Blog

Last Sunday was a bit of a quietener. Plenty to be learned however and we head to Navan tomorrow with plenty of runners.   That’s Mad has his 3rd run in the 5f maiden and his job appears to be in handicaps. Falling out the back of the TV and then expecting them to be a revelation with a mark doesn’t really work in my opinion. He’ll need to travel kindly and find a bit late on to justify persisting. Alan’s Pride and May Remain follow and they’re drawn low and high respectively. Alan gave us a huge day last May being a part of a Curragh double and I would have expected him to add to that but the wheels came off shortly after. He went to Leopardstown and from a wide draw, on lightning fast ground, he followed a crazy gallop and was in ribbons after. We tried him a couple of more times but it just wasn’t working. He’s probably in similar form to last season’s debut and he’d be deadly over a straight 6 or The Curragh 7. He’s 10lbs higher now which is a bit of a nuisance! It’s an ideal time to have a look at him over 5. He’s effective over 6 so it’ll be interesting.   May Remain is in last chance saloon. His 2 runs have been poor. He’d want to threaten tomorrow to encourage his owners to continue. His exercise has always been perfectly adequate but he has shown nothing and tomorrow is D Day.   Chessman is next. That’s one deep listed race and in reality it’s just an opportunity to learn a bit more about this guy. His run last Sunday was excellent in my opinion. I thought he looked like a 6f horse and tomorrow he can confirm that or we can go back to thinking of him as a late-play 7f specialist. The best-fresh angle is another we’re learning about. He’s entitled to improve plenty for last Sunday’s outing and we were keen to give him the chance to do that rather than spend the season assuming freshness was a requirement for him. Anyway we’ll see. I’m an optimist and every now and again someone lands on a cheap star and until tomorrow afternoon we can dream that’s us. Nor’easter goes next and I’d rather not discuss last week’s effort. I think I got caught mollycoddling this fella. I’m very fond of him and hoped he could be a chance at a different level of horse. I minded him therefore and he was a bit over fresh. He was awkward going to post and by the time Billy got him settled and loaded he had switched right off. He jumped slowly, travelled poorly, wide and in rear and never got involved. I’m willing to take the blame but he needs to prove himself tomorrow. He needs to be level pre race, jump with them, in the van and make use of that ability he has to gallop. Here’s hoping. Cautious Approach finishes up our day in a very competitive handicap. She won a maiden on her most recent run and she was left on 66 for that. She will be able to cope with that mark but the top lad looks like he could cope with his too. The priority with this lady is to keep her looking well with plenty of condition. She’s prone to getting lean and if she can stay in the shape she’s in now she’ll have a productive season.