Brian Hughes Blog 26/05/2023
It’s been good to clock up a few more winners over the week. Latino Fling ran as I hoped she would and won well at Aintree last Friday, and then Bangor went well with a treble on the Saturday.
Of those, Waspy, who won the maiden hurdle, is a lovely horse. He deserved to win a race of that calibre and he’s and nice prospect going forward. He’ll jump a fence one day.
Saturday, Cartmel:
Cartmel is a unique track with sharp turns and undulations and the cliché of ‘horses for courses’ probably applies here. I certainly enjoy it there, and luckily the people I ride for tend to target the course with the right type of horse.
I kick off with Boomslang (1:40pm) in the maiden hurdle, where John McConnell’s horse, Moon D’Orange, is probably the one to beat following his run at Leopardstown over Christmas. He’s been off the track since then though, so you do wonder if he’s had a little bit of a problem.
My lad is fit and ready to roll, so hopefully he’s got a good each-way chance at the very least.
Merry Poppins (2:15pm) has been wickedly unlucky. She was second first time out at Bangor back in October, then she didn’t really come up the hill on sticky ground at Sandown.
She just got beat at both Ludlow and Cheltenham earlier in the spring, and you’d have to say she would have won the other day at Haydock if not for making a bad mistake three-out. She lost a shoe that day as well.
We’re stepping right back in trip here, but I’m not too worried about that as she has a fair bit of boot.
A Different Kind (3:20pm) is a nice horse. He was jumping lovely on his introduction to fences at Warwick earlier in the month before making a mistake at the fifth last fence, where he actually did very well to stay on his feet.
I knew the chance of winning was gone after that, so we just gave him a good experience and he stayed on well to the line under hands and heels. He’d be one of my better chances on the card, alongside Merry Poppins.
Raecius Felix (3:55pm) was second round Cartmel last year and then went on to win at Sedgefield and Kelso after that.
Being pulled up on his comeback run last time is a little bit of a concern, but you can always forgive them an off day, especially on their first run back.
Kauto Riko (4:30pm) probably isn’t quite the horse he once was, but if he’s to rediscover a bit of his older form then he could also go well.
Sunday, Kelso:
Clody Flyer (2:30pm) should hopefully get the job done. He was a good winner last time and our nearest rival here is rated 82, so it looks very winnable on paper.
He’ll enjoy the good ground and deserves to be a short-price favourite despite having to give away a penalty.
The Blame Game (4:05pm) is up 5lbs for his win at Sedgefield last time out, but that shouldn’t inconvenience him. He’ll love the quicker ground and honestly, he’d be happy going down the main road!
Irish Guineas:
I cannot see why Hi Royal is double the price of Royal Scotsman despite finishing in front of him at Newmarket. I know Royal Scotsman has some solid back-form, but on that last run you’ve got to be with Hi Royal.
Kevin [Ryan] is a very shrewd trainer, and though I might be a bit biased as he’s also a good friend, he’s proved that this horse is no back number.
He’s finished second in a Guineas on the fourth run of his career, and I think he can only improve.
In the fillies’ race, Tahiyra is pretty hard to look past. Her and Mawj pulled away from the field at Newmarket, where the Godolphin filly probably would have had a slight fitness edge having run in Dubai over the winter.
The only small question mark with her would be the ground, as Dermot [Weld] has so far been happier to campaign her on ground with a bit of dig in it, and if it does get quick then that will suit her main rival, Meditate.
