Juliette's weekly frolic
I see from Saturday's sums — a simple matter of subtraction — that the vast pile accumulated at Ascot is dwindling fast. Bankrupt readers are perfectly welcome to curse me if it makes them feel any better, myself I'm nominating the rain at Warwick as this week's number one scapegoat. There, in the lead, was Straight Vulgan 'going well within himself as any respectable certainty should with five fences to jump, when he goes and lands on some slimy wet grass and slithers to earth in an undignified heap.
But there's always a brighter side and had he stood up Clarification couldn't possibly have won and if Clarification hadn't won I wouldn't now be able to present such a cast-iron case for backing Salvador III to win it all back this Saturday. If I lost you somewhere along the last sentence — let me explain. In his only two starts this season Salvador III has beaten Clarification a head and been beaten by him three-quarters length — on both occasions conceding 51b. Those efforts now look good enough to land him the 2.0 at Sandown or 2.30 at Stratford on Saturday afternoon.
Novice 'chasers are all the rage at present. On successive Saturdays High Ken took the 'Anthony Mildmay, Peter Cazalet' and Canasta Lad the 'Blue Circle,' so no wonder age and experience has been passed over in favour of youth and enterprise for Saturday's big one, the Stones Ginger Wine 'Chase. The young ones do, after all, field their
top team with the undefeated Bula and Bruslee lording it over the ante-post market. Ethically I should stick with Bruslee having given him a fruitless recommendation for the 'Great Yorkshire.' but seven whole days are enough to try any female's constancy and I've been unable to keep my eyes from appraising the talent of other entries, the most taking of whom seems to be Potentate. A 'good looking gelding' according to Timeform, and, though beaten five lengths into fourth place at Ascot last time, he is 181b better off with Credo's Daughter who finished a short head in front. Backed down from 4's to 9-4, he was clearlyexpected to win that day, having earlier successfully conceded 15Ib to the Wills winner, Credibility.
Whatever the fate of Potentate, and all the other horses clamouring for my support next Saturday, a few crisp notes must be kept in hand for the great getting out coup I'm planning to stage on the 4.00. On the face of it, a perfectly ordinary two-mile handicap hurdle headed by Moonlight Bay — a most unlikely runner — but lurking down near the 10-stone mark is the secret weapon, Tahini. Just caught by Kingdom at Windsor where the pair were streets ahead of a goodclass field, he'd earlier disposed of another respectable bunch on New Year's Day.
Assets £70.45. Outlay £3 to win Salvador III and Tahini, £2 to win Potentate.
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