Thursday 7th November 2019 - winner no.32 of the season and the frustration of the Rebel falling.....

It was lovely to see Battleofthesomme following up his win over fences by winning over hurdles last week at Uttoxeter under a good ride from Page Fuller.  The handicapper gave him a 13lbs rise over fences, so we took advantage of running off his previous winning mark back over hurdles.  We’ll give him a moment to recover and then look to go back over fences in a couple of weeks’ time, where hopefully we can unlock some more progression. 

Battleofthesomme wins again back over hurdles.

From the ecstasy of winning, we went to the agony of falling at the last with the race at our mercy on Saturday when Thebannerkingrebel was in the process of running a mighty big race under a welter 10lbs penalty.  He was a length up and seemingly not out of 2^nd gear when he reached for the last and slipped over on landing.  Thankfully both he and Gavin Sheehan were unscathed but he looked to be in command at the time of falling, and considering the eventual winner was rated 104 on the flat, one has to think that we should be looking seriously at stepping him up in Grade now.  So, we’ll aim to run next at the Listed Novice at Haydock in a couple of weeks time.

I was delighted with Kiltealy Briggs’ hurdling debut at Wincanton where he was 2^nd, but as we were beaten only a short head in a photo finish, we were all left slightly frustrated!  However, he is “a winner without a penalty” now, so we’ll hopefully make amends on his next start, which could be at Hexham towards the end of the month.

Of our other recent runner, Footloose and Barrowlands were both 3^rd in novice hurdles and look to have a future over further and when sent chasing.  Whilst, Exod’ela was also 3^rd in a bumper at Uttoxeter in a race with wasn’t really run to suit, and I still have a lot of faith in him especially when we go hurdling with him.  Alrightjack qualified for the Pertemps Final at the Festival when 5^th at Newbury today, but they didn’t go a strong gallop and he was just done for a bit of speed.  However, he came back with a rather nasty cut on his chest which can’t have helped, and he’ll just need a bit of TLC before we make any further plans with him.  

Whilst on air, I’d just like to draw your attention to the section of our website which allows you an insight into my thoughts about our runners each day and what I might be expecting from them.  Do have a look at: https://www.jamiesnowdenracing.co.uk/thoughts/