Saturday June 25th.

As I said in my introductory posts I will be concentrating on the races that the majority of punters are likely to have missed; so with Channel 4, Racing UK and At The Races in attendance for the most pop,ular punting day of the week, I'm giving most of the races a miss.


So on the basis that fatigue will have set in by now I'm starting off with the last at Newcastle, a Class 4 mile handicap for 3-y-os rated 0-85.


The race was won by Weapon of Choice, another winner for Silvestre  de Sousa (could he possibly be the champ at the end of the season), but the placed horses are the ones that interest me. MY FREEDOM, trained by Bin Suroor, was making his seasonal debut and he was a touch rusty and lost ground as the stalls opened, he then ran into trouble and didn't get a clear run just inside the final two, he was running on well at the death and went down by just 3/4 of a length.


Third place was filled by YOJIMBO, who has been busier than the second horse, he also ran into traffic problems two out and had to be switched wide to get his challenge in. He put in a very strong finishing effort but couldn't quite get there. He might well appreciate a furlong or two further.


I appreciate that the 1.45 at Newmarket was covered by Channel 4  and Racing UK but the horse that caught my eye finished far enough back that his run might have been missed by some. The race was a Class 5 seven furlong maiden for 2-y-os and the horse, ACER DIAMONDS. He is a nice big sort and looks to have plenty of scope, he was sluggish, here, when the stalls opened but raced with the body of the field, when he tried to make a move on the near-side of the field he was consistently baulked by a number of his opponents (not deliberately, of course) and when he eventually got the necessary space the race was practically over. This was his second run and after his next outing he will probably be qualified for nurseries and it would not be difficult to imagine him winning at least one of those over seven or eight furlongs.   


The next one of note also finished in the ruck. This time a Class 2 six-furlong handicap at Windsor. Norville won the race quite nicely but there was mayhem going on in behind, and in fact two horses fell when one of them clipped heels and brought the other one down, thankfully no great damage was done to horse or rider. FATHSTA, wasn't involved in that scrimmage on the rails but he ran into a different traffic jam when starting his run two out, he was hampered so badly that he almost came to a dead-stop and his rider didn't persevere after. The horse is fully exposed but he seems to be in fine form and could well land a nice race soon, possibly over a furlong further.


That's all for the horses in this post but I'd like to mention a couple of young claimers Lucy K. Barry and Charles Bishop. They both claim seven pounds at the moment but that won't last long, but even claiming just the five they will still be great value. Both show composure, confidence and are prepared to use their initiative. 


Colin