Good afternoon from Newmarket. It is a bright and beautiful day here, and hopefully we will get some results that keep the smiles on our faces at Chelmsford this evening! We have four runners across three races with horses at very differing stages of their careers, and I am looking forward to seeing how we get on.
In the mile novice at 6.55, our three-year-olds Helian and Global Command both make rather belated racecourse debuts.
Global Command is a gelded son of War Command out of the very speedy Gr.3 placed Zebedee mare Parsley. He has taken a long time to come to hand, and has not shown quite the zip of his mother, so we are starting him over further. We have seen a definite improvement in his home work in recent months and he is very much ready to get started this evening. However, very frustratingly, he is drawn in stall 16 of 16, which leaves him with a virtually impossible task. His rider Gerald Mosse will likely have to take his medicine and drop the horse in, and let’s hope that he can learn something from the experience and he shows us a little ability.
Helian, a son of Shamardal out of the Listed winning mare Amathia, has fared rather better in the draw stakes as he has landed gate four. He is a sibling of the Gr.3 Winter Hill Stakes winner Distant Memories, amongst other stakes performers, and has been gradually taking shape in his work recently. I hope that from his favourable stalls position he can break cleanly and get involved in the contest early on and have a positive first experience of racing. However, this horse has had a few hold ups along the way, and is certain to benefit from the outing both physically and mentally. It is also worth noting that this is a particularly strong novice, and as such the prices rather reflect our chances, but hopefully both of our horses can show that they possess some raw ability.
Next up, in the mile and a quarter 0-85 handicap at 7.25, Global Art attempts to build on his impressive last time out victory at Wolverhampton. Returning to Chelmsford holds no fears for him, as a previous course winner, whilst he seems to continue in good form at home as we have tried to keep him fresh since his last run.
The concern is unquestionably his mark, as he has been moved up five pounds to a career high perch of 81. His form figures on the AW from a mark of 76 or less read 11, but any higher and his record changes to 4393255. So, whilst we know he is not far away from being very competitive off this sort of rating, he clearly needs to improve somewhat to defy it.
As a four-year-old who has relatively few miles on the clock, that is entirely possible, and we feel he is in a race today in which he ought to hold every chance. Badenscoth looked unlucky last time and might have more to offer, and indeed all of our five rivals can be given a chance on paper, but it will still be disappointing should Global Art not be involved in the finish. Gerald Mosse retains the partnership.
Our final runner today is the ever popular Dark Red, who returns to action after a short spell on the sidelines. The redoubtable veteran spent his winter in Dubai, and after disappointing on his return to action at Kempton in March it was decided that he needed a little spell of rest and recuperation.
One consequence of his slightly below-par spell of form during the winter is that his rating has now reduced to 93 having been over 100 at the turn of the year. So he looks reasonably treated, he is a previous course and distance winner at Chelmsford, and we believe that we have him back in better form. So hopefully the old boy is ready to give a good account of himself, although the favourite Star Of Bengal of John Gosden;s comes under the ‘could be anything category’, Exec Chef has been in good form in competitive races so far this year, and David Simcock’s Highbrow looked potentially smart at this time last year. So, clearly it will be no easy task for Dark Red, but I am looking forward to seeing how he gets on and hope that he might outrun his odds a little. Ben Curtis gets on board for the first time.
All the best,
Ed.