Saturday, August 23, 2008

Beverley, Cartmel and Windsor

there is also racing this afternoon in the U.K. at Beverley and Cartmel (N.H.) and this evening at Windsor. Easily the best card is at Windsor, which features a Group Three race over almost 12 furlongs at 19.50 CET, and many of the top jockeys riding at Newmarket and Goodwood this afternoon will make their way to the Thames-side track to ride here. The 3yo filley Lady Deauville (Paul Blockley/ Franny Norton) won 2 listed races very easily last week, but probably needs it softer underfoot, while another 3yo, Henry Cecil´s Unnefer (Ted Durcan) has to improve, leaving Sir Michael Stoute´s Gulf Express (Ryan Moore) and Silver Pivotal (Gerald Butler/ Frankie Dettori) as the most interesting runners here,; the latter is coming off a 6 months break, but seems to go best when fresh. The listed race over 10 furlongs at 19.20 has also a decent field, headed by Clive Brittain´s Hattan (Darryll Holland), who as been running in mich better company. However Tranquil Tiger (Cecil/ Durcan) and Spanish Moon (Stoute/ Moore) will give him plenty to think about. At Beverley, David Nicholls´ Peace Offering, ridden by son Adrian, can complete a hat-trick in the listed 5 furlongs race at 16.20, while the valuable 10 furlongs for 3yo´s at 15.20 should lie between Drill Sergeant (Mark Johnston/ Joe Fanning) and My Aint Fanny (Andrew Balding/ Liam Keniry). The best race at Cartmel is the class 3 handicap hurdle at 17.35 which is a very open affair with 13 runners. German-bred Los Nadis (Peter Monteith/ Ryan Mania) ran a good race on the flat recently and should have a leading chance.