02/04/23

Things are getting a lot busier for us now with plenty of runners and the good news is that they have hit the track in good form but have evidently needed their first runs back.
Hurricane Kiko ran a bit too fresh before getting tired at Kempton on Wednesday whilst Mrs Meader was in the process of running a big race before hitting the wall in heavy ground at Doncaster on Saturday.
Smokey Malone only had a short break recently but he's back with a bang after finishing a close second at Chelmsford on Saturday night. You could say he had trouble in running which cost him but he loves getting into small gaps as it keeps him interested so it is probably best that he did get a bit hampered.
It's great to see that they are competitive and that there will be lots more to come from them as the season progresses. It's going to be a long season for each horse so there's no point having them super fit first time out only for them to be cooked before summer is even here.

After a January which dragged on for ages, the year is now flying by and we're up to Easter already.
Good Friday used to be a blank day in the calendar but racing has slowly started to use the day. However, the regulators have rightly said that any racing on that day must be for extra prize money. It means that there is an overvalued card at Bath on Friday for lower rated horses and they have been rewarded with over 400 entires. Rightly so, everyone wants a slice of the generous pot.
Unfortunately we didn't have many that would get a run and, add the soft ground to the equation, there wasn't much for us to take there with a fighting chance.

That doesn't meant that we're not racing at all this week as we have a good few entries who should all like the soft conditions that are about.
Fen Tiger is a proven mud lover and he heads north to Thirsk for his first run of the year on Tuesday. He is a light-framed horse so I hope he is fitter than some of our others have been on their first run back plus he still has room to win again off his handicap mark so fingers crossed he can go close at a course he won at last year.

Another one who I hope is a bit fitter than some is Macho Son who goes to Nottingham on Wednesday. He seemed to handle soft ground last year in one of his novice races so that holds no fears. He's a bit, rangy type so should have improved over the winter and I hope he can start to be competitive now he's racing in handicaps.

Corporate Raider is also entered at the same venue but I don't think he'll like very soft ground as much so he will probably head to Chelmsford on Thursday instead. He has improved in each of his two runs for us and seemed to relish this step up in trip when narrowly beaten last time so hopefully he can be in the shake-up again this time.

Our most impressive winner last year was The Mouse King and he heads back to the scene of his demolition when travelling to Southwell on Thursday. The handicapper was very harsh on him after that win so he's found life tough since but he has wintered well and seems to have improved a bit. He's a stuffy horse so will come on for the race though.

Rounding off the Easter weekend will be Three Beauz returning at Southwell on Sunday. She went close to winning a couple of times this year and deserves to win a race this season.