I see Ed Walker echoed my thoughts on English King. He basically said he doesn't appear to be able to run fast down hills and that they'd seek a flat track for his next run.
Yes I saw that interview. Very revealing. I had assumed that running a fast time round Lingfield implied that he acted on the track but the trainer said they didn't start racing until they hit the flatter/uphill bit. I obviously assumed wrongly and something to bear in mind
I miss that. I was a staffer on an online gaming site for 6 years - it was a live action MMRPG with all players having the abilty for global or local "chat". As you may imagine in certain situations the chat box got a bit animated (to say the least!) Use of the mute button usually did the trick for an hour, repeat offenders got "kicked" and persistent trouble makers got the ban button. Happy Days!
Hukum looks very capable. Is Mishrif the best 3yo over 10f in Europe? Must be a challenger for best colt.
Hukum had his handicap mark raised 17 lbs to 114. That puts him right to the fore of the 3YO crop this season. He is entered at York in a Handicap on Friday but he isn't in the betting for the race. Cut to 12/1 for the St Leger the trainer was not convinced the horse is solely a stayer and ruled him out as a Cup horse for the future. Given that he is now 5 lbs higher than Mogul on official ratings you would think an entry for the Arc wouldn't be too outrageous in a mediocre year. Mishriff is now rated 121 on official figures and a pound higher than Derby winner Serpentine. His rating depends on if we can believe Victor Ludorum ran close to his best in the encounter with the Gosden horse. The ground was heavy and Victor Ludorum refused to settle in the early stages. Once again he weakened after working his way into a race and once again he has failed to beat The Summit. I would like to see Mishriff tackle the better older horses now and I am not convinced he wants 12F but he has had an excellent season since building on the shock win where stablemate Waldkonig was perceived to have been the one but didn't perform on the day and again came up empty when odds-on next time. Waldkonig's old foe Highest Ground is entered in the Group 3 Strensall Stakes at York on Saturday and he is favourite for the race at 7/2. He tackles older horses and gets 7 lbs from most of his male elders. Stoute won the race with Zaaki last season and it's a race you would think a Dante runner up should be capable of winning in a mixed bag of runner quality. No sign of Waldkonig coming back out and his season looks a bust really. The St Leger is looking like Santiago is going to be tough to beat. His Goodwood Cup effort was seen as disappointing by some but he was taking on proven horses there over a new trip. I thought he enhanced his prospects. No sign of Irish Derby runner up Tiger Moth coming out again before the St Leger but he is in the betting for that race at 10/1. Early signs from the Irish Derby are that the form isn;t working out well. I cast doubt at the time about the quality of the race but some disagreed, which is all fair play. We should have a better idea in the coming weeks. I can still see Santiago being quite short on the day of the St Leger. Love, Mogul, Serpentine and plenty of others may not be turning up and I have had a few bets on him now at various prices. Still some 11/4 left and I'll probably have a bit of that as well. Knowing my luck they will run Love, Serpentine and Hukum AND supplement Mishriff