Moon Target is 5/4 this morning so 3/1 looks pretty good now. If she wins today you would think the Fillies Mike would be the next target if she is having another run this year. With that in mind 12/1 looks too big a price to leave alone. Other contenders will be coming into the race with stamina questions ans hopefully that box will be ticked today. I've gone in fot the 1000 Guineas as well, as 25/1 seems more realistic than for some of the Fillies listed. Fillies Mile MOON TARGET 12/1 1000 Guineas 25/1 Fingers crossed.
Just a footnote on Zanthos' flop and Touleen's impressive win. Touleen was put in as 9/4 Fav for the Rockfel and that looks plenty short enough. Despite the easy win, it was a class 4 Novice and the Rockfel is Group 2. It all really comes down to what figure we think Zanthos ran to. If she ran to her opening rating of 101 from the Racing Post then game on for Touleen but I felt the Crisford filly never travelled. If the figures do stack up that way it must have been the best Class 4 novice ever run at Leicester.
Well Moon Target was dismal. She beat today's winner last time out but found nothing when asked and weakened tamely. Mark Prescott was confident beforehand and you have to feel a bit sorry for him getting his bubble burst so brutally. He will be hoping something come to light. As ever that winner got the best thing since sliced bread treatment from ITV with Matt Chapman asking if the French Guineas might be on the cards. Ffs give the jockey a break. The race is months away and it's not his call anyway. Mark Prescott has just said Moon Target is finished for the season and could only express his disappointment. It was mused that the filly might be too weak for races like today but she had managed to finish ahead of today's winner last time, so that theory doesn't hold much water. 3/1 about an 11/10 shot and she runs like a drain. It's enough to make you bite your Willie.
Well Oxagon finished ahead of Gewan but had to give best to the O'Brien maiden rated 102. Still, Scandinavia won the St Leger and I had backed him at 7/1 Ante Post. I didn't fancy Lambourn today as he was pretty dismal in the Voltiguer at York. Looking back at the Derby you would have to say it was pretty poor and Lambourn hasn't looked like a 120 horse on his last two starts.
The Racing Post awarded Zanthos a RPR of just 84 for her run at Leicester behind Touleen. That is 17 lbs lower than her first run. Touleen was given 95 and that still leaves her with a good bit to find for the Group 2 Rockfel where she is a warm 9/4 favourite. A 4/11 Fav runs more than a stone below it's previous start and nobody bats an eyelid. Instead the horse that beats it is given the superstar treatment.
Moon Target may run again this season after all. Mark Prescott declared that she was done for the year but is now looking at either the Rockfel or Fillies Mile. He could not believe how poorly she ran last time and felt something must be amiss but she wasn't in season and nothing else has come to light. She will need the mother of all comebacks.
It's all relative. For all we know Zanthos may have run to 90 or 95 last week. In which case Touleen ran to 101 or 106. All these ratings can leave egg on the face of the raters because they may have prejudices. It's happened countless times before. Touleen is not given the superstar treatment by the racing post raters. I always thought amiss did mean 'in season', though in common parlance it means something is/was wrong
It's more the media who get a milk bottle in their trousers. The race raters did not get carried away but the race report was screaming about 14/1 for the 1000 Guineas. It was only a class 4 novice where the 4/11 Fav was dismal and the rest were moderate. Only the other day Alan King's Spyce won a Yarmouth maiden by a neck and they were talking about him being backed for the Group 1 Futurity at Doncaster. The reality is that the Gosden runner up, who lost by a small margin on debut, would be likely to be favoured in a match bet if they met again. I suspect the assessors will be hamstrung by how highly they can rate a 2YO runner up on their debut. Spyce can be backed at 33/1 if anyone fancies him for the Futurity.
As I suspected, Spyce was rated 84 by the Racing Post for winning at the second attempt. He had earned 88 on his debut by the same assessors. It doesn't scream Group 1 next stop but if you want to ruin a horses mark in a hurry fair enough.
