Superb shout - I just watched the replay and was focused on Battaash 2 out when suddenly this white blur shot clear of the pack. What an amazing turn of foot to destroy a Group2 field. Wow.
Willie Mullins has really taken umbrage these past few years with the Galway races being referred to as the "Dermot Weld Festival". Relentless again this week. Great shout Grendel, still flying it i see, as already alluded to, great analysis and well deserved winners. Been a tough school at Galway this week so far for most I would assume, I backed two this week and both came 2nd and 3rd respectively in Modus and Milkwood earlier in the week. In the beginners chase there at 6.05 i fancy Busselton @5/1 for Joseph O'Brien to add a winner to his name. Horse is lightly raced with only 4 runs to his name so far, against fairly useful opposition mostly and maybe the swap to fences might ignite some further spark to get that first win to his name. In the bumper I went for the Emmet Mullins runner Lahinch @7/1. He won very nicely on his debut and is open to further improvement. Some money around for this one would offer more enthusiasm as the day progresses, we shall see. Good luck all.
17:20 Goodwood - Scampi (Seems to be an improving sort in this wide-open affair. Modest e/w at the 8/1 readily-available at time of writing. Oisin Murphy takes the ride for the Andrew Balding yard.) Some good selections on here today guys, well done!
Fine win by the top weight there and very well-ridden by Ryan Moore, second home was a brave effort too. Scampi ran a fine race to finish third, but probably ran out of 'puff' in the last 50-yards? Money back e/w at the 8/1, so not so bad. Good race!
No joy, Busselton a well held 2nd and Lahinch Three a well held 3rd. The other Emmet Mullins inmate scooted clear around the bend and won fairly comfortably. Onwards and upwards.
Magical Morning was very disappointing. He worked himself into a good position and seemed poised to play a part but he weakened quite badly and dropped away. Even more disappointing in that the winner Maydanny had been second to the Gosden horse last time at Sandown and you would have thought they should be somewhere similar to one another today. Strangely the stewards considered the run of the Fav but not the Jt 2nd Fav who had run worse than him? Charlie Appleby explained that his horse found the ground too soft but at good to soft/good in places he is going to find it tough to find faster ground as the season progresses. Suesa made up for that and put it a real performance today. She put the race to bed and came away in grand style. The 3 length win from Dragon Symbol suggests she would have won the Commonwealth Cup if the ground had been better but it was also dropping a furlong today, so perhaps 5F is her best trip. Didn't get the ante-post bet at 20/1 at the Royal meeting but you can't complain with a 12/1 consolation next time out. It looked like the end on an era with Battaash. The ground wasn't bad enough to blame such a timid effort on and I hope they give him his well deserved retirement now, rather than let him perform well below his best in an effort to prove nothing we don't already know about the horse. Glass Slippers ran well on seasonal debut but Art Power was poor and there seemed no excuse. There was zero love for Arecibo at 28/1 but I'll take that drift with a 4th place paid. Thanks to all for the kind words. It's a tough game to predict and we all get good days and bad days and frustrating spells. You can look the king of the world on the rare occasion and then other times you can't seem to find the back of the net from the penalty spot when the goalie has been tied to the crossbar.