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A good field for the 5f maiden at Sandown and hopefully the rain
in the south will not cause too many withdrawals. The race has a lot of
interest and the two horses at the top of the profile both came with strong
stable 'words' last time. Enderby Spirit runs for trainer Declan
Carroll and was strongly supported through the morning prior to his Thirsk
debut having missed his intended debut in late May at Haydock. He was eventually
kept out of favouritism by Lucky Art who was having his third run but was
much better than his two runs made him look. He wasn't suited by soft ground
first time and then got the worst of a pace duel behind Total Gallery (5th
in the Mildcomb since), Global City (comfortable maiden winner & 9th
in the Molecomb) & Carnaby Haggerston (left gasping by the pace but
comfortable nursery winner off OR80, 3rd off OR82 after that).
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Which meant the Thirsk race was better than the average maiden and Enderby
Spirit ran well to track the pacemaking Lucky Art into the last furlong
before slightly fading back. Just behind him was David Barron's Dark Lane
who was 33/1 but a believable better debut for a trainer who does get them.
However that runner has been beaten in a group finish at Thirsk (as 5/2f)
two days ago to raise a niggle about the rating for Enderby Spirit. Another
negative would be the feeling that "here we go again" with Mr Carroll.
His overall record with 2yos is below average and he is another where the
strategy can be hard to spot and 2yos run inconsistently. Last year he
two good debuts with Portrush Storm in the Brocklesby (never ran again
until a 3yo) and Proud Linus. The latter was 4th in a Listed race on debut
although with a very fiery attitude. That showed up when he bolted with
Oliver Peslier before the Flying Childers and jumped a rail sideways. He
ended the season a maiden. So, progression from that debut is less then
a certainty but clearly an interesting horse.
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Which brings us to Noverre To Hide and John Best who is another,
readers will recall, where the career development of the juveniles can
be confusing to follow. He ran in the 5f Group 3 Molecomb on debut as 33/1
second string for the stable but with the trainer saying he was a similar
level of ability to Flashmans Papers and had improved notably in recent
weeks. He didn't show enough to stand that up at Goodwood but clearly he
ought to be some good. Which means the top of the profile has two runners
from somewhat suspect trainers who might fall into a wide range of performance
(no David Loder's or Michael Stoute's here).
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Behind those we have the reliable Hannon yardstick in the gangly filly
Victoria Sponge who is another OR70s rater but should run to that
level here and set a good mark to judge the two at the top of the profile
by. The others with previous runs look of lesser quality although Channon's
Cash In The Attic provides another solid runner at a level below
Victoria Sponge. The possible lurker is Peter Winkworth's Piccolo Mondo
who got a paddock review positive on debut although he ran poorly.
He's a good size and carries himself athletically and you could perhaps
say he was too wound up to show his form FTO. But, the trainer's runners
tend to show most of their ability FTO although he does get the odd ones
(like Oil Man) who blow out FTO. Anyway, seeing how he has developed to
STO will add to the race.
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In summary, a race which could be really strong if the two on top
come up to standard and comfortably beat the solid marker that Victoria
Sponge & Cash In The Attic ought to provide. With the likely softer
going the draw is perhaps going to be less of an issue than ensuring that
your horse doesn't do too much running early in the race. Thye never
get home on this course if they do and comfortable winners who were being
pushed along behind midfield are common in those circumstance. Then you
look at the time and it was well over 63 seconds and the form worth not
very much.
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[Aside - Piccolo Mondo was retained for £1,100 as a yearling and
going to the Brightwells Ascot sales (who sell in Pounds Sterling rather
than guineas) has long been a way for owner breeders to retain their horses
while having a 'Sale' recorded. The advantage is that they can then run
in Auction races, where weights are set by sales price which they couldn't
if they hadn't been to the sales. It is always fascinating to look at these
cheap horses who are a good size and look usable and wonder what happened
at the sales o make the low price? Have they improved greatly since being
yearling? Did they have some physical issue (like turning a front foot
out badly - which can improve with growth) or mental issue like a stalls
vice (displacement activities like box-walking & crib-biting) which
made them unattractive?. While most of these cheap ones live down to their
price a number do better and there must be something to learn if we could
compare the sales horse with the winning 2yo. For example - Brenin Taran
(maiden winner, retained 800gns), Time For Old Time (seler winner, £900),
Ykikamoocow Seller winner, OR74), Amour Propre (dual winner, OR100+, 1,500gns)
& Percolator (2,000gns, 5 time winner and has won at Group level in
France after early season wins in the UK), Transcentral (2,000gns, Nursery
winner), Caranbola (Dual winner, 2,000gns), etc.
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To add to Piccolo Mondo the 2yo Igothim made his debut for John
Gallagher at Windsor last weekend. He cost £1,400 to retain at the
sales and presumably this is part of the name. After you have stood at
parade rings for years watching small horses bought for telephone numbers
by Godolphin (the biggest mistake they make from the paddock view - buying
pedigrees and not physical specimens) then the reaction to Igothim (Picture)
was that they got a lot of horse for the money. He's compact end to end
for his size and not obvious what his distance will be but he seemed to
shift himself ok and must be better than his sales price. The trainer doesn't
know how to win with 2yos but one to follow for interest.]
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