Our columnist with an update on Powerful Glory and a look at his runners around the country on Saturday.
Powerful Glory came out of the QIPCO British Champions Sprint in good order. He’s finished for the year and we’re going to play it by ear with him.
It was a tremendous boost for the yard for him to win the Group One and I was thrilled for Sheikh Rashid and the horse himself. It wasn’t a fluke, he had excuses for the two runs this season and fingers crossed he’ll stay in training next season. He’d be one look forward to and would take us to all the big days.
Newbury
13:25 Saniyaat's Star
He’s been placed a couple of times to seven furlongs but Oisin Orr has always said we should be running him over six. We do that on Saturday and this race, in the ground, might be right up his street.
15:10 Arabian Desert
This is a colt I do like an awful lot. His first run at Ayr was a disaster and I don’t know why he was as green as he was up there. He’d done plenty at home and I was sure he was ready for his debut.
Then at York next time he was a completely different horse, He did everything right through the race only to be outsprinted by the winner.
A truly-run race will see him a better light and it’s just a question of whether he’s going to handle the ground on Saturday. You don’t know until you try but he’s a lovely prospect.
Doncaster
13:30 Vintage Clarets
Everything is absolutely spot on for him here, trip, track, ground. But I just feel the handicapper has him. As soon as he gets up to 96, 97, 98 he really struggles to win. But we’ll give it another go.
14:40 Boston Dan
I don’t know what happened to him at Ayr two runs ago, maybe he was on the slowest part of the track, but he bounced back at York last time. Six furlongs is definitely his trip and he’s in good order but he’s running on heavy ground at Doncaster and we’ll only find out on the day if he handles it.
16:25 Have Secret
The handicapper killed him for winning at Ripon in April and he’s been paying the price ever since. I thought he ran OK at York last time and he’s one who will be absolutely fine on the ground.
He’s started to slip down the handicap a little now, two lower than at York, but I do wish the handicapper would react more quickly at times when its clear a horse can’t be competitive from their revised rating.
17:00 Rainbow Nebula
Fair play to the owner, he’s shown great patience with this horse and is getting his reward now. He’s quite a nice colt and it was great to see him win at Ascot last time. I wouldn’t be surprised in the least if he ran another big race on Saturday.
17:30 Catalyse
I thought he’d run really well at Catterick last Saturday but he just half-missed the start and the sharp track probably beat him.
I’ve put a visor on him this time to see if that sharpens him up because this is a horse who is better than a rating of 78. If the headgear works – and he goes through the ground – he must go close.
Wolverhampton
17:25 Watchdog
Having moaned about the handicapper when talking about Have Secret, I have to say he might have been a little kind with an opening mark of 58. He’s been a backward colt but I think going up to seven furlongs will suit as he switches to nurseries.
18:00 Lovely Spirit
We’ve been waiting all year for soft ground with her and now there’s a bit of it around, there aren’t any suitable races on turf. So, we try again on the all-weather and I do think the drop back to seven furlongs will suit her but she needs to show more than she has been doing.
More from Sporting Life
- Racecards
- Fast results
- Full results and free video replays
- Horse racing news
- Horse racing tips
- Horse racing features
- Download our free iOS and Android app
- Football and other sports tips
- Podcasts and video content
Safer gambling
We are committed in our support of safer gambling. Recommended bets are advised to over-18s and we strongly encourage readers to wager only what they can afford to lose.
If you are concerned about your gambling, please call the National Gambling Helpline / GamCare on 0808 8020 133.
Further support and information can be found at begambleaware.org and gamblingtherapy.org.
