John Ingles provides an overview of the key things to note on the racing front on Wednesday.
Rosenpur to show his speed again
It was a year ago that ex-German gelding Rosenpur made his debut for Jennie Candlish at Lingfield, finishing sixth of nine in the amateur jockeys’ handicap over a mile and a quarter but it’s the five-furlong dash (13:25) that he’s contesting on the same card this time. In the meantime, Rosenpur had a try over hurdles but proved far too headstrong for that experiment to be worth repeating and was soon returned to the Flat where his free-going nature (he wears a hood) resulted in him being tried over increasingly shorter trips.
Still a maiden at the age of five, Rosenpur had run up a sequence of four second places but finally broke his duck in a novice at Wolverhampton earlier this month when dropped back to five furlongs for only the second time in his career. His natural speed was seen to best effect over the minimum trip despite racing freely again as he made all the running for a length win over Francesco.
Remarkably, though, Rosenpur is anything but speedily bred and is in fact the offspring of a pair of middle-distance classic winners. His sire Pour Moi won the 2011 Derby and is standing as a jumps stallion these days while his dam Rosenreihe won the German Oaks, the Preis der Diana, in 2008 for Rosenpur’s original trainer Peter Schiergen. Now that current connections have found the rather unlikely key to him, Rosenpur looks capable of following up his Wolverhampton success under a penalty back in a handicap and with Billy Loughnane on board for the first time.
Willie Mullins breaks new ground at Catterick
An otherwise ordinary novice hurdle at Catterick (13:38) features a first runner at the track for Willie Mullins on what is a blank day of racing in Ireland. Jarrive de Mee might not be one of the stable’s most expensive buys or high-profile novices, at least not yet, but he is a winning pointer and made a very good impression on his Rules debut in an amateur riders’ maiden hurdle at Thurles in November. Making all the running under Patrick Mullins, Jarrive de Mee travelled smoothly throughout and there was plenty to like about the way he cruised clear from the last to win by four and a half lengths.
Runner-up Beauforts Storm won next time before being touched off in a listed mares’ novice last month, giving the form some substance. Patrick Mullins keeps the ride on Jarrive de Mee who might be a first runner at Catterick for his father but the jockey himself had a first taste of the North Yorkshire track in an amateurs’ handicap hurdle last month when finishing fifth on the Ryan Potter-trained Ithaka which will have no doubt served as a useful ‘recce’.
Jarrive de Mee received Timeform’s ‘large P’ symbol for his Thurles win denoting significant improvement is expected and is therefore impossible to impose in his bid to become his stable’s first winner in Britain since Mr Escobar at Sedgefield in late-November.
Far Away West’s stable switch catches the eye
A horse beaten nearly forty lengths when a tailed-off last in a seller last time wouldn’t normally be of any interest but it may well be worth making an exception for Far Away West in Catterick’s handicap hurdle over just short of two miles (15:38).
The daughter of Yeats has shown just poor form over hurdles to date for Daisy Hitchins without winning but showed some ability when placed twice last summer and made the frame a couple of times again in the autumn at Stratford and Exeter, though clearly didn’t give her running in that seller at the former track at the end of October.
However, that performance last time didn’t prevent Far Away West from being claimed for £7,000 afterwards and she now makes her debut for current leading trainer Dan Skelton. With the only two below her in the weights out of the handicap, Far Away West looks very interesting from a BHA mark of just 80 and could well leave her latest run well behind starting out for new connections.
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