Weloof
It was a fantastic Cheltenham Festival with a lot of excitement and some fantastic equine and human performances. Gordon Elliott eventually won the Trainer’s Championship on countback and himself and Willie Mullins won twelve races between them. It was Jessica Harrington who stole the headlines on Gold Cup day and Sizing John was very impressive, travelling well and winning in a time below standard. Ruby Walsh’s superb Thursday saw him become the top jockey at the meeting for the eleventh time. I would also quickly like to mention Winx who blew the field away at Rosehill in heavy going in the George Ryder, she is an extraordinary mare who can cope with different surfaces and distances.
We are now only two weeks away from the Lincoln and I have been preparing some of the older horses for the start of the turf season, there are some exciting horses to look forward to. Trip To Paris has arrived safely in Dubai and he travelled well over there, it looks a very competitive Dubai Gold Cup this year and it is much deeper than average. He has had no hiccups in his preparation and appears to be very well so I hope he can run close to his best form.
The last three horses have all won and Oud Metha Bridge won very easily up at Newcastle on Wednesday evening. I think we found a good opportunity for him as the rest of the field had not shown much prior to the race and I hope the handicapper bears this in mind when he reassesses him on Tuesday.
We have two runners at Wolverhampton this evening. Dutch Uncle has done well for us over the Winter and ran a career best latest when second. Unfortunately the handicapper moved him up another four pounds and he is now on a career high mark. The positives are the stable form and he is also a course and distance winner but he has been drawn widest of all in stall ten and it will not be easy for him. The majority of the field are exposed but horses such as Intrude and Perfect Cracker produce their best here and Andastra is the exception having only had two runs. She was fancied to run well in a Conditions race here over a furlong shorter and whilst horses can sometimes disappoint on their second run back from a long break, if she does step forward from that then she is the horse to beat. Amazement produced a career best to beat a potentially well treated horse last time over course and distance and if he can reproduce that then he will be a threat.
Weloof runs in the 1m Maiden and whilst there are only six runners it is a competitive affair. He did not handle the holding ground at Newbury when disappointing and I hope he can show us that he possesses ability this evening. Sufi has run two solid races and he will be hard to beat whilst Everything For You showed a fair amount of promise when fourth in a warm Maiden at Doncaster late last season. Magic Pass showed some promise on his debut before fading late on and Dalavida has also shown a little promise.