Sunday's Fork 'n' Funny Fairyhouse Blog

Next Years July Cup Runners on the Gallops

Yesterday with it's heavy all over was a desperate day for most punters...well it was for me, except for York where I made a profit and incidentally the only course where there was decent(ish) ground.  I'm amazed that Newmarket managed to get through the entire card.  The sensible thing to do in these conditions is save your betting bank for a brighter day!


At least the jumps jockeys must be happy with the rain - it makes hitting the turf a little less painful.

Yesterday was however brightened up by both Fork Handles and Handles For Forks running - but sadly not in the same race which would have been such fun for the racecaller (well, more fun for those watching!).  This gives me a great reason to put this up on a Sunday morning.....Tinzapeas (another Channon horse) along with the late (and could have been) great Gottany O's get a mention in this sketch as well.  Channon has another Fork out today - Spanish Fork over hurdles in the 16:20 Stratford.

Word play was also in force at Hamilton with McNiff & McGiff were riding in the Stewards' Cup at Hamilton.  Luke and Paul finished 7th and 8th respectively.  The race was won by Grissom, giving Tim Easterby his 5th winner for the day.  Richard Fahey was another northern trainer who had a good day with four winners, including the July Cup (Mayson) and Chester City Plate (Majestic Myles) within 5 minutes of each other.  

On the other side of the Channel, Imperial Monarch won the Grand Prix de Paris with a fine front running ride under JoB.  Despite trying as hard as possible for half and hour, les stewards could find no plausible reason to take the race away from Ireland and give it to the (French) runner up........

Belgrave Stakes - Fairyhouse 15:05
The big race of today will be the Belgrave at Fairyhouse at 15:05.  The going is ....heavy! There is a hefty low draw bias over 6f at Fairyhouse and if this still holds true on today's going then Gordon Lord Byron is surely the best of the three with the low draw.  He has form on heavy and Fran Berry booked, who has ridden for two of his four wins. He is beginning to look a tad exposed though.  The others two with a low draw are Lady Pastrana who is out of her depth and Santo Padre 3rd who doesn't do heavy so they can be dismissed.  


Away from the low draw, Slade Power 1st isn't likely to be keen on heavy ground whereas Arctic 2nd is proven on it and very closely matched with Gordon Lord Byron who has the draw advantage today.  The other very interesting contender is the O'Brien runner After who has never won on heavy but then again, both of those instances were at 7f which appeared to be a furlong too far. She is quickly turned out again after a fairly hard race on Wednesday at Naas (7f heavy) so that would concern me and she's not the brightest star in the Ballydoyle firmament but then this isn't the best race in the Irish racing calendar!  

Gordon Lord Byron is likely to race handily just off the pace and this ought to be the best tactics in these conditions.  After is usually waited with and will get a tow into the race from Arctic and Simla Sunset who are drawn next to her.  JoB does do 'pouncing' quite nicely but in these conditions, the filly would need to sprout wings in the last half furlong.


Difficult race to read but I'll go with Gordon Lord Byron and After to follow him home (reverse forecast ..just in case!)
* Going has been revised to soft, heavy in places since writing and Seamie Heffernan took over from JoB on After

Monday’s Selections & Review (15 August)

Back to the (mostly) low grade fodder that makes up Monday racing after a pretty exciting weekend.  BUT it’s only two sleeps until the York Ebor Festival....I can’t wait! 

Aiden O’Brien, fresh from his double at Arlington, has spent a few quid in entry fees for his owners with no less than 36 in total.   It will be interesting to see what jockeys Ballydoyle will use (apart from Heffernan, O’Donoghue and O’Brien Jr) with no Ryan Moore available ....apart from Jamie Spencer that is!   Wednesday's O'Brien runners will all be ridden by the stable jockeys

If you missed Jamie and Cape Blanco burning up the turf in the Arlington Million late on Saturday night, you can see it here:

Monday’s selections are:

Kempton

16:00     Echo Ridge (9.6) UP

16:00     Swift Breeze (6.4) UP

16:30     Ssafa (17.5) UP

Thirsk

15:45     Jeu De Vivre (8.2) 2^nd

Not so good today - no winners!!  and a loss of -4


By the way, Ssafa is also the acronym for the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Associations who are having a pretty good fun midnight march on the 02 September in Aldershot to raise ££££s for the charity. 

I could have put up a pretty landscape pic of Echo Ridge in Arizona but have gone for the much more attractive alternative................

Thirsk 15:15 Class 5 0-75 Handicap 3yo+

A mile around Thirsk on good to soft is not all of these runners’ cups of tea – particularly if drawn wide! 

Call of Duty stands out immediately with the plum draw (front runner) and the booking of Paul Hanagan.  The trainer uses her daughter to ride in the main so this booking looks significant.  His last visit here resulted in a 2^nd from the very worst of the outside draw.  He’s probably a little flattered by that though as the first four places were all filled by those with high draws since those drawn low wasted their advantages by being slow away.  Call Of Duty carries an extra 8lbs on his back today but Hanagan (as we know!) is worth that – however I’d be happier if this was a 7f race! 

Kerry’s Requiem is dropping down in class today and just qualifies for this 0-75 race after a string of ‘could do betters’.  Her two best performances this year have been over a mile and she’ll have no trouble with the softer ground.  She seems suited but a sharper track with wins at Goodwood and Windsor so I’ve no concerns on that score.  Julie Burke is a claimer who I rate highly (she lost her claim long since in Ireland so is a lot more experienced than first appears!) and her 5lb will help negate her hefty load.  She ought to get the tow she needs with plenty of front runners drawn close by – so I can see her running a big race.  As always with big fields and her running style, she’ll need some luck.

There are plenty of good horses with poor draws (Elijah Pepper, Thinking, Keys of Cyprus) but I’m going to stick with a low drawn runner and go with Kerry’s Requiem each way.

Kerry’s Requiem  10/1 each way RESULT 3rd