Hello, crew. I think there is one of the most interesting runners I’ve seen for many a while out tomorrow at Newbury. I’m talking about ARGOCAT (4.05) trained by the forum’s favourite trainer, its idol, Mr Henderson.
Argocat arrived at Seven Barrows earlier in the NH campaign but to date has only had one run in the NH sphere when disappointing over this course back in February. Previously was a multiple Grade 2 winner over the big ‘uns in Ireland but that has led to him having a huge rating of 156 over such obstacles. In fact when Mr Henderson heard this, it is rumoured, that he had a large GnT (purely medicinal you understand) to cope with the shock. I’m sure this perching is one of the reasons why the great man is keen to steer him away from fences and a return to the Flat.
Argocat hasn’t run on the level for almost 5 years (although I’m sure some on here will mischievously claim ‘Endo ain’t run one on the level for a lot longer than that. Ban ‘em say I) but was an above average sort for Paul Cole, back in the day, winning a Newmarket maiden and achieving a peak perch of 88. This is something of a speculative choice, of the morrow, but given his subsequent grand achievements in the NH game, the fact that he is handled by a genius who should have eked out further improvement and the fact that off a rating of 75 he has to be worth taking a chance on (receives weight all round in the chosen contest). Furthermore, the stamina sapping distance, of 18 furlongs, should present few problems (and you can’t say that re a few of his rivals) as Argocat has won over 3 miles over jumps. Nor should the heavy ground (again such conditions will be against a few opponents) as his Graded successes were all achieved on such a surface.
It will be fascinating to see how Argocat fares across the county line. Recommended.
