Global Art
Good morning from Newmarket. After a quiet end to last year it was something of a relief to cheer home Baasha last week at Chelmsford, and to get 2019 off to a winning start. We aim to continue the good work with Global Art in the 5.50 at Chelmsford this evening.
Only six are scheduled to go to post for this mile and a quarter 0-85 handicap, but it will be no easy task. Claire Underwood edged out Star of Southwold in a similar contest at Wolverhampton over the festive period, and both horses look formidable opponents this evening. Add into the mix the unexposed Roger Charlton-trained Perpetrator, who could be ahead of his mark, and the talented pair Samphire Coast and Brittanic, and there is clearly going to be no hiding place.
Global Art is in good form, is a previous course winner, and is racing over what we now believe to be his optimum trip. He also gets a handy turnaround in the weights with Claire Underwood from the last time they met back in June. The concern for our horse, as it has been for some time, is quite simply his mark. His victory at this track in August was so impressive that he shot up in the weights by seven pounds, and he has yet to come down thanks to some consistent efforts in the meantime.
When he did get a one pound break from the handicapper, down to a rating of 77, we were able to sneak him into a 0-75 handicap, albeit over a mile and a half which slightly stretches him. He performed miracles to only lose out by a neck in third place, but as a result he is now a pound higher once again. That rules out 0-75 contests for the foreseeable future, and we simply have to pick and choose our opportunities in the slightly higher grades.
This is one such opportunity in a small field and against horses that he ought to have a realistic chance of competing with, so hopefully he can go close. There is just that lingering suspicion that he might be a pound or two too high to actually win, but I hope to be proven wrong about that and am very hopeful that we will see a good performance nonetheless. Rab Havlin takes the mount.
All the best,
Ed.