Our first runner of the 2020/21 National Hunt season was inches away from being our first winner of the season. I was delighted that Donnie Azoff ran so well on his racecourse debut to be 2nd in what looked a very competitive bumper. He was quite green and showed he’s not galloped on grass yet, and hasn’t been away for a racecourse gallop, so there should be an awful lot more improvement as a result. He’s a lovely type out of an unraced half-sister to the smart bumper/hurdle/chase winner Promalee and Michael Mor from family of the Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Little Owl. The dam has had two winners from three runners, including the five-time winner, Secrete Stream. He is for sale, so I’d like to think he’s advertised himself quite well and we can find a new owner for him now.
We ran another couple yesterday and Carntop was only beaten 5 lengths and probably ran better than the result but was forced too wide around the final turn. Chapmanshype won 4 races for us last summer and in doing so went from a handicap mark of 110 to 132. He looked to have improved again for a winter off, and we were quite hopeful yesterday but the race was very messy and he didn’t get the rub of the green. I think you can put a line through that run, and he should resume his progress next time out.
It was great to get racing again, and I look forward to the next jumps meeting on Monday, however I think that the racing will be ultra-competitive for a moment for two, as every race looks to be filling and there is very little ‘ducking and diving’ at present……
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