I don't think the weight proved too much for him today, my personal thought is that the tactic attempted was 'hit the front and hold on, hope nobody close behind has a good finish left in them' - you might also think of this as an attempt to demoralise the opposition seeing him go forward with a couple to run - but in reality I think the pace was such as to really cry out for a late run from someone, and in the winner they found a horse who had a decent bit left in the tank.
The age angle is also worth considering - my own class 5 handicapper Asdaa was a 7f runner, but now he's a bit older he really needs a mile - his speed isn't quite the same as it was but he's able to stretch the energy out a little further (yes, I do appreciate the class gap between Asdaa and Battaash is rather huge), while another sprinter I've paid attention to over the years from the Elite racing club is Judicial, he's another who probably hasn't quite got the raw speed of his youth but has managed to shine over an extra furlong in his 'old age' (well, he's about 30 - 35 in our years now, being 9) - in fact Judicial has done pretty well over 6, although they still send him over 5 as well.
Or take me, I used to fairly blister the track, covering 100m (it was yards in my day of course) in well under a minute, these days I'm fairly slow but can go for miles, provided it's past 9.30 as my bus pass doesn't kick in 'till then,
It wasn't ever going to be an easy test though was it, some good fast horses in that lineup.... I mean Ornate isn't a slouch (although only an optimist could have imagined him figuring over the final 2f) and he went off at 250/1 - just totally outclassed by at least 10 of the rest, with nearly 5 grand to the 6th placed runner it was well worth a go.
Back to reality then...
Report for : 14/06/2021
Flat Handicaps
Raw ratings: 6/28 Odds: 11.0 1.75 5.0 2.25 1.75 8.5 (Return: 36.25)
Mkt filter 5/16 Odds: 11.0 1.75 5.0 2.25 1.75 (Return: 26.75)
Flat Non - Handicaps
Raw ratings 4/8 Odds: 0.67 0.57 2.75 0.25 (Return: 8.24)
Mkt filter 3/3 Odds: 0.67 0.57 0.25 (Return: 4.49)
NH Handicaps
Raw ratings: 1/5 Odds: 10.0 (Return: 11.0)
Mkt filter 1/4 Odds: 10.0 (Return: 11.0)
NH Non - Handicaps
Raw ratings 2/4 Odds: 3.5 3.0 (Return: 8.5)
Mkt filter 1/2 Odds: 3.5 (Return: 4.5)
Total Out = 45 Total return (raw) = 63.99
Total wins: 13 / 45
List of winners:
Lin 13:00:00 Cayman Moon 12.0
Gow 13:45:00 Seisai (IRE) 1.67
Car 13:55:00 Verreaux Eagle (IRE) 1.57
Lin 14:45:00 Adaay In Asia 3.75
Gow 14:55:00 Devious Dreamer (IRE) 2.75
Car 15:05:00 Fircombe Hall 6.0
Gow 16:30:00 Duquesa Beach (IRE) 3.25
Win 18:00:00 Canonized 1.25
Not 19:50:00 Tregony 2.75
Win 20:00:00 Mr Tyrrell (IRE) 9.5
Kil 16:40:00 Tarqueens Glory (IRE) 4.5
Kil 19:10:00 Demain Des LAube (FR) 4.0
Kil 19:40:00 The Wests Awake (IRE) 11.0
2 winning days on the trot, that's about as long as the winning run usually lasts so it was fun while it lasted
No picks today, tomorrow:
Glancing at tomorrow's cards Lady Bowthorpe is the first one to catch my eye in the 3.40 Duke of Cambridge stakes, and in the next I'm going to cheer Lord North on against Love - my ratings say Armoury for this race (4.20 Prince of Wales stakes) but as Love has been off the track since August I don't have any runs for her using my own standards....(hence the zero). This is a bit of a problem frankly, there are good horses coming out that have little or no form since I did the big data reset last autumn, which I wasn't really expecting by this point in the season - it just shows how long it takes to build a decent database up of results. (It probably also explains why, sometimes, I get a big priced winner that everyone thought a bit of a donkey!)
Time to walk the mighty Carra, Doom of Cats (at least that seems to be his opinion). Apparently his particular cross breed (Lurcher/Border Collie) all absolutely hate cats.
One funny story, if I can type it quick, sorry if it's a repeat - a couple of months back a lady sitting at the cafe across the road with her friend had a dog with her. Carra went to say hello, the lady with the dog was disinclined to chat (although her mate did a bit). When the mate asked after Carra's breed my wife said Lurcher/Border Collie and drew the only comment from the owner that she made
'My dog's a pedigree something something cross'.
Good job I wasn't there - my reaction on being told was 'ah, a
pedigree mongrel then?'
Us mongrels will rule the Earth.... one day.
Dave