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Wednesday 8 May 2013

Up a bit, down a bit - 8th May





This week we kick start with the Listed Battersea Dogs and Cats Home Pavilion Stakes over 6f at Ascot on 1st May which was won by Richard Hannon's Ninjago by 1 1/2 lengths to Intibah with a further neck back to Hasopop in 3rd. The winner has been raised 10lb to 105, whilst the 2nd has been put up 11lb to 101 and the 3rd has remained on the same mark of 95. The winning time was fast and was 0.30 secs below standard and Hannon's other runner Tassel was an eyecatcher behind in 7th.

On Saturday 4th May at Goodwood Duke of Firenze won the Class 3 Handicap over 5f by a short head from Kyleakin Lass with 1 1/2 lengths back to Fair Value in third. The winner who has threatened to be better than he has shown has been raised 6lb to 97 and Fallon in his weekender column stated that he won easier than it looked and he looks capable of further progress. The second, a fair sort, has been raised 4lb to 96 whilst the third remains on the same mark of 90.

The Palace House Stakes was won by Sole Power and the BHB Handicapper summed the race up as follows on his blog page :

The most prestigious 5f race of the 2013 season thus far was the Group 3 Pearl Bloodstock Palace House Stakes run at Newmarket on Saturday, writes Chris Nash.

There was a disputed lead and so the pace looked solid. The time of the race was under standard (this was the only race on the card to manage that) and there was no trouble in running. All in all there are reasons to take a positive view of the form and I would hope (and expect) that it will prove reliable over the coming months.

The race was won in tidy fashion by the Irish-trained Sole Power. Edward Lynam’s six-year-old thrives in a well-run 5f race on quick ground and, given his conditions, can usually be relied upon to put in a performance - he won the Nunthorpe (Group 1) in 2010 and last year was second in the Temple Stakes (Group 2) and third in the Kings Stand Stakes (Group 1).

Sole Power arrived with a rating of 113 and I have no reason to doubt that he ran his race again. Kingsgate Native finished a length behind him in second and has run to a figure of 110. This represents a recent best but he’s a dual Group 1 winner going back and was rated as high as 120 after the 2008 Golden Jubilee.

The last-time-out winners Tangerine Trees (pre-race 106) and Heeraat (pre-race 108) finished third and fourth. They were separated by a short-head and finished a length and a quarter behind Kingsgate Native. I have both running to 106 and their presence gives the form further substance. The next 5f pattern race is the Temple Stakes at Haydock on Saturday 25th May and plenty of these will likely renew rivalry there.

On the same afternoon Secretinthepark won the Class 2 Handicap over 6f by 1 1/2 lengths from Brazen with a further 1 1/4 lengths back to Purcell in third. The winner has been raised 7lb to 91, the second 3lb to 85 and the third remains on the same mark of 84.

Over at Thirsk Bedloe's Island, drawn 19, won the Class 4 Handicap over 5f in which 19 went to post, back in second was Angelito (13) and half a length further back in third was veteran Moorhouse Lad (18). The winner has been raised 4lb to 86, the second 3lb to 79 and the third 1lb to 84. Rothesay Chancer (7) did best of the lower drawn horses in 5th and remains on 74.