Review of the day

We got a stark reminder this afternoon, of the perils of NH racing…

Overtown Express was the main tip on the day - and I was very optimistic that he was going to oblige at Chepstow.

Given a waiting ride, behind an overly strong pace, he cruised into contention round the home turn - and I’m absolutely sure he would have taken a lot of beating (he touched 2.5 in running at that point).

However, he got the first fence in the straight wrong - and although he didn’t fall, it seriously unbalanced him - and in struggling to regain his equilibrium, he broke his leg.

It was a sickening sight - and acted as a reminder of what these horses and jockeys put on the line, for our daily pleasure…

Incredibly, I thought that exactly the same thing had happened to the first tip on the day, Rhythm is a Dancer.

He wasn’t travelling with the same menace as Overtown Express - but was far from beaten, when he made a mistake at the fifth hurdle.

He too was quickly pulled up - but thankfully it was only a knock and he lived to fight another day…

2 races later on the Kempton card, Petit Palais finished a disappointing fourth in the juvenile hurdle.

There was always a chance that one of the newcomers would prove too good for him - but I would have expected him to run better than he did.
It would appear he has quite significant limitations…

As a consequence, whether it was going to be a profitable day for the tips, all came down to the Eider chase at Newcastle.

I tipped 2 in the race - and both ran really well.

Kimberlite Candy made a few mistakes - and probably didn’t quite get home: but thankfully, Crosspark jumped soundly and under a strong drive from Jamie Moore, managed to get his head in front, just before the line.

February has been a bit of a struggle (not helped by the weather or the equine flu), so it was nice to finally nail a decent priced winner…

As for the Mentions:
Then Bags Groove got them off to a good start, with a textbook win at Kempton.
However, that was as good as it got…
Talkischeap ran a fair race at Kempton - but it was strong contest and simply, he wasn’t up to the job (at this stage of his career, anyway).
Finally, Magic of Light was backed into favouritism at Fairyhouse but she never appeared to be travelling particularly well - and decanted her jockey just after half way.
Hardly an ideal preparation for the Grand National !!

TVB.