THE RACING POST SUNDAY OCTOBER 9th 2011
RACING POST WEEK MONDAY OCTOBER 3rd to SUNDAY OCTOBER 9th 2011
PETER SCARGILL reports on CESAREWITCH
NEVER SAY NEVER AS DETTORI partner NEVER CAN TELL 4 8-11 BEATS DRAW TO WIN THIS RACE at 25-1
PRICEWISE (The Punters Champion) ON SUNDAY
WITH THE VALUE BETS for today’s exciting action. The Munster National at Limerick and the Cesarewitch at the Curragh
STRONG SUIT LIGHTS UP NEWMARKET TALK OF THE TRACKS
THE ASSESSOR FUTURE CHAMPIONS
Chief analyst GGRAHAM DENCH weighs up the merit of yesterday’s Classic Trials
“It would be rash to dismiss surprise winner PARISH HALL“ONLY time will tell if the inaugural Future Champions Day succeeded in doing what it said to be doing on the tin, but long – priced winners in blanket finishes to the two Group 1 races do not augur well. One suspects that CRUCADE , the 25-1 winner of the Emaar Middle Park Stakes, figured some way down Aidan O’Brien’s pecking order prior to the race.
“Success in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile on dirt – his next intended target and a race he has the pedigree for – would clearly enhance his prospects of ending the season in the upper reaches of the Classifications. But speed looks his forte and there is little suggestion he has the makings of an outstanding three-year-old like DREAM AHEAD, who won last year when trouncing STRONG SUIT on unusually soft ground.
“Pre-race Racing Post Ratings of 111 and 107 for the admirable yet exposed LILBOURNE LAD and the Doncaster sales - race winner REPLY, who was third, are among the factors that will hold down the level of the form, and probably the best horse in the race finished fifth. For CASPAR NETSCHER, bidding for an unprecedented hat-trick after landing both the Gimcrack and the Mill Reef, made up an extraordinary amount of ground once switched to the stands’ rail, having enjoyed little luck in running after racing at the back of the field following a slowish start. That said, the stands’ rail looked the place to be, and although he had improved and improved as the season went on, there is little reason to think he is significantly better than his RPR of 112.
“It would be rash to dismiss the surprise Dubai Dewhurst winner PARISH HALL however, even though he had been beaten three times since his debut maiden win. Connections believe soft ground can explain at least two of his defeats, and he looked a worthy winner – albeit in a field from which the highly promising HARBOUR WATCH and TOP OFFER were absent – from favourite POWER, a Group 1 winner who had been beaten just once previously and who clearly had the best form on offer.
“On both looks and pedigree, the Dewhurst field appeared a cut above those who had run in the Middle Park, and PARISH HALL scored highly in both departments. But TEOFILO, who also won the Dewhurst but never ran again. PARISH HALL could be in the same mould as the stables Derby winner NEW APPROACH, another Dewhurst winner, and so does not want underestimating. There might not have been much of a ‘WOW’ factor to his performance, and he is certainly no FRANKEL , but he is going to appreciate middle distances and looks sure to go on and make a three-year-old.
“As for POWER, he has no real excuse, but he remains among the leading candidates for the Qipco 2,00 Guineas, in which there is still no standout – although what price would DABIRSIUM be if he was in a fashionable British or Irish stable? And one can still get 10-1 the field.
“The Group 3 Autumn Stakes, traditionally run at Ascot, has a decidedly mixed record , and while NASHWAN and NAYEF are among previous winners, it has gone to its share of duds, too. ROCKINANTE is no dud, but he has been only fourth in the Royal Lodge two weeks previously when that race was switched from Ascot, and he enjoyed the benefit of the rail all the way here. Nobody could be too surprised if WADING who won the Group 2 Vision ae Rockfel Stakes, proved a high-class-three-year-old, and on form and potential she is a viable threat to Qipco 1,000 Guineas favourite MAYBE, for she won in style from PIMPERNEL, who had been most impressive in a nursery at Newmarket off 96. But besides being in the same stable as MAYBE, she is by MONTJEU, so not an obvious miler, yet from a distaff side that does not guarantee her getting a mile and a half.
“DID Future Champions Day work as a concept ? It’s too early to say, but there seems little logic in running two Group 1 races catering for broadly the same colts on the same afternoon, and such an eccentric a handicap as the Cesarewitch does not sit comfortably in the middle of a card. Let’s tweak as necessary and give it a chance. Just imagine if it had started twelve months ago and DREAM AHEAD and FRANKEL had won on the same card. We would probably be not even asking the question.
RPSUNDAY your relaxing weekend read. DON'T MISS IT
“FRANKEL FEVER HE’S RELAXED AND GETTING STRONGER
“Sir Henry Cecil tells Brough Scott why he believes the world’s best horse could get even better as they build up to Champions Day on Saturday
BROUGH SCOTT has followed FRANKEL every step of the way through an epic, unbeaten season. Here he visits Warren Place a final time as the conclusion to the story of the story looms.”
“OH YES, HE’S A MUCH BETTER HORSE NOW.”
“The strain is beginning to show , not on the horse but on the trainer and Sir Henry Cecil would not have it any other way. “He’s in good form,” he says as FRANKEL coasts up Warren Hill, “but this week with the sales and everybody around is completely non –stop. It’s impossible really isn’t it .....?”
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