2.10 Catterick
Carmela Maria 25/1
Not at all surprised to see an influx of money and a massive drop in price for Carmela Maria who was successful in this race last year and I think she's gone to run a mighty race in her quest to land this for a second year running at a track where she seems a completely different animal. Carmela Maria came into this race last year off a 1lb lower mark off 84 a maiden after 15 attempts over hurdles but broke her duck under a very patient ride under Joe Colliver as she came from a different county to get up to win by a head on the line for the Mike Sowesby team. The form of that race looks strong with the 2nd Tippering going down by a neck off a 6lb higher mark and the 3rd Easement ran a really good race in defeat off a 7lb higher mark on his next start. Two weeks after her first success over hurdles she returned to Catterick over the same C+D off a 5lb higher mark of 90 where she ran out a very impressive winner in testing conditions to score by 7L in a slog with the front two pulling miles clear of the rest. In the Conditional Jockeys race under today's jockey Ed Linehan, Carmela Maria travelled into the race sweetly from off the pace and hit the front by about a length coming up to the final flight. She barely got off the ground as she absolutely smashed into the last hurdle but she still had some juice left in the tank as she pulled clear up the short run in. Again, the form of that race looks strong with the 2nd Phoenix Lady scoring off a 5lb higher mark on her only subsequent start. Carmela Maria was turned out unpenalised for that success, she was turned out quickly enough when disappointing as favourite at Southwell at the start of January this year (beaten 7L) but a return to her favourite venue saw her go very close off a 12lb higher mark of 102 in February of this year as she went down by 1L as she stayed onto 3rd close home.
Again under patient tactics, Ed Linehan worked Carmela Maria nicely and she looked to hold every chance going over the last but couldn't get there in time as she had to settle for minor money. The form of that race has worked out nicely with the winner Howizee, who probably one a shade cosily, winning 2 starts later off a 2lb higher mark impressively as well as getting beaten a head off a 19lb higher mark 3 starts later and he is 22lb higher than his success that day. Since that race, Carmela Maria has had 6 starts over hurdles and has been disappointing in all of them but resultantly her mark has fallen from 103 all the way back down to 85 and based on her course form she looks a very well handicapped horse. Moreover, her last 3 starts have seen her wear cheekpieces as opposed to her usual blinkers(which are reapplied for tomorrow's contest) and, as Stick noted, she has also been ridden far more forcefully in her last 2 starts and I definitely feel she will be given a waiting ride tomorrow. A real course specialist, her form over tomorrow's C+D reads 1-1-3 and there is no question in my mind that she is a completely different proposition around Catterick's undulating track. I definitely feel that connections have earmarked this race for quite a while and have gotten her back down to a very favourable mark for a race she was successful in last year off only a 1lb lower mark. Given that this 7 year old was a ready winner off 5lb higher mark a year ago and beaten only 1L off a 17lb higher mark, its very clear that she is a very well handicapped horse on that form and I am confident the reapplication of blinkers coupled with a return to Catterick will certainly spark a revival for this mare. Ed Linehan takes a valuable 7lb getting her racing weight down to a lovely 9-12 and she shouldn't have any problems with conditions and should relish this if it becomes a slog. With an awful lot in her favour, I'm confident Mike Sowesby's mare will bounce back from a string of poor efforts and fancy her to land this race for the 2nd year running.