By James Watson (@james_watson98)
Last Sunday the nations hearts were broke. Enable failed to win her third Prix De Arc De Triomphe last weekend and the five-year-old Waldgeist motored through the mud to win by 1 3/4 lengths. First of all, I must give credit to Andre Fabre, Pierre Charles Boudot and Waldgeist. The ground went his way and he handled the conditions of the race best. Following the sad passing of Sea of Class, she is worth mentioning as she showed us how to get the Queen beat. She paved the way of how to get Enable beat which was to come late and fast. Enable’s greatest quality is here turn of pace between the 2f and the 3f and everything looked to have gone right for here, but I don’t think she was right at all for the race. Having watched Enable many times you can see she walks with a ‘swagger’ around the parade ring similar to Stradivarius. Frankie got off her at the weekend in the parade ring and looked around her if something wasn’t right. I have heard somewhere as well they changed her routine to try and get the best out of her but why change something that has been a winning formula. Anyway, enough theories on why she got beat she has been a star of the flat for 3 years now and hopefully she will enjoy her retirement at stud and can’t wait to see her foals in later years. Pierre Charles Boudot had one hell of a weekend with six winners across the two days including The Revenant and One Master. This weekend certainly showed him to be one of the best jockeys in the world at this moment and watch out for him in the coming years. Anyway, lets look forward to this Saturday. 😉
3 massive meetings for flat and jumps on Saturday and we will start with the flat at York where William Haggas brings a nice two-year-old of his dad’s into a handicap. Convict won what I think was a deep race last time at Redcar and has been allotted a handicap mark of 83 for his three performances. He caught my eye since debut being related to Hamish, Harris Tweed and Beaten Up who have all been owned by the same owner. He was pitched in deep but ran on well which then left him fancied for the race at York next time when everything went wrong. He clipped heels, saddle slipped, and Danny Tudhope was up his neck and still managed to finish 6th. He showed a nice performance last time over 7f which he stays to here. I think he’s got massive potential and further distances will certainly be his strongpoint next season.
2:05 York Convict
The big race of the day at Newmarket is next for me and as much as Pinatubo has been the star this season for two-year olds, I am going against him with Wichita. He was mightily impressive in the Tattersalls Stakes over course and distance last time. If Coolmoore have supplemented him it must mean that he is their best chance of winning the race. I respect what Pinatubo has done this season however I want to see him do it at Newmarket. He handled Epsom well enough in his early race so the dip should be no problem. Also, I think Charlie Appleby’s horses have been running a bit flat so far and would like to see them running a bit better.
3:30 Newmarket Wichita 4/1
The listed novice chase at Chepstow may only have four runners but what a line up it looks to be. Secret Investor, Jarveys Plate, Reserve Tank and Posh Trish all line up and Reserve Tank is who I will be leaning towards. He has gone from strength to strength last season and has looked every bit of a chaser since the start. He won two grade ones over 2miles and 4 last season and is the obvious starting place for him. I think he’s got a massive future ahead of him and will only get better after this run. This is a strong race so his jumping will need to be on his A game as Secret Investor showed last season that he was a good chaser. However, I can’t wait to see him jump a fence and think he should be up to winning this.
Chepstow 3:55 Reserve Tank
Only three picks this week but hopefully three winners. Good Racing on your screens this weekend for both Jump and Flat fans. Enjoy!
By James Watson (@james_watson98)
BehindClosedDoors 