Talking Horses | Will Hayler
The latest news and best bets in our daily horse racing blog
Today's TV races
International jetsetter Snow Fairy (3.10) can wow the home crowd with victory in the Nassau Stakes on the final day of Glorious Goodwood.
Victory for any of Crystal Capella, Midday or Principal Role would see their respective trainers claim a small piece of racing history and surpass Alec Taylor's 84-year-old record of seven winners in the race.
But despite Midday's outstanding victories in this contest for the past two years and the fact that trainer Henry Cecil reckoned she would have gone close against the colts in last Saturday's King George had she lined up, she proved no match for Misty For Me when they met in the Pretty Polly Stakes at the Curragh last month, going down by six lengths.
Cecil says she is working better than ever at home but that latest performance leaves a serious doubt about her chances here. Instead take Ed Dunlop's Snow Fairy to find the improvement required from her respectable comeback performance behind So You Think and Workforce in the Eclipse four weeks ago.
She never gained the due credit for her top-drawer performances in south Asia at the end of last year and while Midday and Crystal Capella are likeable, relentless gallopers, she has the finishing kick to outpace them and reverse the form of her defeat at the hands of Midday in the Yorkshire Oaks 11 months ago.
Goodwood 2.05 An eyecatcher last time, Oldjoesaid wins when he wants to, but the big occasion may fire him up here and his draw could prove an advantage too.
Newmarket 2.20 Beaten half a dozen lengths from a poor draw in the Britannia, the enigmatic Mubtadi has the ability to go well at a decent price.
Goodwood 2.35 John Dunlop loves nothing more than a winner at his local track and Harlestone Times has been trained for this. His Newcastle flop may be best forgotten.
Newmarket 2.50 Having shown considerable progression last time, Correct creeps in off a low weight in this line-up and may have more to offer.
Goodwood 3.45 With the first race likely to offer an important clue as to any apparent draw biases, it could pay to keep a close eye on earlier proceedings. In the hope that stands' side runners are not at a disadvantage, Tiddliwinks is handicapped to go close having acquitted himself well in smart company this season.
Horse sense
Snow Fairy (3.10) looks to have come to the boil at the right time judged upon an impressive piece of work on the Limekilns on Tuesday under Ryan Moore. She faces a seriously stiff task in the Nassau Stakes at Goodwood today, but confidence is high.
Having gone agonisingly close with Waffle in the Wokingham at Royal Ascot, David Barron heads south in search of another big sprint prize with considerable hope of a big run from Colonel Mak (3.45) , who showed a return to form when second last time and has come back down to a mark just 1lb higher than when winning last year's Ayr Silver Cup. He could well prove Yorkshire's strongest contender ahead of far shorter-priced rivals.
Luca Cumani sends Bourne (3.55) to Doncaster in search of compensation for his unfortunate defeat at Haydock last time, where he was undone by the slow early pace. He probably needs to win today to be guaranteed a place in the Ebor Handicap line-up.
Stablemate Isobar (5.15) is also worth monitoring on his reappearance at Newmarket. Kirsty Milczarek, who rides here, has also been on board in the gelding's recent work.
Lay Time (2.20) could have lined up in a Group race at Goodwood this week, but the decision was taken instead to try to exploit a lenient-looking handicap mark at Newmarket this afternoon. It will be a major disappointment to the Balding team if she isn't up to winning.
Seen and heard
The Horsemen's Group got their timings wrong when holding a press conference at Goodwood on Thursday just as the draw for the Stewards' Cup was being made. Revealing a plan to create championships for jockeys and trainers based solely upon races run within their tariff scheme, a sea of empty chairs greeted them, with a distinctly below-tariff turnout of two journalists present to hear the news. The identities of tracks whose races will effectively be ignored by the Group's members and designated as "running programmes unsustainable to the future of the racing industry", will be unveiled in October.
Across the sea the Galway Festival was quieter than usual in these austere times as businessmen and politicians failed to hobnob as conspicuously as in the past. One who was not seen was Michael Higgins, Labour candidate in the presidential election. He enraged Ireland's powerful bloodstock industry recently when recalling "a time when breeding horses was democratic and before breeding had become monopolised by a very narrow number of people".
"Is L Dettori the same as Frankie?" asked one well-dressed racegoer to her friend, heading to Goodwood on Friday. "Yes, I think so," came the reply. "The L must stand for Luigi."
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2011/jul/30/talking-horses-best-bets
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