Each month our tipsters are going to give our readers a Horse To Follow with reasoning behind it. We always try to go that extra mile for our followers and as always our team of tipsters are as professional as they come.
Last month Wiltshire Racing gave out Exelerator Express who went on to win so keep your eyes peeled on these horses…
Get your notebooks out…
WILTSHIRERACING
HORSE TO FOLLOW FROM AUGUST
GLENARTNEY 3 YO Filly- Ed Walker
She has been highly tried this season and was well and truly thrown in at the deep end when she lined up in the Group 3 Muisidora at York on her seasonal debut in May. It proved too hot a race and she was a well beaten 5th behind Snowfall. She then contested a Listed affair at Hamilton and ran a promising race, finishing strongly off what looked a pedestrian pace without ever looking likely to get to the principals who had first run. Her tendency to be a bit sluggish from the gate was again on show at York last time but she made plenty of ground up late on to finish 3rd at a big price behind Forbearance and Domino Darling in the Galtres Stakes over 12 furlongs. She raced up the near side that day which wasn’t necessarily the place to be and despite hanging she managed to stay on stoutly on a track that doesn’t tend to favour closers. In the circumstances she can be marked up significantly for that effort. She won her novice last backend on Heavy ground at Newmarket and granted a stiffer track and/or easier ground this scopey filly looks capable of picking up a decent Handicap or Listed event in the Autumn.
NB – July’s Horse To Follow EXCELERATOR EXPRESS bolted up by 12 lengths on his next start at odds of 3/1.
RENDLESHAM RACING
Horse to follow from August
Bluegrass, Aidan O’Brien 2yr old:
This 2yr old colt from the Aidan O’Brian yard has a striking pedigree. His sire is Galileo who was a champion 3yr old, winning the Derby, the Irish Derby and the King George. His dam is Urban Sea who was a top class horse, winning 7-18 in her career. Those wins were over 1m2f-1m4f, including the Prix de L’arc de Triomphe (Group 1). So he has bags full of group quality right through his pedigree.
He made his debut at Curragh back at the start of August, over 7f. He was supported in the market but showed his inexperience as he missed the break and was towards the rear of the field. He showed promise though getting more prominent before keeping on albeit at the one pace. He ended up finishing 6th of 15 runners. He had the widest draw and had to race wide, so he would’ve learnt a lot from that debut.
He took a very big step forward on his most recent start over a mile at Curragh. He broke smartly and went to the front, dictated the race and was joined 2f out but was very very impressive to put his head down and quickly pull clear to win. That was an impressive display and the attitude he showed to battle on when joined for the lead caught the eye. He won going away by nearly 2L and the 3rd was a further 4L behind.
With the promise he’s shown so far in his races and his striking pedigree, there’s no surprise to see he holds entries to two group races at present. The first seems the most likely next step in the Juddmonte Royal Lodge Stakes (Group 2) at Newmarket over a mile. The second entry he holds is for the Dewhurst Stakes (Group 1) at Newmarket over 7f. I’d have thought that the mile would certainly suit more than 7f.
He’s a horse to keep on side for the rest of this season and into next season, who know’s maybe a crack at the Derby could be on the cards judging on his pedigree. He’ll certainly improve for longer trips.
Rendlesham Racing
COTSWOLD RACING
Horse To Follow From August
Gnat Valley
Ran on the last day of the month at Ripon on the day Tim Easterby secured a treble. Three quiet runs when trying to get a mark, Easterby has got this two year old well handicapped based on the performance on handicap debut. Slow out of the stalls she lost a huge amount of ground in a five furlong sprint. A great draw against the rail then became a nightmare as she was then trapped in behind a wall of horses. The ground she made up to put herself in contention was admirable and she still tried all the way to the line. She will have gone into plenty of notebooks, but as I put her up that day and watched her price tumble, I don’t feel like I am jumping on a bandwagon, I was already on it!
Watch for her in a nursery somewhere in the North before the season ends.
ED CULHAM TIPS
One to follow – August
CAPITAL THEORY
Trainer: Mark Johnston
Last run: 20th August, Convivial Maiden Stakes York – 4th
Mark Johnston’s Muhaarar colt looks to have plenty more to come after finishing third on debut and again running well for fourth last time out at York, in what is traditionally a strong maiden.
Things didn’t look to fall right for Capital Theory at York as he was always trapped on the outside of the field from the widest draw on the track. He looked to lug left-handed under pressure, but it may have been that he was looking for company. Joe Fanning tends to handle young horses tenderly and this ride was no different, but his mount still made up good ground under hand riding in the closing stages, running the final 3-furlongs in the best time bar the runaway winner.
Capital Theory has looked to get behind early on in both his starts to date, but should be seen in a better light if given a more positive ride next time. Stepping up to a mile may also bring about more improvement and he looks well capable of winning a maiden (entered Sep. 3rd). Interestingly he holds an entry in the Group Two Royal Lodge Stakes over a mile at the end of September.
MJ RACING
Horse To Follow From August
DUBAI HONOUR
MJ racing members backed Tasman Bay when placing third at Deauville (Group 2) mid August.
It was a fellow British raider who stole the show. The William Haggas trained Dubai Honour was seen travelling well in rear and looked a likely winner some way out. Bursting between horses late he didn’t need to see much stick to win going away under a fairly quiet ride by Maxime Guyon.
A first foal out of an unraced dam this already gelded son of Pride Of Dubai had looked a fair horse at 2 but couldn’t really be considered one of team Haggas brighter lights. A nice pedigree but not an immediately obvious candidate for future stardom.
Since gelded his form at 3 has gone from strength to strength. He reappeared at Royal Ascot in the Britannia Handicap with a solid fourth that could be marked up for doing best of the far side runners. Remaining in HC company when stepped up to 10F for the first time he won well pulling clear alongside Foxes Tales. The third and fourth placed horses have both won C2 handicaps NTO (Next Time Out) The runner up Foxes Tales (Royal Ascot winner on previous start) has since won the Rose Of Lancaster Stakes which holds group 3 status.
Mr Haggas has an embarrassment of riches at 10F from his current 3 year olds.
Alenquer has a revised mark of 115 having dropped down from 12 to 10F when finishing second in the recent Juddmonte International behind Mishriff
Mohaafeth rated 112 had won his first 4 races as a 3 year old and looked a superstar in the manner he was winning but took the gloss of his profile in finishing third in Sky Bet York Stakes (Group 2) A race he was expected to win.He then finished behind stable mate Alenquer in the Juddmonte International. His stock has perhaps dipped a little but is undoubtedly still a very nice horse; it’ll be interesting to see where he goes next.
And let’s not forget Baaeed who is a perfect 4/4 to date. All his wins have come at 1M earning him a current rating of 121. He is expected to stay at that trip for the foreseeable, however his pedigree screams 10F. A son of Sea The Stars out of Dam that only ran at 10F. The dam has already produced 114 rated Hukum who has won 4 stakes races at 12F up to 14F. It looks a case of when and not if we see him over further.
Back to Dubai Honour.
I feel he must be a little under the radar with his latest win coming outside the UK. There tends to be a little snobbery regarding geldings in Group company and he was never defending a long winning sequence that punters tend to latch on to. He’s possibly kept further out of the limelight by the 3 exciting stable mates already mentioned. Currently he doesn’t hold any future entries. Has his recent rise caught the yard off guard a little? I think he looked on a steep upwards curve and no surprise if he’s not lining up in group 1 company sooner than later. A 7 raced gelding rated 114 we should be seeing plenty more of him!
BLUEBLOOD RACING TIPSTER
Horse To Follow From August
DANYAH
Danyah is bred to be a pattern class performer, the dam once finished 2nd to triple group one winner Rip Van Winkle and was also 2nd on her 3yo debut in the 1000 guineas to Ghannati back in 2009. Danyah has been applying his trade in handicap company for the last two seasons but has shown improved form on each of his last three starts on my performance ratings and deserves to take his chance in better company when racing over 7 furlongs on a straight course and on a decent surface. He currently holds entries in two 2 group races in September (11/9/21 Doncaster and 24/9/21 Newmarket).
