Sport

HERE WE GO AGAIN

6 May 2009

I have a lot to say to you this week so I will get the upcoming Newmarket Classics out of the way first.

My selection for the Stanjames 2000 Guineas this Saturday is Mastercraftsman and my selection for the Stanjames 1000 Guineas on Sunday is Rainbow View.   They are both strongly fancied and not a lot of price but I tip them with confidence.

Now I would like to move on to the first running of our two year old filly Southwark Newshawk on Thursday in the 5.25 race at Yarmouth. I would like to say to you, and most of all to the wonderful band of stalwarts who are the Southwark News Racing Club, that the Hawk is poised to swoop to conquer. I would love to say that but I must advise caution.   We have been very gentle in our preparation of the Hawk for her first race.

She is not very big and she is a late foal.  
A couple of months in age means nothing when a hoss is five or six years old but as two year olds it means a lot. She is very inexperienced and our trainer has gone out of her way not to bring her on too quickly.

All that being said I have to predict that our first race at Yarmouth will be a learning exercise. She will do much better in her second race and even better in her third. What I want to see on Thursday night is our baby showing a turn of foot out of the gate and moving smoothly. The first three furlongs will tell us if she has quality.

As it has worked out our hoss is up against another filly out of Mrs Dunnett's yard, Avec Moi. This filly works every day with the Hawk and there is not much between them.

However, Avec Moi has the advantage of already having had a race at Nottingham, where she ran very creditably in the posse and of course she is a couple of months older than our hoss.
Earlier in the week I had the problem of choosing a jockey for our filly and it caused me some head scratching. I took a call from Mrs D asking who I favoured to pilot Southwark Newshawk and I asked for Tom McLaughlin who is the number one choice to ride for the yard. At that point I did not know that Avec Moi was entered in the same race and stood a better chance of winning.

I should have let Mrs D put the best jockey on the hoss with the best chance but I did not so Cathy Gannon rides Avec Moi and Tom rides Southwark Newshawk. The going at Yarmouth is causing some concern being officially good to firm. I am gambling on the rain which is forecast for Thursday taking some of the sting out of the ground and that our filly's sire Piccolo's liking for fast going being passed on to his daughter.

I think it is a risk worth taking. From the point of view of the Southwark News Racing Club, Newshawk's race on Thursday has to represent the cut off point for the acceptance of new members. It would not be fair on those who have joined already for me to allow new members to join once we know just what Hawk can do. As it stands those who have trusted me and been bold enough to stay on board the Good Ship Racing Club are showing a nice tidy profit on their investment.

It is of course a paper profit during my lifetime because all profits are being ploughed back into our racing stock but when I die I have left instructions that there will be a sell up and a share out. On that happy note, with a reminder to back Mastercraftsman and Rainbow View I will leave you.

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