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Al Roc has run 13 times since May, and his last 5 runs have been v poor. Today, in fifth and tailed off, the jockey was still pushing away.
My usual complaint is that NH trainers don’t run their horses enough, but this old fella deserves a restHis 18th run this year, at distances never shorter than 2m4f and one as long as 3m4f.
He’s won four times this year, but recent form figures are: P67P5.
It’s a difficult one, he’s costing owner Judith Wilson £10,000-£15,000 to keep in training, he’s a racehorse and many complain about field sizes being in decline.
But that’s a lot of racing and his 11yo career earnings are £420,928.
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It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"Being an ex-French horse he made his jumping debut at the age of 4 and has now run a total of 78 times under rules – he could very well be the kind of horse that likes to be active and running regularly rather than having big gaps between his runs but this recent run of races does seem a little excessive.
He has now run 3 times in quick succession (17 August, 20 August and 23 August) and in one of those races he was pulled up and in the other two he has been beaten a combined 103L – his last run before the 17 August was on 26 July where he was beaten 51L and that happened to be his 4th run in the month of July where his form reads 12P6 – he has now run 13 times in the current season amassing 4 wins and 2 second places in his first 8 runs, which is more than decent form figures.
However, his subsequent last 5 runs have not seen him manage even a single placed effort. So one would hope that connections would now view him as having earned a well deserved break considering those miles he has clocked up and that he is clearly out of form at present
(Note: the RP doesn’t show him as having any entries upcoming).I’ve been checking lately on a horse in the flat in sprints the well known Duke of Firenze and similar although he raced alot each season he 13 now and seems be being run or have entries every week or so at times less then week, when clearly he isn’t the force he once was
VF x
The Duke’s trainer was interviewed about him and said he would keep running as long as he was enjoying it or something along those lines, but when he retired he has a home there for life. But that was over a year ago. He has a sort of fan club apparently. The horse, not the trainer.
Ran again today; ‘sweating, led and soon clear, reduced lead after 10th, reminders before next, headed 12th, weakened quickly, tailed off.’
Duke Of Firenze is a veteran sprinter with 83 racing miles on the clock.
Al Roc is a veteran staying jumper with a theoretical (he won’t always have completed the course) 199 racing miles on the clock.
The latter makes the grimmer reading to me.
I am "The Horse Racing Punter" on Facebook
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https://www.facebook.com/ThePointtoPointNHandFlatracingpunter/
It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"7 of his 8 top horses this season are owned by Mrs Judith Wilson. Guess she just wants to have as many runners as possible on decent summer jumping ground.
The stable’s good old days are decades away….Veterans have been going well on the flat in the last few days. The 10yo Judicial won at Beverley yesterday, the 8yo Summerghand won the Ayr Gold Cup and there were 8yo and 9yo winners elsewhere on Saturday.
And the previous evening, my own 8yo, Love Dreams, beat 11 rivals all at least three years his junior in his67th career start. I went to the stable to see him yesterday and he still has the enthusiasm of a younger horse, relishes his work on the gallops and has been ultra consistent during 27 races since I bought him.
The all female staff at the yard love him, but assure me that the one thing he doesn’t like is being put out in the field to have a pick of grass or enjoy the sunshine. Within five minutes, he’ll be standing by the gate looking miserable, wanting to be back in his box. He’ll be retired as soon as he shows us that he no longer wants to race, or can no longer be competitive, but for now, it wouldn’t be a kindness for him.
Fascinating insight from Alan into the actuality of owning a veteran racehorse, in my view.
I am "The Horse Racing Punter" on Facebook
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It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"Alan, I watched Love Dreams run at Kempton last Friday. He
ran a great race and came past them in the last fulong full
of running. I’ll keep my eye out for him next time, he’s
certainly enjoying his racing. I’ve stuck him on my tracker
and will, look forward to seeing him again Best of luck mate
Thanks – the plan is to return to Kempton on Oct 12th and also to run there every four or five weeks through the winter, whenever we can find a suitable race.
The other AW tracks are either too sharp, or too far away. I suspect he’d love the straight mile at Newcastle, but I have no intention of paying the transport bill required to test that theory!
Newland paid big money for Al Roc from France . He was to be a horse for the Grand National but that wasn’t to be.Had a wind operation and ran 3 times without success.
Sold privately to Pipe for 20% of what Newland paid.
Pipe has done well winning 4 and many placings since he got the horse,the prizemoney would easily cover the training fees and purchase price. I think the horse deserves a rest as he appears to have soured.
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