Girl With A Pearl.
Quite warm and pleasant this morning although the forecast suggests rain later on.
I was delighted to see Scrutinise get off the mark at Chelmsford last night – he battled well under a fine ride from James Doyle and he should continue to make his mark in handicaps.
Congratulations to all those involved with Thurloe Thoroughbreds, while I must offer my commiserations to the connections of the runner-up, Grey’s Angel, who has now finished second on her last six starts. There is certainly nothing wrong with her attitude and she deserves to get off the mark very soon!
A mixed day for our other four runners yesterday. Cogent was very coltish in the preliminaries and was always going to struggle having missed the break. We’ll get him back on the racecourse soon.
Field Of Light ran easily his best race to date when finishing second behind Grand Inquisitor in the 1m maiden. Hopefully the handicapper won’t be too harsh! Sameek shaped promisingly in the same race, travelling nicely into the straight but just getting tired on ground that was testing enough first time out. He will improve for that.
We continue to scratch our heads with Mahsooba, who was well beaten in classified company – she has become a real enigma and we are not sure what is next.
Three runners today starting with Hanno in the 7f handicap at Lingfield. He’s slipped down the weights following a couple of no-shows this year, but we think the drop back in trip on turf will suit. The ground won’t be a problem and he has the stands’ draw in 14 – hopefully he can get back on track.
At Kempton, Tajathub makes his second start in the 7f maiden and the bookies have made him an odds-on chance. While his debut fourth, where he was squeezed inside the last, has worked out nicely, his price does seem very much on the skimpy side. That said, this probably isn’t a very deep race and he looks to hold solid claims.
Hajeer, a Cape Cross half-sister to the excellent Muwaary, make her debut in the 6f juvenile fillies’ maiden. Marco Botti’s Rial sets a more than useful standard and will be hard to beat, but hopefully our filly can make a pleasing introduction to her racing career.
Two declarations today with Prince Gagarin heading to Goodwood for the Cocked Hat Stakes and Kitten’s Red journeying to Bath for the 1m2f classified contest there.
A handful of entries as well including a couple of two-year-olds at Leicester and one at Lingfield.
Back tomorrow. Ed.