Moamar
The Queen Of The Turf series has been a fantastic read in the Racing Post and it has brought many fond memories to the fore. To have two fillies that I trained in the Top 50 makes me very proud and they were both Super Stars. Ouija Board was in the top 10 and in winning an Oaks by seven lengths and winning at the Breeders Cup twice as well as triumphing at the top level on four other occasions she earnt her ‘position within the pantheon of great race mares..’
Peter Thomas labelled Snow Fairy’s position at number 33 as a disgrace in the Racing Post Queens Of The Turf podcast and it is very kind of him to argue the case that she merited a higher position in the series. It is an honour to have her included in such a prestigious feature but I do agree with Peter that there is a strong argument she could have been placed higher. She was a dual Oaks winner who went to Japan twice and beat their best fillies on both occasions and she signed off by beating the colts in the Irish Champion stakes. I rate that as her career best performance and she was an incredibly tough mare to come back from a serious injury and be able to do that.
We had three runners at the end of last week. Marwa was disappointing but she got caught very wide whilst Booshbash ran her usual honest race when finishing fourth. Arnarson was third at Lingfield on Saturday and we hoped he would go very close so it was a little disappointing. He did get caught wide and was keen in the very early stages which meant he was dropped in a little further than ideal. When he straightened up he stayed on encouragingly and the winner looks to have improved leaps and bounds on his third start. I do hope he can win us races this season and he definitely has the ability to do so.
Moamar is our only runner today and he runs in the 4:20 at Wolverhampton. He improved significantly on his debut effort when winning at Newcastle but it was only an average Maiden and we need him to step forward again today. Given he has only had the two starts this is not impossible and he did travel well and show a good attitude when winning last time.
It is a very competitive race with all five horses finishing in the first two last time out. Poetic Force beat one of our horses in Global Revival on his last start and although he drops back in trip, it was a slowly run race and he showed a good turn of foot to beat us. Enfolding has shaped as if the step up in trip will suit but he does have to improve on his bare form. Shabeeh has dropped down the weights and he has not been beaten far on recent starts but he is not progressing. Party Tiger was just in front of Shabeeh at Wolverhampton and the winner has since won a reasonable claimer, so he has a chance too in a very tight knit affair.