Irish Guineas Weekend 2014

Kingman was visually impressive in the 2000 Guineas but I, probably in the minority, don't think that the performance is all it's made out to be. I am basing this on one thing really which can't be fraught with danger but I don't agree with Richard Hughes when he says Shifting Power loved being in front. I thought that when he was asked for his effort 2f out he hung fire for a bit which leads me to believe that front running is not his thing and would be better suited to following horses. Yes, for 6f Shifting Power was travelling within himself but that was while dictating a slow pace. This leaves Kingman beating Mustajeeb and bunch of what looks to be Listed horses at best. He didn't have to improve anything form Newmarket in my opinion. This would make Night Of Thunder very interesting at 3/1 for the St James's Palace stakes as he was the one who looked better than the margin suggests in the 2000 Guineas and would be my fancy in Royal Ascot if ground was good or on the fast side.

Marvellous was another impressive winner and the form looks decent with the Newmarket 1000 Guineas 2nd Ligthening Thunder mowed down inside the last furlong. Her style of racing has always screamed more than a mile and being a Gr 1 winner going into the Oaks with her profile you can see why the 8/1 & 10/1 didn't last long.

The Tattersalls Gold Cup is not an easy race to have a strong opinion on with Euphrasia, who has been running below form on her starts this season finishing in close proximity to Noble Mission and Magician. My reaction to it would be Magician didn't run to form and therefore makes this look a very weak Gr 1 from a form point of view. But enough of that here is some horses to catch the eye over the weekend:

The 12f Premier Handicap looked a hot race beforehand with plenty of unexposed types in it. The race was won by Thomas Edison, who had only 4 flat runs previous to this with another lightly raced horse in 2nd in Toe The Line. The aforementioned pair don't look done with yet but it is the 3rd, Mindy, who is of most interest. She moved to Willie McCreery's stable this season who has applied the hood and got her in foal to Born To Sea and one or all of these factors has contributed to Mindy leaving behind her form previous to 2014. Coming off a nice win in Wexford in what looked to be an ordinary handicap, she was strong in the betting here and it is easy to see why. Her supporters can consider themselves slightly unlucky as she looks to my eyes to have been the best horse in the race. Unlike Thomas Edison, who got a charmed run, Mindy just gave the winner a few lengths head start off the turn and her inexperienced jock probably sat when he should have been kicking. She made up good ground in the last furlong and the effectively 2lb rise to 76 (raced off 74 here as was 3lbs out of the handicap) looks lenient in respect of this run. Hopefully we will get a chance to back her in a similar event to this before she has to end her racing career to perform breeding duties!

Intense Style had 2 contrasting runs before he won the 6f 2yo maiden. On debut he ran with great promise when tenderly handled behind Coventry candidate The Great War, but then it all went wrong when, to quote his trainer, the Intense Focus colt 'lost the plot' in a hot conditions race at Naas. He got back on the straight and narrow here with a likeable performance here and while those wayward antics in Naas are not too far below the surface I hope with racing he will mature. The impression would be that Dick Whittington failed to run to form as a beaten odds on favourite on Sunday but if Intense Style had arrived here off the back of his debut he would have been strongly fancied and not the seemingly unconsidered 20/1 shot he appeared to be. Intense Style appeals as the type who will be over-priced due his unsexy profile. The 3rd Dawn Mirage deserves flagging up too as he had the disadvantage of having no racecourse experience.

Table Rock has to be mentioned considering the name of this blog. The maiden he won last Sunday was quite weak considering his main dangers were pulled out due to the ground leaving him with an easier task. He certainly looks like he will be difficult to win with in more competitive events considering the way he reacted to pressure from his jockey, leaning away from the whip and holding his head very awkwardly.

Obliterator is another horse to blot his copy at the weekend. The cheek pieces were applied by Ger Lyons but they had no effect as Obliterator raced in a lazy style and was not going forward for all of Jamie Spencer's urgings. This is the 2nd time that the Oratorio colt has raced in this fashion having never really travelled in the Fielden stakes at the Craven meeting along with a hint of it on his racecourse debut when Emmet McNamara was niggling along during the early stages of that race. The ground being used as an excuse does not wash with me considering Obliterator's laziness has become more and more of a factor with each race he runs. A step up in trip or more severe headgear may allow us to see some improvement but he does look one to oppose for the moment.

Eye-catchers 19th May 2014

Leading Light was the star name of the Irish racing week and he didn't disappoint. In his usual lazy style he beat the dependable Royal Diamond and Pale Mimosa. Looking further back we find more dependable stayers albeit in handicaps or on the verge of Listed class in Sir Ector and Leah Clare and that gives the form an all round solid look. The fact that Leading Light gave away weight to all his rival makes the performance even more meritorious. Combine that with the improvement that could be forth coming when you consider Aidan O'Brien's training style and it is easy to see why he is a 2/1 shot for the Ascot Gold Cup. But enough about favourites for big races, let's go back down the ladder to see if we can find one or two that are in the ascendency.

Nass 14/5/14
The 3yo handicap over 6f can often prove to be a hot event and Due Diligence turned out to be a very smooth winner. The 2nd Wind Inher Sleeves is a likeable filly who is improving with racing. Initially I figured she was a 5f filly after what seemed to be a non-staying performance behind Sparrow in a Curragh back-end maiden and a win over the turning 5 in Dundalk in a quick time but this run suggests that 6f is no problem. It was a little disappointing the way she travelled in the yielding to soft ground and maybe she will prove even better back on a fast surface but it could also have been down to the lack of a recent run with the market suggesting that not a huge amount was expected. She has moved to Mick Halford's stable over the winter and that should bring about even more improvement. Wind Inher Sleeves looks like one to follow and it would not surprise if she ended up a Pattern filly.

Navan 18/5/14
There was what seemed to be an overly strong early pace in the 5f handicap and Greek Canyon comes out of it with a lot of credit. With the pace, no recent run and the trip being short of his best it looks like he could be one to follow in the short term for something like the 7f handicap in Naas on June Bank Holiday weekend. The form also looks solid with More Questions looking like a Navan specialist making her difficult to beat there when in form and the 2nd Seanie who is a well handicapped bag of quirks but does seem to respond well to aggressive riding tactics. Seanie could also be a horse to follow but he should definitely carry a wealth warning given his wayward antics and win record.

The 13f maiden was a very informative race and Karezak is a pretty obvious but creditable eye-catcher. His 2yo form leaves a lot to be desired but is possibly explainable by the fact that John Oxx's stable had a virus last season. This run was a massive step up from the Azamour colt on form, he travelled a little keenly throughout which is understandable given it was he is first start of the year and even though he came off the bridle turning in it was impressive the way he and John Constable pulled clear. Karezak was idling inside the last furlong too and may have something to learn just yet. He got beaten by a horse who relished the step up in trip and he also had the disadvantage of not having a recent run unlike his main rivals.  Add in that Oxx's horses have been improving significantly for a run this season and a maiden looks a certainty. It wouldn't surprise me if he ended up winning the Apprentice Derby at the Curragh on Derby weekend.

Leopardstown 11th May 2014

Fascinating Rock

Fascinating Rock won the Derby Trial in the stewards’ room Sunday and while the controversy surrounded the enquiry it covered up the poor ride Pat Smullen gave the Fastnet Rock colt. In a slowly run race his race positioning was poor, sitting 2/3 lengths off the 2nd last horse at times and crucially when the pace quickened Smullen wasn't as urgent as McDonogh and just gave the horse too much to do .It was to the horse’s credit that he got as close. Fascinating Rock's chances of staying 12f around Epsom must be hugely doubtful given the pace he has shown in all his starts along with his breeding and also Ebanoran could come under the quirky banner having leant to the rail when asked for his effort but more tellingly leaning away from the whip when it was switched late on. Geoffrey Chaucer's reputation must come out of the race enhanced having received the usual softly softly ride for a Ballydoyle inmate on its seasonal debut who has a bigger target in the near future. He suffered two pieces of interference which certainly cost him huge momentum and seemed to get a crack of the Smullen's whip for good measure also. I would estimate that he was very close to being the best horse on the day and will probably prove to be the best of these in the future having to contend with a multitude of negatives, namely lack of a recent run, giving weight to all his rivals and the interference he suffered. The now 16/1 for the Derby looks inviting even though the feeling he is not considered to be anywhere near as good as Australia certainly emanates from Ballydoyle.

Other eye catchers from the racing yesterday would include Jack Naylor who reared and dumped Shane Foley before the start and proceeded to run very green and giving her rivals a big start before powering home to be only beaten just over 3.5l. Even allowing for the possibility of gaining cheap yards at the end of the race it was still an eye catching performance and a country maiden is surely a certainty. I say a 'country maiden' as this was a restricted maiden and probably not as strong as the usual 2yo maidens run at Leopardstown.
Shipyard is finally showing what his trip is and the 7f that he ran over yesterday looks to be it having travelled strongly over 8f twice and staying on well over 6f on his most recent outing. He may have been too close to a strong pace as those who raced prominently weakened markedly in the straight. He can be marked up for this run but he never seems to go unsupported and therefore may not be much value in the near future.

Marakoush is a horse who I think has attitude problems and is opposable no matter where he runs. He only consented to run on late yesterday and has shown awkwardness before in his run behind Fascinating Rock on seasonal debut. I'm sure he'll be sold for 5 maybe 6 figures at the HIT sales to go hurdling as some other sexy Aga/Oxx horses have been but he could turn out to be an expensive purchase.