Taken another good look now will ew on angelic upstart 9s , chesterslittlegem 8s , and hazzathe jazza 13/2 Noticed the two already mentioned have both shortened slightly
Balls thought I put this up last night when Curley Bill was 5s 6.50 Galway Curley Bill 7/2 I very strongly fancy Noel Meade's 5 year old to land this contest. Having started his career on the National Hunt scene where he showed some good form in bumpers where he won at the 4th time of asking (ran moderately in a couple of hurdles as well), Curley Bill ran out a very ready winner on his flat debut in a useful enough maiden at Gowran Park back in April over 12f where he scored by a comfortable 1.25L. Settled in mid division, Curley Bill travelled extremely well throughout the contest and despite meeting a bit of interference up the home straight when looking for a gap he arrived on the premises travelling on the bridle before asserting under a drive from Emmet McNamara late on to record a ready success in a race that is pretty useful form. Curley Bill was assigned a handicap mark of 80 for that success and he clearly bumped into a very good horse when finishing a clear 2nd on his final start when making his handicap debut at the Curragh at the end of June. Under todays jockey Fran Berry, Curley Bill was anchored towards the rear of the field before cutting through the field still travelling well. He had to wait for the eventual winner to go through a gap before following him through and although the winner may have gotten first run he was a comfortable scorer as Curley Bill drew over 4L clear of the remainder. That winner was the 3 year old Dabadiyan (received a stone weight for age) who is hugely progressive and will be aimed at both Legers and the Great Voltigeur and Mick Halford's charge is clearly much better than a handicapper. Looking at the rest of the comprehensively beaten opposition, the 4th has since gone on to win whilst a lot of the field came there in very good form and the 5lb rise seems completely justified. I think Curley Bill's new mark of 85 has him ahead of the handicapper and if the application of a first time hood brings out any improvement (personally don't think he needs it) its going to take an extremely well handicapped horse to beat him. Although his flat runs have come on a sound surface, he clearly handles testing conditions just as well judged on his Bumper runs. From his draw in stall 8, I'd expect Curley Bill to be dropped towards the rear and I think Curley Bill's strong travelling style will be ideally suited in the extremely testing conditions. If they go a decent clip, if Curley Bill gets a largely troubled free passage I am confident he'll land this handicap in good style. 8.25 Galway Dancin' Glory 25/1 Mervyn Torres saddles an absolutely fascinating contender in the shape of his handicap debutant Dancin' Glory and what is a very average race I think a mark of 104 looks very interesting judged on her very useful bumper form. This lightly raced 7 year old made her racecourse debut back in late 2010 when running decently in a couple of bumpers and after an ok effort in a Maiden hurdle on her 3rd start in March 2011 she ran out an impressive winner of a Bumper on her 4th career start when making all at Down Royal in testing conditions to score by over 3L in November that year. A horse who very much likes to get on with it from the front, Corky Carroll set excellent fractions in testing conditions under his then 5 year old mare and having travelled powerfully throughout the race she stayed on dourly under a drive in the finish to score in good style from a couple of useful rivals. The beaten odds on favourite in 2nd (who was carrying 17lb more having won 2 bumpers prior) is a useful animal. Dancin' Glory then ran an absolute blinder when finishing a 6L beaten 4th in a very decent Mares Listed contest at Navan later that month in similarly testing conditions. Under Andy Duff, Dancin' Glory again set off from the front and forged clear of the field where she stayed for most of the contest. Although the field had closed right up on her into the straight, Dancin' Glory was still travelling comfortably at the 2f when the eventual winner Thynetocatcher pressed her and under a drive Dancin' Glory was able to stick with that rival until about 1f out. Having been eventually mastered by that rival, Dancin' Glory faded quickly in the final 100 yards or so to finish a tired 4th but it was an absolutely blinding run against some very decent horses. The winner has subsequently gone on to finish a narrowly beaten 2nd in a Grade 3 hurdle, the runner up Shu Lewis (yet to go over hurdles) is now a 97 rated horse on the flat having run a blinder in the St Leger whilst the 3rd comfortably beat the useful Beef To The Heels on hurdling debut. Additionally, back in 6th was the high class Missunited who won the Galway Hurdle yesterday and it was an absolutely blinding run from Merven Torres' mare. After disappointing in a bumper at Fairyhouse in February last year, Dancin' Glory ran an excellent 4L beaten 4th on flat debut when a never nearer behind some 70+ rated flat horses at Down Royal in September last year before running a fine 3rd over hurdles at Navan later that month. On her first start over hurdles for 18 months, Dancin' Glory employed traditional front running tactics but she was a bit keen out in front. Jockey Andrew Thornton decided to give her some rein and she was a few lengths clear of the field. Swinging into the home straight, Dancin' Glory was joined by the strong travelling winner Captain Arceus but she found quite a lot for pressure as she stuck with that rival for a sustained period of time. However, approaching the last Captain Arceus forged clear comfortably to score and having tried to stay with the winner under sustained driving Dancin' Glory got tired in the finish as she just managed to hang onto 3rd in a 3 way go for 2nd. Given that it was her first start over hurdles for a year and a half, I was very impressed with the way she jumped and she lost very little in defeat that day. Captain Arceus is now rated 132 over hurdles (still progressing) whilst the runner up Giant's Quest is now rated 122 over timber (also progressing) and it was another blinding effort from the mare. Her final start over hurdles came last November when running ok in a Grade 3 hurdle and judged on her bumper form and her 2nd start over hurdles I think a mark of 104 looks potentially on the very lenient side. She recently had a spin on the flat in June and although well beaten it was a very useful contest against predominantly 3 year olds and she had a good blow out that should see her spot on for today as it was her first run in 7 months. Her last start saw a first time hood employed (retained today) and I think its a very interesting addition now back over hurdles. Although she got away with her free racing in bumpers as she was allowed to stride clear, she can't really do that over hurdles and she did pull a bit when 3rd over timber last September and I hopefully the addition of the hood can help her settle. I definitely expect Dancin' Glory to be prominent reverting back over hurdles and it will be interesting to see if she's sent from the front in her usual style. I wouldn't mind at all if she took a lead and sat on the quarters of the leader but as long as she's prominent I'll be happy. In this Amateur Riders handicap, Noel McParlan is a decent booking who'll claim a valuable 7lb and I think he's a good judge of pace from the front. Mervyn Torres, who has had a winner on the flat at the Festival before, saw his last flat runner successful and I'm sure Dancin' Glory will be spot on for this. Proven in testing conditions, Dancin' Glory will find this so much easier than the races she has ran in on her last 2 starts over hurdles and although a bit of an enigma I think she looks set for a huge run. Given that her half sister Dancera (trained by Torres) was 2nd at Galway under a front running performance, I expect Dancin' Glory to be perfectly suited by the track and if Noel McParlan can set the correct fractions from the front over this 18f trip I think Dancin' Glory could take a lot of catching from a mark of 104 that I feel definitely underestimates her ability.
Paul Mulrennan will not lose the race but should get a lot more than a couple of days as he crucified the favourite and continued coming across encouraged by the jockeys whip. Although I don't agree we should have the French rules, in this instance they would have made the jockey ride that finish differently.
It's what, 3 days since he last ran and that was on heavy ground. He just needs a bit more time to recuperate. He travelled quite nicely for the first half but was obviously asked to do too much. He ran off top weight in a competitive handicap today. I'll happily take a chance on him again next season.
Well done Ginger. Boom whatever you want. Montiridge did it really easily. Looks a fairly decent horse and they're keeping him in training next season according to Hannon on Channel 4 post race.
The race he won at Galway was absolutely woeful Bob, and nothing he done before that suggests he should be rated anywhere near 107 never mind 117. And Colin Keane is a bad jockey, thats why I knew he had no chance in a race like that today.
That's fair enough. It was a £60 grand race though to the winner so there will have been plenty of yards trying to win it. I agree he's no 117 horse but to put that performance in the other day is screaming 100's to me even after todays race. They'll go down the black type route now anyway. There's no other options left for him I wouldn't have thought.
I'm looking at the Saturday 2.40 at Goodwood now. Apparently there's been a move for Royal Skies for Johnston. That horse has been hammered 5lbs by the handicapper for winning a 2 horse egg and spoon race at Musselburgh by 6 lengths. The horse it beat that day has subsequently done nothing in a 5 runner class 5 at Hamilton and had previously done sod all also. Royal Skies didn't run at all poorly in the Queens Vase at Ascot and obviously didn't stay 2miles that day but surely he's not been bumped up that 5lbs off the back of that run? Surely? I think that rise is very harsh. I backed Pether's Moon the last time it ran against Havana Cooler and to be honest they were the two pre race I thought would fight out the finish. Subsequent weight rises have left me thinking Pether's Moon can get the better of the Cumani horse this time around especially in light of how well the Hannon/Hughes combo have been performing this week as I think memory leads me to believe that they were not firing as eye catchingly at the time of their last race.
Stick, if you're about lawney hill's HILL FORT GLORIA in the last at Bangor has been smashed into 4/1 is this a plot mate? Cheers buddy I've stuck a cheeky tenner on just in case
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