Juliette s Weekly Frolic
One of these Saturdays I shall dig into my tombola and draw out the 20-1 winner of the big sponsored 'chase, couple it with the hero of the handicap hurdle and sail on through tote double and treble, with: the jackpot, triella, and ITV Seven thrown in for good measure, Having got those minor tests of skill down to a fine art, The Spectator racing machine will be fully primed for the flat, and a spectacular assault on the new Tote Roll-Up. Your views on this pools-operated money-spinner — which involves placing the first six in a given handicap in correct finishing order — will depend on your reading habits. The ' qualities ' welcomed it with open arms, the ' populars ' had their reservations while the poor old Tote was accused of mistiming its announcement before working out the details ,0 f this highly involved project. Personally I don't see why they had to make 'it quite so difficult. An outright copy of the French tierce might have been hard for patriots to swallow, but surely a 'quadruple' forecast bet would have made good sense, seeing that our present racing system is geared to cope with the first four home.
Roll-Ups apart, it's been quite a week for the turf. The Jockey Club published its guide to VAT and McKinsey and Co. reorganised the Jockey Club. In the coming year Sir Randle Fielden retires, Lord Wigg's off to Jamaica and furlongs are going metric. The horses don't stand much chance against that lot, but no doubt the spotlight will swing back in their direction for Saturday's SGB 'chase at Ascot. Until Spanish Steps struck a blow for the home team last year, the Irish had virtually domina ted this race. No Dreaper stars this time, but Lord liarrington's son, Steven Stanhope, 21 on Saturday, will be hoping for the nicest possible birthday present aboard his brother's horse, Khan — a promising fourth in '71. Ballysagert did well to finish third in the "Hennessy," but I've had my fill or northern challengers in recent weeks and hold out more hope for the chances of Red Candle, who proved his 'Mackeson ' win to be no fluke by running on strongly against Pendil at Kempton, and was a firm choice until Spanish Steps began drifting in the betting. That horse has a habit of turning up at a nice price once a year and: beat Red Candle 26 lengths on his first outing of the season.
The charmingly named Long Walk Hurdle sees a return clash between Coral Diver, Parlour Moor, and Highland Abbe, first three home at Wolverhampton two weeks ago. Parlour Moor, 91b better off with the winner, is far from a forlorn hope to recoup my losses on that occasion.
At the time of writing there are 29 horses due out for Ascot's novice 'chase, 33 for the SGB Hurdle and 50 for the amateur event. The only solution: cross doubles on three new chasing stars, Killiney (Ascot 12.30), Tingle Creek (Ascot 2.40) and Magellan (Nottingham, 3.0) who are all near certain to run — and win.
Assets: £98.50. Outlay £3 to win Spanish Steps & Parlour Moor El cross win double Killiney, Tingle Creek & Magellan.
Six to follow, assets: £14.56.
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