Juliette's Weekly Frolic
It was a strange and novel sensation to watch your selection win the National while wishing with all your heart he'd fail to get there. Strictly speaking I should be wallowing in conceit, but with all respect to Red Rum, such antics seerh in poor taste.
There are five race meetings this Saturday, but to say the action's all at Ascot is no exaggeration. While the course is unlikely to win a blue ribband as a trippers' paradise, this weekend it comes as near as you could hope to get to all-round entertainment on the racing side. In the space of three hours, the Berkshire-bound ra cegoer will be treated to the first couple of important classic trials; the last major southern steeplechase; the clash of top middle-distance performer Par nell with the Ebor winner Crazy Rhythm; and, as no one needs telling, the public christening of the Tote Roll UP.
When this venture was first mooted the pessimists feared it would attract a mediocre collection of animals — perfectly capable of keeping the pools type punter happy, but of scant interest to the pure-bred racing man. However, if Round One is anything to go by, we are in for a highly competitive series of handicaps that would be a welcome addition to any card, perms or not. Having initially • fought shy of this tipping marathon, by midweek the paper were going to town on roll-up recommendations. 1 am not so brave — in print anyway — and Burlington Boy, owned by pools chief Robert Sangster, can be assured of my undivided attention. As his trainer has pointed out 9st is a pretty fair weight for a fourtimes winner who might easily have finished first not third in the ' Gimcrack ' but for an untimely interruption in his training programme.
In contrast to the organised fields for the Roll Up, running plans for the classic trials are very much in the air. Should they turn out, Long Row, Midsummer Star, Perdu and the Irish importation, Chamozzle will be fighting for the public's pennies in the 2000 Guineas race, but there are plenty of other possibilities, such as Mon Fils who won the valuable Mill Reef Stakes last year. He subsequently disappointed in the Observer Gold Cup but comes from a stable fairly bouncing into form after a frustrating series of seconds. The ladies' trial fields some well-born representatives of the fairer sex, most notably the Queen Mary Stakes winner, Truly Thankful, and the O'Brien filly, Grasse. However, I have stronger feelingn about Golden Treasure who won three in a row before doing a Jacinth with the starting stalls at Newmarket.
The recently-recruited hurdler, Correighoil, missed some easy pickings in a sub-standard Mildmay,' for a crack at Killiney in the Heinz 'Chase and if his run against the dazzling Inkslinger at the Cheltenham Festival was anything to go by, he could conceivably spring a surprise.
Assets: E86.08 (five to follow, assets: £14.52). Outlay £3 to win Burlington Boy, £2 to win Golden Treasure and CorreigL hail. £1 ew Mon Fils.
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