Juliette's Weekly Frolic
Naturally bashful and demure I have, nevertheless, been commanded to indulge in a little of that self-congratulation the ' dailies ' thrive on: when some astonishingly percipient gentleman has his five out of six at Newton Abbot trumpeted in heavy black type across the sports page, with the four other meetings — and twenty-four selections — neatly tidied into the archives, a brief gloat over an 8 to 1 winner and 9 to 1 third does not appear unreasonable.
All's fair on the racing front this weekend with North, South and Midlands each offering a mmeting and a roughly equivalent bait. Starting at the top where Newcastle by adding the first final of the George Lodge Memorial Hurdle series to the established Eider Chase, gains a marginal advantage over her rivals. Not feeling inclined towards hot favourites or wild pronouncements I'll leave Official to get on with it and sidle on the the 'Eider.' A race that has the rare distinction of actually being longer than the ' National ' has frightened so many away at the four-day stage that The Spaniard at lOst 131b is left a whole stone ahead of his nearest rival in the handicap, High Lettre. Travelling further down still, Fair Vulgan appears 61b better off with the latter for a four length beating and, while not overendowed with finishing speed, a win and four seconds in six races speaks for itself. Kempton's chief feature, the Ladbroke Hurdle was until recently a notorious fiddling ground for the 'Schweppes,' but even given a copybook performance by all 23 participants, I have neither time nor stamina to deal with so large a field. Tula Rocket may make his longawaited hurdling debut in Kempton's last race, the Walton Hurdle, but if in doubt, course and distance winner, Something's Missing is now 171b better off with rival Windrush for a 101 beating at Sandown and beat him easily in Official's Cheltenham race. Earlier, 12st 101b is an awful lot of weight even for Kincloch Brae in the Walter Hyde Chase, and he could meet defeat at the hands of Twigairy. Inclined to win when not falling, he has improved beyond all measure since being alloted a disparaging Dst 81b in last year's Whitbread, Assets: £103,95, Outlay: £3 to win Fair Vulgan, Something's Missing & Twigairy.
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