Ben Linfoot shares his notes from day one of the Flat turf season at Doncaster as David Menuisier and Benoit De La Sayette teamed up to win the Lincoln.
Was your horse drawn on the wrong side? Did it double in price only for the saddle to slip in the first 100 yards? Looked unfit and hated the ground? Don’t worry, you’re not alone. Heavy ground at the Lincoln meeting to kick off the Flat is not exactly ideal, but lessons can be learned.
Here are four notes I made with the next few weeks and months in mind.
Menuisier could be set for bumper April
I’m a big fan of DAVID MENUISIER but put a line through Migration pretty quickly in the Lincoln as his trainer usually starts the turf season with a limp rather than a bang.
He was eight from 85 runners at 9.41% with his runners on turf in the months of March and April for his career before today, with seven of those winners coming in the Aprils of 2016 and 2021 combined, which makes me think they’re either ready or they’re not.
Well, judging by Migration’s superb win in the Pertemps Network Lincoln at Doncaster he might well have his string exactly where he wants them, as the seven-year-old must have been in A1-condition to carry top weight to victory in heavy ground from a perch of 107.
He beat a very good horse in Awaal into second as he weaved his way through under an inspired Benoit De La Sayette, a jockey who is now seven from 18 at 39% for Menuisier.
I reckon Menuisier’s horses are worth following in the short-term – he runs Flyin’ Solo at Doncaster on Sunday – and when De La Sayette is jocked up the horse in question will demand serious inspection.
The Gatekeeper has races in him
Earlier on the consolation race, the Spring Mile, went to Harswell Duke for Roger Fell, but the horse to take from the race for me was THE GATEKEEPER for Charlie Johnston.
I thought this was a huge run second-time back after 625-days off and can’t help but think there’s mileage in his handicap mark of 92 going into the spring.
He bolted up off 85 at Newcastle a month ago but he could easily have bounced here up a furlong on very different conditions, yet he ran a cracker in fifth.
I don’t actually think he enjoyed the heavy ground, particularly, but he handled it well enough as he moved nicely into contention only for his stamina to give way late on.
He’s clearly trained on well after his long absence and a mile on better ground or a drop back to seven could see him get his head in front sometime soon. He’s one to follow.
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The Brocklesby was won by Doddie’s Impact who overhauled Valadero, the latter going for home soon enough under Kevin Stott and they were beaten a neck after tying up in the last 100 yards.
He had a hard race and I’m not sure I’d be taking a short price about him going one better next time, but he was clearly ready for the task in hand and it prompted me to take a look at STARSPANGLEDBANNER’s juvenile progeny in the early months of the turf season.
It turns out it’s pretty good, he’s 16 from 77 at 21% with his turf juveniles from March to May, so it could be an angle to keep an eye on in the early 2yo races when actual form is short in supply.
Gelded Ehraz could finally come of age
We’ve all got our cliff horses and EHRAZ is definitely one of mine, but after watching his run in the Cammidge Trophy at Doncaster I don’t think I’ve crashed to the bottom of the cartoon cavern just yet.
Gelded in the winter, the four-year-old was not unfancied at 9/2 on his return and shaped very nicely on the most testing ground conditions he has encountered in his career by far.
Jim Crowley couldn’t get any cover from his draw in three on the outside and was stuck out on the wing for much of the contest, running a tad keenly before having to do his own donkey work in the middle of the track.
He made his ground up nicely at halfway, though, and while he didn’t have an answer to the winner, Vadream, a mare who relishes conditions and got loose on the front end, he was beaten less than a length by Fast Response to finish third and this was a nice platform for future assignments.
Last year he came on significantly for his first run of the season and second-time out could be the time to catch him. We’ll review his cliff-horse status after that.
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