Oud Metha Bridge
We have been luckier to have had some milder weather of late and this has helped to bring the horses forward although as you would expect many of the fillies are behind and have woolly coats. Storm Doris caused some minor damage but luckily that was easily fixed and thankfully we managed to get all the horses out before it reached its peak.
We are starting to have a few runners as we build up towards the turf season and it would be nice to get a few more winners on the board. I was delighted to see that Amanda Elliott has been elected to be the Chairman of the Victoria Racing Club over in Australia, she did a tremendous job as Vice Chairman and I expect her to do a very good job as Chairman too.
We had two runners on Thursday, Zamjar ran respectably in the void race and the lack of a recent run told late on in the strong wind. Solajan was beaten a head by a horse that already had two runs under his belt, he did a lot right and with normal improvement he will be able to win a race in the near future.
Oud Metha Bridge is our only runner today in the 1:30 at Lingfield. He showed promise in both of his starts in 2016 and was sandwiched by horses that have ratings of 80 and slightly higher on his second start. He shaped as if the step up to a Mile at a track like Lingfield will suit and has pleased us in what he has done at home recently. Trade Route has the benefit of race fitness on his side as he has two recent runs under his belt but he needs to step up on what he showed last time, he was well found in the market on his latest start and is clearly thought capable of better. Many Waters should appreciate the surface and the daughter of Street Cry is out of a Listed winner, there has been money for her and she would have to be respected. Hajaam was an expensive Book1 purchase and like our colt Mori Yoshinari is a son of Helmet. It is always difficult when assessing a race with so many newcomers but experience often counts for a lot and we have to be confident on a probability basis that our colt has a strong chance.