Friday, June 08, 2012

Odds 'n' sods

Call me a miserable old sod but I can't help thinking the time between the Derby and Royal Ascot is something of a fallow period. To be fair, Willie Carson has tried to spice things up a little with comments such as these taken from last Saturday's Independent:

"There are hardly any world class jockeys riding in Britain today"

and

"Look at the jump jockeys. There must be nearly 15 of them that are top-class. But on the Flat there is this dearth. I suppose there are no jocks like me any more: no more tiny little wimps. I was a war baby, see. De Sousa's not world-class, Hanagan's not - not yet, nowhere near. They have to break through."

Hmmm... interesting. What Willie would make of Willy Twiston-Davies who has had nine rides on the Flat since pulling up Battlecry in a three mile chase at Wetherby at the end of May is anyone's guess.

My Coral Champions Club membership has generated interest, the club having three with Jeremy Gask - Cool Marble (unplaced in two handicaps at Ascot and Sandown this season); Bahama Spirit (seventh of nine on her seasonal debut earlier today - in the mix at the furlong pole before weakening); and unraced two-year-old Never A Quarrel (making use of the phrase that enticed punters back in the 1960s: 'There's never a quarrel when you bet with Coral'.)

Some NH trainers are in decent form at the moment... Figures for the past fortnight include Jonjo O'Neill (7 wins from 22 runs, 31.82%), Paul Nicholls (3 wins from 8 runs, 37.5%), Tim Vaughan (9 wins from 33 runs, 27.27%) and Peter Bowen (6 wins from 24 runs, 25%). At Worcester Like Minded is of interest in an interesting beginners' chase at 2.45. Although beaten when odds-on on his chase debut, the gelding has since finished mid-division in the Martin Pipe hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival and in a listed handicap hurdle at Aintree.

1 comment:

GeeDee said...

5/2 favourite Like Minded made his move five out but looked rather one-paced over the final three obstacles. He finished third, eleven lengths behind Caddie Master (9/2) who held Valento a neck on the line.