Ladies day tomorrow but some chance of it being a Royal day with the Queen having 3 runners with chances. It was going to be 4 as Prince's Trust was supposedly more fancied for the Britannia but Hannon has chosen just to go ahead with the three times winner Sea Shanty. Some may be surprised but I think the leading chance of a winner is Bold Sniper (well named being New Approach out of Daring Aim) in the 12f handicap. A nice colt who was being touted as a 2yo, he eventually never ran. He looked nothing special on his debut but what was pleasing was his style of running as the mare (a Daylami half-sister to the Oaks 2nd Flight of Fancy) tends to get difficult horses: apparently difficult to settle at home he did well enough in that department. With a hood applied he cantered to a fine victory at Thirsk and then quickly followed up at Leicester. This could be a good horse (he's the only Royal entire 3yo). The chance of Estimate is obvious. I think she has to go near, and so give the Queen her first Gold Cup. A half-sister to a Gold Cup winner, she looked pretty impressive this year and looked impressive enough when winning last years Queens Vase. Sea Shanty looks plenty exposed and last time out the handicapper seemed to be getting his measure. Having said all this no doubt Hannon will have his first winner of the meeting with this gelding.
Saddlers Rock in the Gold Cup 8/1 was too big on ground he'll appreciate. This is a rock solid max each way bet at 8/1. No Nay Never for much smaller stakes in the Norfolk. Just win only for me here at 5/1. He either wins well with that fabulous Ward quarter horse speed or falls into mid pack obscurity. The run of his filly today was highly encouraging and this fellow is supposedly the best he's ever brought to Ascot. At the prices i'll take the chance he's not fibbing. I'm not delighted with the ground for Alive Alive Oh in the Ribblesdale but have been waiting for her so have backed her. Unbelievably impressive so far. I'm very high on this girl when she faces off against the top group one girls on a bit of wet ground. There's one I like in the Brittania but it's not my type of race so unless these all come in I won't be bothering. I'll stick it up tomorrow if the stars align.
Coach House in the Norfolk tomorrow. Really like this horse hes developing into a smart animal and I think he'll be hard to beat, The form in which Aidan's horses are in aswell just fills Me with more confidence...
It is now official: Camelot was an ordinary Epsom Derby winner, an ordinary Irish Derby winner and an ordinary 2000 Guineas winner amongst a crop of very mediocre three year olds. 2012 St Leger â Camelot failed to complete the Triple Crown because he did not stay; fair enough, no criticism, they had to give it a go. 2012 Prix de lâArc de Triomphe â Camelot raced against older horses for the first time and was beaten out of sight. 2013 Tattersalls Gold Cup â Camelot was a long odds-on favourite in a small field and was beaten fair and square; no excuses. 2013 Prince Of Walesâs Stakes â Camelot was backed down to favouritism and was comprehensively beaten, failing to make the frame; no excuses. Surely a book will have been opened on the betting exchanges so that punters can try to guess which date will be chosen by Coolmore to announce that Camelot has been retired to stud. Not recovering from the effects of the colic operation will be the excuse. How long will it be before people wake up and realise that what they are generally told about horses coming out of Ballydoyle is hype and not fact?
You pay your money and take your chance QM - I really thought the last race was his pipe opener and that today we would see a different horse, but no, he was simply not good enough again. I do think he has regressed since the Derby, whether it be colic related or otherwise (I could imagine it might be a bit of a mental issue with him too?). I never bought into the superstar hype but you don't win a Guineas and a Derby by being a 95 handicapper. But the biggest joke of the day was the official rating of each horse - Al Kazeem 119, Camelot 120 - prior to the race, despite Roger Charlton's horse beating Camelot comprehensively off levels last time out. BHA get real.
Well back from my Racemaker Day! Very much enjoyed it! Most Stupid question i got was- Can I turn the Air Con on and If i fancied the girl i was walking around with. Also the amount of people that said "oh a pacemaker, need one of them soon!" lol but it was a good day! and am doing the same at the Eclipse at sandown in a couple of weeks
I agree that he is a good horse – if he had a 95 rating he would be in the King George V handicap – and The Derby was his day. He was lucky to get away with the Irish Derby on heavy ground and I expected them to give the very heavy ground as the excuse for Longchamp. The official ratings are not the BHA’s fault. The Tattersalls Gold Cup was down to the Irish handicapper and, just like run-of-the-mill handicaps, horse’s ratings always fall more slowly than they go up.
great stuff Wooly! I am probably going to the Eclipse this year so will have a look out for you and ask an appropriately stupid question !
Nice to see Charlton have another good horse in Al Kazeem, Clive B having a good filly winner and Portman taking the last race shows it's not all about 3 or 4 trainers. Good stuff. Just hope Ryan can get 1 or 2 on the board today.
Jonathan Portman seems to be doing well at the moment - he runs Pasaka Boy in the last today who was a winner on Derby Day. Might have each way claims.
Can we start a book on what Ballydoyle are going do with him and what excuse they are going to come up with???
I have to say the racemakers were very good in leaving everyone alone and only speaking to people who apprqaoched them - made an extremely pleasant change from the Olympics. That said, I do feel sorry for you having to field a load of silly questions and comments. Tempting as it was I decided not to be so childish - and spent the day flicking peanuts at mens' top hats instead....... Didn't win a copper coin but it was a great day out. People criticise Ascot (I must admit I never liked it when i went there first) but there's something to be said for a venue that had 40 or 50,000 in attendance where you don't have to queue to buy a drink or inspect the plumbing,. Makes a very pleasant change - oh and the staff were all very friendly and helpful which really is a first!
Glad it went well. At least you got out in the fresh air (I was stuck in the Hilton ballroom with aircon on max doing my London 2012 gamesmaker stint!)
Im not surprised to hear the lack of queues at the bars as it s very very expensive for a drink! £5 or £6 a pint if i recall? Pimms is sooooooooooooooooo overpriced for a very small glass if i remember correctly.
Camelot ran 2nd in the St Leger, I dont think you could say he didn't stay he might have run a bit flat, he might have been given too much to do (closing at the end) and he might have been beaten by a horse drugged up from is lower balls to its eyeballs. He didn't run well on treacherous ground in the Arc, he wasn't the only one and some 40-1 shot won it whose name most of us probably can't remember (Solemnia or something). This season you could argue he's not the same horse due to the surgery. You could make a case for that. Main Sequence had Mukhadram beaten if he wanted to, if he chose to go past he could have. This is the same Main Sequence that was nowhere near Camelot in the Derby. Undoubtedly the form hasn't worked out from his Guineas and from his Derby but to see people stating factually that Camelot is and always was average is surely wrong? Fair enough he might have been overhyped and I actually think that he was but there's no way I'd claim that as fact as we'll never truly know. We can only back our judgement. My 2 cents.
u Was a good day Dan! That was one thing I thought was quite important- alot of people dont wanna be bothered and just left to thier own things. If people want advice etc... they will ask. Probably walked past u lol, but glad u had a day. I did too
