The racing broadcaster is casting his net far and wide in recruiting his next wave of horses for his stable tracker.
Last week was a quiet week one with Outgun taken out because of the deluge at Sandown and Cherry Blossom finishing second as an even-money favourite after running into a really exciting debutant in One Look in the Goffs Million.
She remains a nice prospect but was comprehensively put in her place on Saturday and, having had three runs for us, is let go. Outgun, meanwhile, runs on Wednesday at Kempton (18:30).
NEW ADDITIONS
As a result, we need to swell the ranks, so the net has been cast far and wide, starting with BRIONI who finished third on debut at Sandown at a big price.
The tracker has had success with Alan King horses and one of the features of the yard is that two-year-old debutants nearly always need the experience. The yard is just 4/192 with first-time-out 2YOs – with an actual/expected ratio of 0.58 – but have an overall record of 47/593 with the youngsters and a positive A/E of 1.08. It is therefore always worth taking note of when one runs well on debut as Brioni did here and, if he makes the usual improvement, he should be capable of winning a small race next time.
ALBASHEER is undoubtedly a frustrating horse but showed in the Ayr Gold Cup once again that a big handicap could drop his way if things fall right. He gets behind and was still last with just over a furlong to go before flying home to finish fourth. He is a white-knuckle ride but is clearly capable ability wise and a 7f handicap at Ascot could suit between now and the end of the season.
With jumping stepping up a gear, two Plumpton winners are also added. The tracker would normally steer clear of winners but, in this case, both were having their first runs for new yards so the improvement they showed may well prove more sustained.
A string of short-priced victories is more the gameplan for both AVIEWOFTHESTARS and OUR CHAMP. The former was having her first start for Fergal O’Brien off a basement mark of 79 and looked well ahead of that in an unusually larger-field handicap hurdle. She has the opportunity of mares’ races as well, so expect her to be quite busy in the months to come.
Paul Henderson had a quiet final couple of seasons before giving up his license, and it was Our Champ’s first start for Chris Gordon on Sunday. He was left clear at the last but looked to have the race in safe keeping.
The tracker will be keeping a close eye on any other of Paul’s horses that may have switched to Chris over the weeks to come. Having both won on Sunday they all have the maximum time available to run under penalties before being reassessed.
SUMMARY:
Released: Cherry Blossom
Added: Brioni, Albasheer, Aviewofthestars, Our Champ
You can see the latest stable as it stands in full here.
