Juhette's weekly frolic*
_
For a good many pundits and punters National Hunt racing ceases to exist after the Grand National and only re-emerges from its summer hibernation in November when there's little else to take the fancy. However, seeing that the new season was one month old last Saturday, and celebrated the occasion with a £750 Challenge. Cup at Stratford, I was determined to shake off my current neglect with a visit to Tenbury Wells trainer, John Edwards, en route to the races. In an area bordered by Chepstow, Bangor, Haydock and Stratford, these midlanders could not be better placed as far as jumping tracks are concerned. At the tender age of twenty-five, John Edwards came heartbreakingly close to winning the 'National,' when his Sandy Sprite broke down leading into the last fence, now, two years later, he has bright prospects of a best-ever season for beside the usual complement of up and coming talent, he has secured first claim on the services of Bob Davies. The . horses have only just come up from their summer feeding grounds, and it's anyone's guess which the exchampion jockey will be steering to victory in the month's ahead. But the babies need time, training and in some cases, breaking as well, so it's left to one of the stable's elder statesmen, ten-year-old Zip, to draw first blood at Bangor-on-Dee next Saturday.
In the meantime all eyes remain glued on their sleeker cousins, a number of whom will be sharing £20,000 in prize money at Newbury's last completely 'flat ' fixture the same day. That course just wouldn't be the same without at least one pattern race and this time it's the two-year-olds' turn with the £6,000 Mill Reef Stakes — leaving the older horses to fight over a couple of equally lucrative handicaps, the Peter Hastings Stakes and the Joe Coral Autumn Cup.
The latter, a two-miler, comes midway between the Ebor and the Cesarewitch as regards both dis tance and the calendar. In the last six runnings, only One horse has triumphed with more than 8 stone, which dispenses with threequarters of the entry and Ebor failure Realist nicely fits the bill with 7.13. However, considering the Melrose Handicap over the same course and distance was run almost 2 seconds faster, Pirgos (7.7) who failed by only 11 Lengths to complete a three-timer there, looks even better.
Everyone has favourite horses and I surely can't be alone in putting old Grandrew on this par ticular pedestal. Now nearly white, he has been lightly shaking off the years with some grand perfor mances at Newbury, notably when running-up to Caius under 9.6 and to Offenbach under 9.11. In the 'Peter Hastings' he gets away with less than 9 stone for the first time this year and is overdue for a win.
Although York's Wednesday feature, the Strensall Stakes for three and four-year-old fillies, doesn't merit 'group ' status it still manages to pull in some talented ladies. The 1,000 Guineas queen Waterloo, was a hot, but beaten, favourite last year and this time round, provided she doesn't find York too much of a comedown after her money-spinning jaunt to Deauville, Katie Cecil can boost her value as a prospective mum-to-be. Finally, I may as well stick with last week's non-runner, Brambles Farm, in the Ouseburn Nursery the same afternoon.
Assets: £80.56. Outlay: £2 to win Zip, Pirgos, Grandrew, Katie Cecil and Brambles Farm.
Previous page
