Uttoxeter, Friday
I’m off to Uttoxeter on Friday and I begin with Grizabella (2.10pm) for Shark Hanlon. She’s one I don’t know too much about, but she has bits and pieces of form so let’s hope she can be competitive. As we all know, Shark doesn’t usually send them over just for a day out.
I’m then on Micky Hammond’s Ambassador (2.45pm). It’s his first start for Micky but he won nicely last time over course and distance and hopefully he’s in the same sort of form here. He’s gone up six pounds and Harry Atkins took off 10 that day, so he’s effectively 15 pounds worse off, though he’s been rated higher in the past.
Another for Shark follows in the form of Lakefield Flyer (4.30pm). He’s been pretty consistent this year and didn’t run too badly the last day at Stratford where he was just a touch keen. If he can settle a bit better back down in trip, he should be competitive despite the fact he has to give weight away to all our rivals.
My final ride on Friday is Presently (5.05pm). I was onboard for her debut at Bangor where I thought she shaped with plenty of promise. Bangor isn’t the easiest track for inexperienced horses and she just struggled to handle the undulations. She’ll certainly improve for the outing and I’d be pretty confident she can be there or thereabouts given it doesn’t look a particularly strong race.
Saturday, York
We don’t know the final declarations yet, but as things stand the plan is for me to ride Sound Reason in the Jump Jockeys Nunthorpe (2.05pm) at York. He’s trained by a good friend of mine in Kevin Ryan and comes into the race in good form having won at Beverley.
It’s great race to ride in and although I haven’t had much success in it so far, I’m always really keen to be involved. York is a fantastic track, one of the best in the country, and they do a really good job for the jockeys.
King George
It’s looking as if the field for this year’s King George will be incredibly strong and that’s the way it should be. It’s one of the standout Flat races of the summer, so it’s great that all the big guns look set to take each other on. Dual Derby winner Auguste Rodin is probably the one to beat, but King Of Steel was very impressive at Ascot, while Hukum looks a big threat especially if the rain arrives.
