Well lads, it is fair to say that Friday, 23 October, was not one for the history books. When you are firing forty-five bullets across six meetings and only bringing home two winners, you know the racing gods had other ideas. It is one of those days where the form looks solid on paper, the ensemble scores are firing, but the horses just don't find that extra gear when the crunch comes. We had twelve placed horses, which keeps the blood pumping, but we are all here for the winners, and today they were as scarce as hens' teeth. Let's dig into the wreckage and see what went right and where it all went pear-shaped.
Sligo
Sligo was one of the few places where the day actually felt like it was going to plan. The ground was testing, and you needed a horse that could handle the grit. Speisialta was the shining light for us here.
Speisialta
@ 5/2Larkins Lane and Bowgate Street also kept the Sligo trip from being a complete disaster, both landing spots on the podium in their respective races at 4/1 and 7/2. It is frustrating when they get that close, but that is the reality of the game.
Doncaster
Doncaster gave us our second winner of the day, and thank goodness for William Haggas and Tom Marquand. Bulletsnap proved that when you have the right connections and a progressive profile, the results usually follow.
Bulletsnap
@ 10/11We saw French Affair and Kokanee run decent races at 7/1 and 13/2 respectively, but the field sizes were massive and finding the winner in those twenty-runner scrambles is always a lottery.
Wolverhampton
The all-weather track at Wolverhampton was where the dream went to die for most of the afternoon. We had horses like Lady Perdita and Last Dandelion getting into the frame, but they just could not bridge the gap to the winner. Caraway was perhaps the most frustrating of the bunch at 5/2, finding only the runner-up spot despite looking like a winner with a furlong to go.
Caraway
@ 5/2Cheltenham
Cheltenham is never easy, especially in the amateur races where the variance can be massive. Little Ledgend ran a gutsy race, but couldn't quite seal the deal.
Little Ledgend
@ 5/2Notable Failures
There is no point in sugar-coating it, we had some stinkers. It is part of the territory when you are digging for value in handicaps. Sometimes the horse just does not wake up on the right side of the stable.
Silver Shadow
@ 12/1Midnight Rambler
@ 8/1Ones to Watch
Keep an eye on Speisialta. That win at Sligo was no fluke, and that horse has a lot more left in the tank for the coming months. Also, watch for Bulletsnap to step up in class; Haggas knows what he has there, and I suspect we haven't seen the ceiling of that animal yet.
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