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NEWS MARCH ROUND UP The first day of spring saw a enlivened by sunshine JUST BEWARE (and slightly less spritely Gemma) make a cracking stab at success at Plumpton. Despite her handicap mark still being a bit high, Just Beware was second, beaten only a couple of lengths, and reeling in the tiring winner all the time. Her main weapon here was adapting to the very heavy going very well - the meeting just about survived an inspection for waterlogging.
"Stop pestering me a work. Just turn up on Saturdays with carrots!" Just Beware (black and yellow) spots a familiar face in the crowd. FEBRUARY ROUND UP 2) It was back to normal for SHERJAWY, as he was second again, by a short head. It is definitely frustrating that he has had so many near misses alongside the win, but the way in which he has kept his form all winter is pleasing. At the end of the month the public got the match up that they all wanted to see when SPIDER BOY ran in the replacement Champion Hurdle trial at Kempton. He was fourth, picked up over £600 prize money, and finished only thirty two lengths behind the reigning champ, who is rated over seventy pounds higher and a lot younger. On this evidence, it may have been an oversight to have not entered him in the County Hurdle. On the weekend with Six Nations round 3 and the League Cup final, this was the big one!
1) After a quietish start to the month, things livened up in the middle. EJEED made a nice enough comeback from his short enforced absence at Kempton, and an hour or so later SHERJAWY kept up his run of form and/or made amends for his whisker width defeat at Lingfield (delete as fits your perspective) with a neck success. Given some of his recent runs, that was an enormous margin! This bulletin is slightly belated due to webmaster forgetting to publish it. Apologies. Advice has been taken from Piers Morgan and Tiger Woods on how to express this contrition in the media. JANUARY ROUND UP 4) The month ended as it began with things going well, but almost great, as SHERJAWY went down by a short head at Lingfield. That left the monthly tally as two wins from fifteen runners, but another seven instances where the horses picked up some prize money. Another late bonus was that after EJEED picked up an injury on his latest run, it turned out to be just an abcess and nothing more serious. 3) 21st January was a nice, but busy, day. In the afternoon, we toodled along to Lingfield, where SHERJAWY managed a second place, beaten just half a length by a horse that unsportingly appeared right on the line, giving him no chance to rally. After that, it was on to exotic Kempton, where REIGNING MONARCH was a decent third and EJEED applied his own little London Bus Distribution Theory, by winning under top weight and trimming 99.5% off of Jackie's wait between winners. It would have been nice for Ejeed to maintain that rate of improved success, but to do so he would have had to have won the next race on the card, and there are rules against that. It is health and safety gone mad. 2) And there were ravening prophecies across the land, and Lo! Jackie did haveth her first winner as an owner since the Slovak-ites did win the silver medal in the Ice Hockey World Championships.* And the beast which bringeth unto home the bacon was EJEED, who has now won more than he cost, and thou canst asketh little more than that. About the same time, SHERJAWY picked up over £500 prize money for being fourth of four in an under-supported conditions race at Lingfield. His margin of defeat was worryingly narrow for handicapping purposes, but we were glad to support the course, whose snow-fighting efforts helped us hugely in keeping the horses working and race fit during the bad weather. * Back in 2000, as everyone surely knows 1) Obviously opportunities have been limited so far - even when a horse has been declared, it has not always been possible to get to the course and back, but REIGNING MONARCH was a close fourth at Kempton (for the third race on the bounce), and SHERJAWY a closer third at Lingfield, which had not been a productive or lucky venue for him in the past, so it is nice to see he can perform at his local venue if he puts his mind to it - perhaps he did not recognise it under a thick blanket of snow. DECEMBER ROUND UP MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR (in the festive Mongolian Baiti font!) 2) FINALLY!!!!! The procession of places was broken rather heroically by SHERJAWY in triumph over his favourite course and distance - 6 furlongs at Kempton. As he had won from stalls 10, 5 and 2 in the past, number one held no fears for him. The only shock was that having been placed in his last two runs over only five furlongs and not gone up in the handicap, his starting price was an amazing 16/1 (handy unless you bet in mince pies and get paid in kind). Usually Sherjawy hits the front approaching the final furlong, but Sam Hitchcott went a hundred yards or so earlier, and found a horse in indomitable mood. 1) November ended as it began, with yet more places, although when it came to the last runners of the month, having SPIDER BOY taking responsibility for breaking the streak was asking a lot. He ran in an Anglo-French amateur riders' race at Folkestone, and finished third with Josh Moore riding. Early in December, REIGNING MONARCH ran his usual solid race at Kempton, finishing fourth, but then was surpassed by SHERJAWY taking second at Southwell. Although yet another place, this time it was a desirable one, as he ran really well - leading most of the game and fighting hard when headed.
Shropshirelass pretends to listen as Andy imparts some last minute instructions to her at Plumpton. Or is she just unsettled by the mad, staring effigies in the window of the bar? NOVEMBER ROUND UP 3) Aaaaaaaarrggghhhhhhh! That's better. More of the same to report, just cut and paste recent runs and change the horse's names. JUST BEWARE second at Lingfield, SHROPSHIRELASS third at Folkestone, SHERJAWY third at Southwell. So although there have been no winners this month, six of the last eight to run have gone really well and picked up a place. Someone, somewhere has broken a mirror and not yet owned up to it...the dogs have been acting a bit suspiciously (even more than normal). Perhaps EJEED will provide a change of luck, with a massive upset in the listed race at Kempton on the last Sunday of the month? Now that would be a race where a place would be a plus! 2) A bit more of the same at Fontwell, but ASHMOLIAN managed to be runner-up there again in a novice hurdle. Whilst second again was frustrating, he did prove by handling the heavy going that he has matured physically, and it was good enough to not rule out a bash at three miles. And by getting a 2, both he and the team as a whole might be sneaking up on a win!
After a hard slog round Fontwell, Gemma gets in a quick post-race nap, but fortunately Ashmolian has seen his usual spot in the winner's enclosure and heads for it 1) It has been a semi-frustrating start to November, as the horses have been running pretty well, but none have managed to poke their head/nose/any key body apart in front where it matters. EJEED ran a solid race at Kempton, where he was sixth but not beaten at all far in a race where the first nine were more or less in a heap. Then SHROPSHIRELASS was a very sound third at Fontwell, running on in a two and a half miler, followed soon after by JUST BEWARE being yet another third, in a good standard handicap hurdle at Lingfield. She had a squeak of winning at the final flight, but the horse that nabbed the race was dropping in trip and his stamina made the difference. So there has been enough evidence that the runners are in good form - it just needs one of them to deliver that little bit extra (and not in the sense of Ernie, the fastest milkman in the west). |
