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burntoakboy running tomorrow in the 5.10 huntingdon
think this could be the one for the foxhunters
Another UK horse to watch with The Fohunters in mind is
MY OLD PIANO
who is running in the maiden hunter at Leicester tomorrow.
As a young horse with Meg Mullins he showed lots of promise running against the likes of Tranquil Sea and Jadanli before being sold to JP and going to John Jo and completely losing his form (shades of Garde Champetre??) admittedly after being fairly highly tried
He’s now with David Easterby and ridden by Oliver Greenall he’s won all his completed points since changing stables.
Looks nailed on tomorrowI’m afraid he won’t make the cut in time, CS, as even with victory tomorrow he’d still be one hunter chase or Open point win short of meeting the minimum requirement.
The race he won (admittedly) very cosily at Witton Castle on his seasonal bow a month ago was actually his second win in Intermediate class, having been stripped of a win in the same grade at Garthorpe last May when a weight cloth was lost on the way round. His other five legitimate wins in points during 2009 comprised a Maiden, Restricted, Members, Confined and Club Confined.
Had any of these wins been in Open class, then yes, a win tomorrow would seal the deal for him (assuming he wouldn’t get ballotted out on the day). But they weren’t, so sadly it won’t.
Definitely one to keep on the right side of in general terms, though, if just not for Prestbury Park.
gc
Jeremy Grayson. Son of immigrant. Adoptive father of two. Metadata librarian. Freelance point-to-point / horse racing writer, analyst and commentator wonk. Loves music, buses, cats, the BBC Micro, ale. Advocate of CBT, PACE and therapeutic parenting. Aspergers.
graysonscolumn
I’ve done a bit more digging and found out that his target for this season is the Red Mills final at Cheltenham on May 5.
At anything like the 11-4 forecast by RP he looks a hell of a bet (EW of course!) tomorrowThat sounds like a far more plausible goal for him, aye. The race has produced winners in Bon Accord and Drybrook Bedouin in the last three seasons (the latter of whom is the longshot I most fancy in this year’s Foxhunters), so a good win in a par-or-better renewal of that contest come May will have to be taken note of. Mind, let’s see how he copes with the Oadby mud today first!
gc
Jeremy Grayson. Son of immigrant. Adoptive father of two. Metadata librarian. Freelance point-to-point / horse racing writer, analyst and commentator wonk. Loves music, buses, cats, the BBC Micro, ale. Advocate of CBT, PACE and therapeutic parenting. Aspergers.
Hmm, think that could scarecely have gone better, CS!
Let’s see where they aim him between now and Cheltenham in May.gc
Jeremy Grayson. Son of immigrant. Adoptive father of two. Metadata librarian. Freelance point-to-point / horse racing writer, analyst and commentator wonk. Loves music, buses, cats, the BBC Micro, ale. Advocate of CBT, PACE and therapeutic parenting. Aspergers.
Thanks Grayson, the loose horse did worry me a tad but nice winner in the end.
I think I’ve spotted another decent Hunter bet tomorrow, not a Foxhunters contender as he wouldn’t stay the distance, but Penny Doc’s Irish form looks streets ahead of the rest of the field. Didn’t get home over 3 miles at Haydock but lookd the winner two out.
Nedzer’s Return should win the Downpatrick Hunter Chase but he’s not a horse I’m that fond of, the price is skinny and the jockey very inexperiencedJust watched the sericina replay.
Sketchy jumpting at times, but looked very useful at the end of the race. Will she be qualified for FH?If so, one for the shortlist?
Just watched the sericina replay.
Sketchy jumpting at times, but looked very useful at the end of the race. Will she be qualified for FH?If so, one for the shortlist?
Serecina has been inclined to chance one or two fences in her points but never looked like falling, she has a real turn of foot and considering that was her first race over regulation fences I’d forgive her the odd sticky jump.
In the absence of An Siorrac and Carronhills there seems little chance of an Irish win, Dun Doire apart, and personally I tend to dismiss the older horses in favour of a young up and coming animal although with Nina on board that’s worth a least 7 lbs compared to any other jockey in the race. Agus A Vic doesn’t seem to travel. Rudy Trucker seems a grade below what’s needed.
Of the UK horses Baby Run will probably be one of the favourites but I doubt if he’s good enough for anything more than a place, My Old Piano isn’t qualified, Val Jackson is too kind to her horses so Robbers Glen is unlikely to be hard enough ridden to win and it’s too far for Baby Doc.
That doesn’t leave a lot of options so, yes, I’d say Serecina has a really sound chanceWill she be qualified for FH?
Yep. Her Open wins this season at Wadebridge (undulating, dumbbell-shaped Cornish mudfest) and Buckfastleigh (former NH course – right-handed, sharp and undulating) would have been enough to qualify her as it is, but the Taunton hunter chase win improves her chances of making the cut no end, if the race is still oversubscribed at the overnight stage.
I think I’d be a little happier if she’d done the business around a much more galloping track as well as the sharper ones she’s won around to date; but the fact she’s gone in impressively at the two courses previously mentioned, plus Ston Easton and Bonvilston, give her form jumping uphill and downhill by the bucketload (something which still, unfortunately, needs taking entirely on trust with the more vaunted Roulez Cool).
gc
Jeremy Grayson. Son of immigrant. Adoptive father of two. Metadata librarian. Freelance point-to-point / horse racing writer, analyst and commentator wonk. Loves music, buses, cats, the BBC Micro, ale. Advocate of CBT, PACE and therapeutic parenting. Aspergers.
Thanks for that.
Don’t know a lot about the pointers. But when it comes to the FH I do know you have to ignore the chasers who previously ran under rules — they have a shocking record.
I always look out for something from the point fields on the up. Cappa Bleu fitted the profile well last year.
Perhaps, Sericina is the one.Grayson….you seem to have a better handle on UK points that I do I wonder if you’ll comment on Rash Move who (IMO) ran well until lack of condition and a long lay of took its toll last time out. RP forecast 14-1 tomorrow which looks a decent EW considering he’s 4 out of 6 in points
I’ve seen the notoriously fragile but talented Massimo entered up recently. Would he still be qualified on his wins of a couple of seasons ago?
Again not much of a fountain of knowledge on the hunters scene, but I saw Chestnut Annie win at Ffos Las a few weeks back and she jumped round for fun, was miles clear for pretty much the whole race and kept it up right to the line. She looked like the sort to give you a run for your money in any race (although the ground wasn’t the best that day)
I’ve seen the notoriously fragile but talented Massimo entered up recently. Would he still be qualified on his wins of a couple of seasons ago?
Yep. The range of dates for meeting the criteria set is December 1st 2007 to March 2nd 2010. Massimo’s hunter chase wins at Towcester and Cheltenham (the Intermediate final) in spring 2008 do the job without recourse to any pointing endeavours required, and I’m sure a lot of eyes will be on him ahead of his first run back since the last-named race at Newbury this Friday.
Fitness per se won’t be an issue, as he’s been appearing in point-to-point entries since the first week of February without taking his chance. On being fit enough to do a job first time out, however, we’ll have to wait and see.
gc
Jeremy Grayson. Son of immigrant. Adoptive father of two. Metadata librarian. Freelance point-to-point / horse racing writer, analyst and commentator wonk. Loves music, buses, cats, the BBC Micro, ale. Advocate of CBT, PACE and therapeutic parenting. Aspergers.
Again not much of a fountain of knowledge on the hunters scene, but I saw Chestnut Annie win at Ffos Las a few weeks back and she jumped round for fun, was miles clear for pretty much the whole race and kept it up right to the line. She looked like the sort to give you a run for your money in any race (although the ground wasn’t the best that day)
She’s a colossal fave of a few of us on here, and Welsh racing historian Brian Lee dubbed her earlier today as; "the most popular Pointer in the Principality since Mandryka, a winner of 38 Ladies Opens, five Mens Opens and a Hunter Chase, graced the scene in the 1970s", which I wouldn’t dispute.
I’d sooner see her in the Aintree than the Cheltenham Foxhunters, though, as pounding remorselessly along two long straights appears to have raised her game to new heights. All I’d hope is that Isabel Tompsett can give her a good sight of the Chair – finding that thing emerging suddenly from behind a wall of horses may pose the little mare with a bit of a problem.
gc
Jeremy Grayson. Son of immigrant. Adoptive father of two. Metadata librarian. Freelance point-to-point / horse racing writer, analyst and commentator wonk. Loves music, buses, cats, the BBC Micro, ale. Advocate of CBT, PACE and therapeutic parenting. Aspergers.
Grayson….you seem to have a better handle on UK points that I do I wonder if you’ll comment on Rash Move who (IMO) ran well until lack of condition and a long lay of took its toll last time out. RP forecast 14-1 tomorrow which looks a decent EW considering he’s 4 out of 6 in points
Rider Fred Hutsby is not always an asset, and I saw him take two pretty soft falls at Whitfield a month ago, but I also saw Rash Move’s penultimate run at Dunthrop in March 2008 (the last before his lay-off) in person and Hutsby conjoured a superb round out of him then.
His layoff might have done him a favour, actually, as form and health both deserted the Hutsby string last term, but they seem to be in better order this.
The
Mackenzie and Harris
annual for that year commented that Rash Move "must have sub-3m hunter chase aspirations". They also noted that he is a martyr to shin trouble, so let’s hope he doesn’t suffer a reverse at home or on course. If he’s back to his best, then yeah, I wouldn’t put you off EW.
Mustangsallyrally rates my incredibly boring choice of winner, though. His second in one of the best recent renewals of the Coronation Cup at Larkhill last time (rightly described by Jonathan Neesom in his Spotlight Verdict as "a point that was much stronger than many hunter chases") is by some margin the best bit of form any of these has achieved so far this term.
gc
Jeremy Grayson. Son of immigrant. Adoptive father of two. Metadata librarian. Freelance point-to-point / horse racing writer, analyst and commentator wonk. Loves music, buses, cats, the BBC Micro, ale. Advocate of CBT, PACE and therapeutic parenting. Aspergers.
Let’s see where they aim him between now and Cheltenham in May.
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