100 yards, no chance with impresssive winner | |||||||
| 3rd (6) | 1 | 7 Steady Pace | 2 | 9-0 | 7/4f | ||
| Chased leaders but trapped wide, pushed along halfway, went 2nd over 1f out, soon ridden, no chance with impressive winner final furlong, lost 2nd final 100 yards | |||||||
| 4th (7) | 1½ | 4 Handytalk (IRE) | 2 | 9-0 | 33/1 | ||
| Slowly into stride, soon in touch, ridden and not quicken over 1f out, plugged on in 4th inside final furlong | |||||||
| 5th (5) | 1¾ | 6 Silver Wings (IRE) | 2 | 9-0 | 20/1 | ||
| Chased winner, pushed along halfway, ridden and lost 2nd over 1f out, weakened inside final furlong | |||||||
| 6th (9) | s.h | 1 Areen (IRE) | 2 | 9-0 | 7/1 | ||
| Distracted by rival and swerved badly left after start, took keen hold and held up in rear on rail, not clear run and switched left over 1f out, kept on inside final furlong but not recover | |||||||
Race 3 is the Henry the 2nd Stakes over 2m and a few of these have reputations to re-build and most have not quite produced what they had promised and the word on Forgotten Voice is that he is well in himself and has been going well at home however they have only been really working him over 7f so its hard to say if he can be an effective stayer once again and i will hold off until i have seen some sparkle for myself but i will go with VENT DE FORCE and FOREVER NOW as my two against the field as these both seem consistent and reliable and will be the most likely to run to form and arrive in decent nick but i will only dutch these if i can get at least 4.6 on each in a tough looking heat with High Jinx thrown into the place pot pool.
Now its time for the evenings " Big " Event the BRIGADIER GERARD STAKES a race over 1m2f and worth £40k to the winner this C1 Group 3 Event is a noteworthy piece of black type and as discussed has been won by some impressive types previously,this year sees a small field of 6 but its as good a 6 runner race as you are ever likely to find.
It would be a major shock if Niceofyoutotellme should win as this imo has at least 20lb to find and is rubbed off straight away which leaves 5 and the remainder are very closely matched indeed with only a cig paper separating them
Tryster has been very impressive on the AW notching up a rake of wins and being rather cosy about most suggesting there is a lot more to come but racing against these on turf will produce a host of new challenges and until he has shown himself capable against the likes of these he must be watched only.
Tullius is a very nice horse but is generally unproven over this distance ( mainly races at 1m ) and in at this level it would require a huge leap of faith to think he can jump in swim against the tide and is left out of the equation until i have seen evidence he will truly stay at race pace.
Western Hymn is a definite danger and will be included in my bets somewhere as this 2 time CD winner ( Classic Trial & Gordon Richard Stakes ) runs this track superbly and lto beat a horse i really like ( Postponed ) and i think if back to his best will take some beating...a horse that has under delivered in a short career ...its time he stepped up.
Eagle Top is a horse with a lot of promise but im not convinced of his attitude and will need to see more before i can make a concerted opinion but remains on the long list.
That leaves just ARAB SPRING who for me is the winner hailing from the Stoute yard this impressive beast reminds me so much of Glass Harmonium and Harbinger and the way it won the John Porter last time seen made me sit up and think..wow this animal is a horse on a massive upward curve and its a shame he is now 5 because im sure he could have been something very special but there must have been undocumented issues in training that have caused this to run a very light campaign to date however he is making up for lost time now and having won 5 of his last 6 races this will take all the beating , loves the ground , loves the trip and is good for at least another 12lb rise in the weights that is nailed on and he ( Ryan Moore ) may try and make all as there is no definitive pace in the race and he will have to be tactically cute as both Eagle Top and Tryster like to arrive deep off the pace and will be looking to swoop late on.
20:15 ( nap ) 1st @ 4.33
20:45 Another Teofilo Winner ??
Good Luck and Enjoy.
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