Good morning from Newmarket, or should I say Hong Kong! I have decamped to the Far East this week, with Red Verdon running in the Hong Kong Vase at the weekend. His preparation is going well at present, and I have attached a couple of pictures taken locally which I hope you will enjoy browsing.
Closer to home we are represented today by Global Humor, who has had to get out of bed very early in time for the 11.30 at Lingfield. This seven-furlong 0-70 handicap has a typically competitive feel to it, and we have ended up in stall eight of 14.
Global Humor now races from a mark of 66, and I expressed in the last blog before he ran how surprising it is that he has dropped to such a lowly level, having started the year on 82. On his latest outing at Wolverhampton he gave us a full demonstration of his talent and foibles, as he travelled like the winner, looked set to pull away for a cosy victory a furlong and a half out, but then found very little and ended up finishing only fourth.
In one performance he had shown us just why he is so frustrating, for the talent remains but the application is just lacking. A pair of blinkers seemed to liven him up, so we retain them today, whilst it is a major positive that we keep the partnership with Rab Havlin from Wolverhampton, as they appeared to get on well. A drop to sprinting was mooted, but we have decided to stick to seven for now, and we actually run from a pound lower than at Wolverhampton, despite the fact the performance was not completely devoid of promise. The only other note of caution is the track – as whether he will be suited to coming down the hill at Lingfield is open to question. One thing we do know is that he has the talent to play a part in the finish. We can only keep our fingers crossed!
All the best,
Ed.