Couldnt get past Related... very green at the start by all of em really... Related settled the best, and it showed in the end...
3.25 Newbury Kangaroo Court 33/1 Although he's underperformed on his last two starts I think the return to a galloping track, ease in grade and the drop back in distance should definitely be in his favour and being only 3lb higher than his impressive win 3 starts ago I think he is definitely still capable off his mark of 79. A very talented chaser on his day reaching a peak rating of 142, Emma Lavelle's 8 year old gelding has only recently begun his flat career and has started rather promisingly landing 2 of his first 4 starts in this sphere. He made his debut on the AW at Lingfield in January over 12f and he won very impressively under a fine hold up ride from Micky Fenton to assert strongly at the finish to win going away. That race isn't really up to much but the authority which he surged to the front close home off a fast pace was very taking and it certainly looked as if he had a promising staying flat career ahead of him. A couple of moderate efforts in a bumper and over hurdles followed this victory before he made his handicap debut over 13f at Lingfield. Kangaroo Court was rather disappointing on his handicap debut off a mark of 76 back in May but when analysing this race I definitely think the race wasn't run to suit and you can readily pass over it. They went slowly from the outset and it turned into a bit of a sprint towards the finish which didn't suit Kangaroo Court who was held up in last place as his stamina wasn't able to come into effect and it is definitely a race I'm completely ignoring. 8 days after this race he made his turf debut on the flat off the same mark at firm ground at Salisbury where a change of tactics proved ideal as he returned to the winners enclosure. Again under Fenton, that day Kangaroo Court made all over the 14f trip to land the Class 4 handicap in impressive style by 2.75L as he never once looked like getting caught. The form of that race looks good with the 3rd Monterey scoring off the same mark on his next start (Monterey would have finished closer to Kangaroo Court if he hadn't hung violently to the left) and it was a very good effort. Kangaroo Court's 2nd last start came in the Queen Alexandra Stakes at Royal Ascot in June and although well beaten there are plenty of elements that lead me to overlook this race as well. Firstly, he may not have stayed the mammoth 2m6f trip on the flat. Secondly, he had to race just in behind the pace as Overturn made all and that probably wouldn't have suited and finally it was a Conditions race whereby he had to race against predominantly much higher rated horses off level weights. Moreover, I don't think the good to soft ground was ideal as his best efforts have come on a sounder surface. All four reasons I think are more than valid and I really don't think you could have expected him to play a role at the weights so I'm again ignoring that effort. His last start came off a mark of 80 at Ascot on firm ground in a 2 mile Class 2 event at the end of July. That day William Buick was booked to ride and he adopted front running tactics again. Turning into the home straight, he appeared to be going great guns but once the very impressive winning Montaser loomed up along side and took over Buick seemed to ease him and allow him to come home in his own time, perhaps to save him for another day. It is also possible that he picked up a knock or didn't feel right but I think the former is the more likely scenario. He's been dropped back to a mark of 79 for that effort and given he won impressively at Salisbury off just a 3lb lower mark I still think he has a fair bit of wiggle room. Although eased in grade today, the top of the market is full of unexposed improving types so he may not find it any easier today. The step back to 1m6f should be in his favour as well as the return to a galloping track which he seemed to relish when scoring on his last start. Micky Fenton is back in the saddle today and he clearly gets on extremely well with this 8 year old with the pair unbeaten in 2 starts. Its going to be interesting to see if Kangaroo Court will be allowed to have his own way up front but his draw in stall 4 should allow him to adopt these tactics if desired. Although Emma Lavelle has been a bit quiet of late, she hasn't had too many runners so I am not massively concerned. He's definitely got a few questions to answer from his last start but if putting his best foot forward I definitely think he can be competitive in a race of this nature and I've had a small e/w at 33s as he is much too big a price in my eyes.
Forgot to post up my write up! The last line it was "I think its going to take a very good horse to beat Sound of Guns today and I hope Rusdhu Queen isn't just that."
I know Heis says how much he likes Graham Lee, but you have to admire the bloke when he gets into a battle. He gives his all...
ROTO, i think we can take a lot out of how SoGuns ran today... deffo one to keep a look out for next time... Well, both of em actually...
Shame, nevermind small profit form the place, to go on Red Mystique in the 4:55 at Notts, beting blind purely on the fact it has first time blinkers
