If ending Friday with a 20-1 winner and then having a
cessation of All Weather fixtures until Monday afternoon left subscribers
counting down the hours, the anticipation of waiting another All Weather free day
after an unsatisfactory Monday is even greater.
Jim Crowley riding two of our earlier selections gave
Oriental Splendour (opened 5-1) a mountain to climb in the opener. The
selection finished fastest of all its rivals, but even the long straight at
Kempton Park wasn't long enough to allow Oriental Splendour time to gather in
Hugh Taylor's pick Anastazia.
Kung Hei Fat Choy, also ridden by Crowley was never put in
to the race and wasn't even ridden out in the final furlong and a half. The
assumption is that this was no more than a warm up for its return to Southwell
in the near future where 3 of its 6 wins have been claimed. I would also expect
that Jim Crowley will NOT be on board.
I checked and double checked the C&D rating for Nigel’s
Destiny in the 4:20 only to find that it stood up to closer scrutiny. Loathed
to act based upon one C&D run, I favoured Set The Trend who looked a tired
horse in running and ready for a rest after 4 races in 18 days. As my C&D
rating suggested, the time performance by Nigel’s Destiny was a cut above
everything else on a card where the 7 other races all returned times hovering
around standard. The proximity of Semeral to the winner makes for two horses
for the notebook.
Although we suffered a loss in the 4:50 with our selection
Golden Emerald (opened 25-1) who was beaten in to third by two un-rated horses:
Mahsoob & Razor Wind. The distance
the three put between themselves and the remainder of the field is worthy of
note if we see the first two home back on this surface over the winter. Golden Emerald
unfortunately has been exposed by the run and although I see this horse as a
winner in waiting, we are unlikely to get the same generous 25-1 next time out.
Our light at the end of the tunnel was Larghetto (opened
3-1) in the last. After knocking on the door over 6f at Wolverhampton LTO,
Larghetto has now shown the versatility to win over 6f, 7f and 1 mile. All wins
have been within the scope of 0-60, but the manner of this victory would
suggest potential to win with the penalty preferably back up to a mile.
.jpg)