Juliette's Weekly Frolic
It's enough to make a girl weep. There I was the proud possessor of three conlecutive winners and a second from the last four selections, preparing to pay a long-overdue tribute to my talents as a tipster. At least, that was the plan until Saturday afternoon, when Steel Pulse's Leger performance brought me—and many other "experts," I might add—down to earth with a unceremonious bump.
Lady jockeys have come a long way since first climbing into the saddle last May and Newbury's "Never a Quarrel Stakes" sees them graduate to their most imposing theatre to date. Being the penultimate battle of the series, it's not merely a question of who wins on Saturday, but who gains the all important points in the race to become the first-ever champion lady rider. Will the lead stay in the safe keeping of Jenifer Barons? Might Miss Tufnell stage a well-timed comeback on Spitzbergen? Or could Mrs Liam Ward and Daniel sprint ahead at this eleventh hour? I'm inclined to leave it to the first-named courtesy of her husband's fiveyear-old mare, Lavenanne.
Ladle; apart, Newbury offers a sparkling afternoon of sport with three richly endowed events. It would be highly fitting if the inaugural running of the £6,000 Mill Reef Stakes resulted in victory for the noble invalid's half brother and stable companion, Free Will. However, lack of experience could tell against him and a more likely and profitable Kingsclere scorer is Castle in the preceding Joe Coral Autumn Cup. The easy winner of one major long distance handicap, York's Melrose, with 12Ib less on his back, the colt i; weighted to win another, despite such high class opposition as Celtic Cone, Petty Officer and Irvine.
I should never dare set foot north of the Border again if allowing the Ayr Western Meeting to pass without a mention. Thanks to the generosity of the Burmah-Castrol oil combine, Friday's Gold Cup become; the richest sprint in Britain and with 26 " pcssibles," one of the most difficult. In twenty years no horse has carried over 9st to victory, but the handicap is headed by a distinguished quintet of seasoned weight carriers who are well up to breaking the rules. Disentangling them is another matter. However, a cavalry charge is no place for a lady and that lets out Abergwaun and Rambling Rose; no horse has pulled off the double which dispenses with Royben; while if successful, Royal, Captive would be the first victorious six-year-ol° since 1957. Which bit of engineered mathematieS leaves me in the company of Swinging Junior, trained within spitting distance of the racecourse and never out of the frame in eight starts this season.
If by some miracle this little lot should shoW, a profit, I intend following the fortunes of Red Power and Mr Piggott in The Cambridgeshire orl September 30.
Assets £101.08. Outlay £3 to win Lavenanne, Castle and Swinging Junior; if profit, £3 to win Red Power (14-1 ante-post).
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