Ticking over with a few winners:
I was up at Perth last week, where I rode Durragh to win. That might not have been the strongest of races, but she’s now won two in a row, and hopefully she can continue to climb the handicap.
Highway Companion had dropped down the handicap and seemed to have sharpened up for his first run of the season at Wetherby. On the best of his form you could see that he was handicapped to be competitive and it was nice to get his head back in front.
It was great to ride a double for Donald [McCain] at Bangor last Saturday, with Kerosene Light and Into The Sunset both winning easily. They are both nice types of horses and you’d have to think that they would be competitive on that form going forward.
The ground was a bit of a worry with Kerosene Light as his best form had come on a heavy surface, but he handled it well. Donald also had Copper Fox in that race, who finished second, and he’s a big, fine horse too. You should see both of them out again this summer.
Upcoming Rides:
I’ve two rides at Worcester this evening.
Obey The Rules (5:15pm) is what he is, and he holds no secrets from the handicapper. He has been running consistently on all sorts of tracks and on his best form he’d have a chance, so I hope he’ll be competitive.
I don’t know too much about Farceur De Maulne (8:03pm). I’ve only had one ride for his trainer Richard Hawker before, when I finished second at Sedgefield last week. It’s always great to get the support from lots of different trainers.
Stratford Saturday:
I’m at Stratford on Saturday for three rides, beginning with Fanzio in the Class 3 handicap chase at (6:00pm). I won on him last year and some of his form from last season doesn’t read too badly. I’m looking forward to getting back on him.
Arthur’s Seat runs in the following handicap hurdle (6:30pm). I just got beaten on him by a short head at Perth last time out, so I’m hoping he can make up for that narrow defeat, and that he’ll take a bit of beating.
Larch Hill (7:00pm) is another horse I know well, having won two handicap chases on him last season. He returned from a lay-off last month at Huntingdon and hopefully he can take a step forward from that.
They’ll all follow Native’s Trail in the Irish Guineas:
It’s the Irish 2000 Guineas from the Curragh this Saturday, and in my opinion, you can’t look beyond Native Trail.
Godolphin have a strong hand in the mile division this season and Native Trail holds the best form going into the race. I struggle to see him being beaten.
