Saturday was not a great day for the blog as neither selection came to the races at all. First up was TRIANGULAR and I had high hopes for this horse as he has the talent to succeed at this level and everything seemed to be in place. It didn't happen and, having watched the way the horse jumped or, rather, didn't jump; my reaction is that somehow this horse has lost all its confidence. The horse lost 3-lengths at every fence and then made-up the 3-length deficit by the next fence whereupon it lost it again. No surprise that the horse was a spent force over a mile out. It was made more painful as the race winner BALLY LEGEND was on my personal alert list. As I wrote on Saturdays blog, having won at trips less than 2m2f as a hurdler and failed at trips beyond that I thought the horse needed to tackle similar trips as a chaser before showing his best form. Now, I still think that as the horse merely had to repeat his previous form as a novice chaser to win this. What we can be sure of with BALLY LEGEND is that he's a safe jumper (as all of Caroline Keevil's chasers are) and he's consistent - but I reckon we won't see the best of him till he's dropped in trip.
My other selection on Saturday was BRADLEY. This horse ran with no verve at all, started making mistakes with his jumping, and was eventually pulled-up about a mile out (maybe more). This was his 2nd race since being beaten by Monbeg Dude at Cheltenham in November and, to me, the horse looks broken. His heart wasn't in it on Saturday, and ita wasn't in it in his previous race either. It could be the horse needs a rest and perhaps be brought back for a handicap chase at Aintree in April.
I'll be updating my personal alert list today, weeding out a few that may have hit their ceiling or who haven't shown the potential that I thought was there, and adding a few replacements. One that will be going into the list is ON TREND. This lightly race 7yo with Nick Gifford ran an eye-catching race to come 2nd to decent yardstick Brackloon High at Kempton over 3-mile. He was off almost a year thru' injury before returning to the track on 1st December 2012 when he fell 5-out in a hot chase at Newbury. He ran again 3-weeks later on 22nd December when he still looked in need of the race. There was a lot to like about the tenacity he showed on Saturday when he was 2nd and hopefully he won't suffer much at the hands of the handicapper as I think he's a good deal better than the OR127 he ran off.
No selections today.
Remember! Betting on horseracing should be a pleasurable experience - never bet more than you can afford to lose.
Thanks from Wayward Lad
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