Scottish Sun columnist and Racing TV analyst Ed Watson delves into the pick of the action from the first of the BHA’s six-fixture trial of Sunday night meetings between now and mid-March, kicking off with Wolverhampton.
FOR HE’S A JOLLY GOOD FELLOWES
There’s a lot riding on Smoky Mountain. Not least Charlie Fellowes’ mood. The Newmarket trainer has already said he “f***ing hates the idea” of racing on Sunday evenings, precious time he would far rather devote to raising his young family, but admits in many respects his hands are tied. No-one’s forcing him to run, of course. But when the alternative to taking aim at a Class 4 handicap worth £26,500 - three times its usual value - is “running for peanuts” during the rest of the week, what ‘alternative’ is an aspiring trainer really left with?
The good news for Fellowes - and possibly the family cat, too - is SMOKY MOUNTAIN (7.00) strikes me as by far the most likely winner of this 7f handicap. I say ‘handicap’, because it’s effectively a classified contest, with only 2lb separating all 12 runners.
That Smoky Mountain - Fellowes’ sole raider on the card - is even able to run here under top weight owes much to a luckless handicap debut effort over course and distance 16 days ago. Easy winner of a maiden over the same track and trip on his previous start, Smoky Mountain was badly hampered on the turn away from the stands and got shuffled to the rear of the field as a result. He then didn’t get the clearest of runs down the stretch, either.
Yet he charged home late under Harry Davies to close to within a neck of Marco Botti’s Eden Storm, who went up 2lb for winning, compared to the 1lb rise Smoky Mountain got for finishing runner-up. On a different day, the result could easily have been the other way around, thus Smoky Mountain would have gone up an extra pound or two, pushing him above the ratings ceiling for this race.
Compensation - and valuable compensation at that - looks to await for Fellowes and jockey Daniel Muscutt, who takes over in the plate for the first time on what is his only booked ride on the card. One which is Timeform top-rated to boot.
BOOGIE NIGHT
With December’s horse of the month Intervention swerving this after being foiled in his attempt for a five-timer on Tuesday, Diomed Spirit stands out as the most progressive runner of the 10 which remain.
His form has taken off since returning to synthetics this autumn, following up a win off a mark of 66 over course and distance in October with back-to-back Chelmsford successes off 72 and 78. Given the snug nature of that most recent victory, a 4lb rise shouldn’t prove insurmountable for Stuart Williams’ charge as he moves up to this grade for the first time.
The horse who is overpriced in my book, given the anticipated nature of this test, is habitual trailblazer NIGHT ON EARTH (7.30), who has bagged the ideal draw in box 1 to leave recent efforts behind from a career-low mark of just 69.
A five-time winner for Mick Appleby and The Horse Watchers from October 2021 to August 2022, the six-year-old’s mark has tumbled all the way from 90 only last April (and a peak of 95) during a lean first full turf campaign with Ian Williams in 2023.
Yet it’s knocking on for two years since he was last faced with what I’d consider his optimum set-up - a bare 5f (all eight career wins at this trip) round a bend on the all-weather. While Southwell has never been his cup of Tetley (unplaced in all five previous visits there), his form figures over 5f at Wolverhampton, Kempton, Chelmsford and Lingfield make for an eye-catching 2162311. Those last two wins were achieved off marks of 85 and 92 back in the spring of 2022.
Admittedly, it’s a stretch to think Night On Earth can get back to that level. By the same token, though, I’m not convinced he's become the back number his slide down the ratings might indicate. He’s shown enough zip in three runs back from a break this autumn - one over 6f, another a first try at 7f which he was never going to stay - to suggest he can cash in on the handicapper’s latest 2lb drop when tasked with the right assignment.
This could be it. Provided he traps with his usual gusto from the rail draw, Williams’ charge has the natural pace to get loose on the front end, and might be able to open up enough of an advantage to repel the closers in reapplied cheekpieces which he’s won in before.
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