Another bright and beautiful day greeted us in Newmarket this morning, though temperatures were a little bit cooler in the early morning which was helpful for the horses out exercising.
We have two more runners today, one at Newcastle and one at Newmarket, as we bid to shake off a touch of seconditis that has plagued us in recent weeks. Yesterday provided a case in point as Dark Red benefited from a fine ride from Lewis Edmunds to swoop late in a valuable handicap over the mile at Newcastle, only to be denied by a neck. The day previously at Kempton, Dan Muscutt gave Sporting Times a lovely and well-judged ride in a competitive 14-runner event, but they were denied by a head and would surely have got up in another stride or two.
Those were our fifth and sixth seconds in the last fortnight, four of them beaten under a length, and we have had 16 runners-up since the start of May. In other words, we are hitting the 25 but struggling to find the bullseye!
Hopefully that can change shortly, though I wouldn’t advise holding your breath as today’s racing looks highly competitive!
In the 6.10 at Newmarket we run the Kyllachy two-year-old filly Hallalulu, with Fran Berry up. She was well beaten at Kempton on her debut, after missing the break quite badly, but then stepped forward when fifth at Thirsk. She will be one for nurseries later on, but I am hoping to see another little bit of progression this evening.
In the 6.55 at Newcastle, a 0-80 over a mile, we send the three-year-old Lonhro gelding Amplification. He was a promising sort last year, finishing third to Willie John on his debut. That winner became famous subsequently for selling for 1.9m guineas at the Tattersalls February Sale, and Amplification had already complimented the form by winning his maiden at Doncaster on his only other outing last season. He was a respectable third on his comeback in a Newcastle novice on his next run, though the form has sent out mixed signals since, before disappointing at Chelmsford. As a result we are on a bit of a retrieval mission this evening, but I would like to think he can be competitive in this grade. Jim Crowley has been booked to do the steering.
All the best,
Ed.