2.30 Newbury
Lutine Bell 20/1
This horse really really deserves to win a race this year, and a big one at that. Ultra consistent the majority of the time, Mike Muphy's 5 year old is winless since November 2010 and he really has a hard time winning! However, I really think and hope that today is the day he breaks that duck. His handicap mark has ranged from 91 to 94 since December 2010 which really emphasises he rarely runs a bad race, and he has some extremely strong form in his book. Previously with Sir Mark Prescott, Lutine Bell marked his debut for current connections with an authoritative win at Wolves over 7f by 6L, which was in fact his latest success. After a 4 month break, on his 3rd start for the yard off a mark of 92 he ran out an excellent 1.56L 4th over 6f behind the excellent Horseradish, who subsequently ran a very credibly 1L behind Hoof It off a 4lb mark before being sold to Hong Kong. Furthermore Waffle, who finished only 0.75L ahead of tomorrows selection,subsequently ran an excellent 2nd to Deacon Blues at Royal Ascot, only narrowly failing by a neck as the line came too soon. This was at the time where Waffle was in his peak last year. Moreover, Our Jonathan finished in 3rd off a mark of 93 and he is now rated 114.
On 21 May last year, after a disappointing run at Ascot, Lutine Bell ran a good race to finish 1L 4th behind Crown Choice. This was another good run, emphasising the normally excellent standard that Lutine Bell runs to. After this, Lutine Bell was quite luckless from start to finish when finishing 3.31L behind the progressive Dungannon, a horse he finished 0.75L in front of on May 21 with only a 1lb swing in the weights. According to the trainer, “the starter hesitated for a split second before opening the stalls which resulted in Martyn taking the hood off the horse a fraction early. The horse hit the gate and bounced back onto his hocks just as the gate opened” and after meeting traffic, he could not get into contention. Murphy futher cited “We were both thrilled with his run but disappointed as with a clear run he would have won.”
In July, off a mark of 91 Lutine Bell ran an excellent race to finish 0.75L 2nd to Piazzo San Pietro. Lutine Bell missed the kick a bit that day and still did a very good job to finish 2nd. The form of that race is once again rock solid with numerous winners in behind off higher marks. On his next start Lutine Bell again found one too good. After travelled ominously well throughout and for the most part he cut his way through the field from deep off a mark of 92. However, he met a small bit of traffic along the way and had to be switched. He finished an excellent 0.75L behind Noble Citizen, who has subsequently run a great race to finish 0.75L 3rd behind Bronze Prince in a big race at Ascot off a 3lb higher mark. Moreover, and very relevant to todays contest, he finished 1L in front of current favourite Macs Power and that rival only has a 1lb swing at the weights.
After a slight disappointment at Goodwood, Lutine Bell probably the best race in his career to date. With Richard Hughes booked for the first time, he ran an excellent 2nd off a mark of 94 when finishing 1.75L beaten by Sirius Prospect, who was rated 88 that day. After travelling ominously once again, he scythed through the field with consummate ease with the winner probably just getting first run on him. He was unlucky to run into such a progressive and well handicapped 3 year old, as Sirius Prospect quickly rattled off a further 3 victories in succession culminating with a success in a Listed contest. His final 3 starts were a bit disappointing but he had 8 starts in the space of 4 months prior to that so I'm willing to forgive him those efforts.
Lutine Bell arrives here on the back of a 7 month break and I really think this will have freshened him up very well and revitalised him. He hasn't had many breaks in his career, but when with Sir Mark Prescott he ran an excellent 3L 3rd on the back of a 10 month break where he missed the break and finished better than anything. For current connections his run behind Horseradish was after 4 months so its clear to me he goes well fresh. Richard Hughes is again booked for todays race and its clear to me that connections mean business. He has a tendency to miss the break most starts but it isn't a huge concern considering he likes to sit at the back of the field. He's equally adept over 6f/7f with probably a slight preference for the latter, but todays 6f trip should be absolutely fine. Mike Murphy has his small string in absolutely fantastic order at the minute which is good news for Lutine Bells chances. Off a mark of 92, his form shows that he's more than capable of winning off this mark and if replicating most of his efforts he should prove too good. If discounting his last 3 runs, Lutine Bell finished 1.75L or less in 5 of his first 8 runs finishing 2nd no less than 3 times. This horse deserves a win so much and I don't even care about winning money off him today I just want to see him win so badly. I really hope today is his day and it signifies the start of what will be an excellent season.