NTF two to follow from the weekend….
We witnessed plenty of top class National Hunt racing this weekend, dominated in no small part by the master of Ditcheat Paul Nicholls. With the champion trainer banging in winner after winner its safe to safe the National Hunt game is back in full swing!
Here are two runners from the weekend that particularly caught my attention….
SA SUFFIT (J Ewart) – Saturday 2.40 Kelso – 2nd in class 2 Limited Handicap Chase – 2m1f
This must go down as a huge run by the 8yo on his seasonal debut under conditions that were far from ideal. The French bred needs serious cut in the ground to be seen at his best so it’s safe to assume the prevailing good ground he encountered would not have been to his liking. The 2m1f trip would also have been on the sharp side and it did look like he was outpaced over the last couple of fences before drawing on his stamina reserves on the long Kelso run-in to get within 2 lengths of the impressive winner Stagecoach Pearl. James Ewart still feels the horse retains all of his ability and there are races in this guy when the mud starts flying (4 of his 5 career wins have come on soft); one for the notebook over the next few months.
CRUZ ON TED (N Henderson) – Saturday 4.05 Sandown – 4th in the closing bumper – 2m
For most of this contest jockey David Bass looked to be niggling away at the 4yo who appeared to find the field going a yard or 2 too fast for him on his racing debut. Once they straightened up for home and met the rising ground he started to motor home and in the end was only beaten around 6 lengths. He will have learned plenty from that run in what is habitually a competitive bumper and a small step up in trip could well be in order. There looks to be races in this one and he will be of interest in his next few starts for the powerfull Henderson yard.
Who caught your eye or impressed you this weekend? Leave a comment below with your own weekend eye-catchers.
Ben (NTF)
I had the honour of adding Emma Lavelle’s Wincanton bumper winner, Claret Cloak, to the Pedigree Query website as they hadn’t installed him yet – it had to be done as I haven’t awarded any bumper a figure that high, let alone a debutant, including at the last couple of Cheltenham & Punchestown Festivals, a must for any notebook!
Highly impressed with Kauto Star’s 1/2 brother, Kauto Stone at Down Royal – confident he’ll be making a return visit within the next couple of years for a go at the JN Wine Gr1 Chase and in that time too, could well be the one to give Long Run’s supporters something to think about.
I had a clear top rated winner at Cork on Sunday in, Jetson and then noticed he had the almost exact same Dosage Point make-up & similar race profile as the National Winner, The Bishop Looney, which I thought was interesting but the one to take from that race could be the 2nd, Another Palm, a year younger than the winner and a nice, lightly raced profile with the bang in form Noel Meade and noted that both his wins have come after a seven week break. Regards
Thanks for the comment Andy, nice and informative.
It’s good to break your cherry on adding a horse to the PQ web-site 😉 I’ve added plenty over the years and a vast majority of them would be bumper runners I think.
Claret Cloak was a mighty impressive winner and also boasts an interesting pedigree being by the 4x Irish Leger winner Vinnie Roe. Hopefully we will see more of his lot heading over timber this season. Potentially a sire to watch.
Good spot between Jetson and The Bishop Looney, could be a future staying chaser in the making. I would expect him to step up now he has that win under his belt.
Thanks again for the comment