In the 4.05 Soldier's Call is the class act and I think he can concede the weight. His 3rd in last year's Prix L'Abbeye is the best form in the book. The winner of that race was Mabs Cross and Soldier's Call finished ahead of previous winner Battaash that day. Archie Watson is going well at present and over 5F I feel 5 lbs extra should not make a huge difference to Soldier's Call and if he has trained on I feel he wins this one. 4.05 York Soldier's Call 11/4
RPR, not official ratings. And the second's RPR was raised a whopping 29 pounds for his fine effort yesterday evening . Did he really run 29 pounds better than on debut? Trying to rate a horse after 1 run is ludicrous, that's why the handicapper always waits for 3.
afternoon,lads! perth,3 45: quite a few viable alternatives here,but KATGARY is too well treated to ignore.although his last win is over 3 years ago,anmd this trip is new territory for him,he has put in enough solid efforts in the interim,and is now 7 lbr lower than when last successful.good conditional takes another few pounds off,and his last run is working out quite well,so definite shout today..
Fair play to Telecaster, he stayed better than Too Darn Hot did. Too Darn Hot had enough to do but if he had stayed and been good enough he would have been able to win. I thought the Gosden horse looked reasonably straight but I was puzzled that they more or less set it up for their opponents with Turgenev. Gosden admitted that Telecaster had used his own pacemaker well. Immediately ruled out of the Derby as we all expected even had he won, I am not sure I saw enough to be confident about the St James' Palace stakes. Japan looked a bit slow and has a little bit to prove now. The main ones to shorten for the Derby along with Telecaster were Sir Dragonet and Broome, as Japan doubled in price to 14/1. As ever, O'Brien said he was happy with Japan but added that the lads will decide if he goes to the Derby. I suppose if we are starting a Telecaster Fan Club it is only but fair to ask if anyone wants to resign from the Line Of Duty Fan Club. It was fairly difficult to take anything positive from the Godolphin horse's run today and as he was their only Derby candidate it seems likely they will be unrepresented. Pushed out to 33/1 for Epsom, those odds make no appeal to me.
The Telecaster fan club has been in operation for a while now, still accepting new members. Bangkok is another one who has shortened, likely due to a certain formline.
A good day at York with more questions than answers. The Dante field was a high quality one as regards looks. Didn't like Line of Duty. Too Darn Hot is not a big colt but well-made, and with his size likely to suit Epsom. My pick of the paddock was Turgenev, who has a lot of scope and size. On the result the first two outclassed the rest, although Turgenev might do better in a differently run race. Telecaster outstayed the favourite, simply that, so it's a waste of time thinking TDH will ever beat Telecaster over further. Interestingly the time of the Middleton was almost the same as the Dante. Given they carried the same weight the Dante form comes out better, but neither were particularly fast, so probably dangerous to draw any conclusions. Liked both the Stoute fillies in the Middleton. The 2yo race was also a good-looking field and 3 of the 4 best looking horses finished 1-2-3. You could do worse than follow Repartee and Boma Green especially, Repartee looked magnificent , while Boma Green looked great but will improve a lot. Would not be surprised to see all three at Royal Ascot with the 2nd and 3rd likely to benefit from another run beforehand. Again the Godolphin colt was the most disappointing in the paddock and was playing up anyway. Moore rode a good race on Garrus, and won cleverly but a neck away was Soldiers Call who was giving him 5lb. Could have a good season. Good weather, friendly crowds and York looked good..
Soldier's Call couldn't quite shoulder the penalty but he ran a great race. His early speed was good but just when he needed that kick to go and win it he didn't quite have it and the cavalry were closing. The filly had run well at Royal Ascot last year and the winner is clearly on the up but Soldier's Call should win races this season.
With regards the times, there was 43 yards added the round course races today. Was wondering why when checking the times of the longer distance races today all were very poor compared to average despite the ground being decent and the sprint times as expected, that was obviously why. The Dante and Middleton were similarly run, TDH ran practically the same race as Lah Ti Dar, with Telecaster a length the best at level weights. As Ron pointed out, the 3yo weight allowance at this time is 14 pounds, the 1L margin offsetts the filly allowance so Telecaster has effectively ran a stone better than Lah Ti Dar. Considering the runner up is rated 126 and both have pulled clear, I dont think this race is getting the credit it deserves. We are talking low to mid 120s for the winner and that would be good enough to win an average Derby. Its Hughie Morrison vs the might of Ballydoyle but it looks an average year at best and he must have a huge chance.
Sorry hadn't realised Ron had already posted about the times. I think it's an important observation but that they were so far from average worried me at the time.
