The first day of Cartmel’s bank holiday fixture lived up to it’s expectations on Saturday, as we were treated to plenty of excellent racing and a few close finishes.
Race one of the day was lined up as a simple match between the odds on favourite Gladiatorial and Ibbenburen, and it was the Irish raider who got the better of his rival with ease.
William Marshall was always travelling well on the favourite, while Brian Hughes was always asking for Ibbenburen to find a rhythm to his jumping, and he never managed to find it as Gladiatorial galloped onto victory, with Gripper running on to finish second.
A good start to my day then, but the second race was really a sign of things to come for me though, as my tip Catchmeifyoucan was beaten late on by a neck by a horse who I thought wouldn’t stay that far!
Calliope has always produced her best form over shorter distances but today was the day she proved she could do it over further as well after she stayed on strongly up the running to catch the favourite right on the line
Rooster Cogburn was travelling fine in the third race for me but was pulled up after seeming as though he went slightly wrong, which left Brian Hughes with an armchair ride aboard Onthefrontfoot where he coasted home without having to break a sweat to land the Novices’ Chase.
I
didn’t point it out in my preview because the fourth race had so many horses which looked as though they were ready to win, but I felt Tokaramore was my nap of the day with Connor O’Farrell on board for the Iain Jardine stable, and was right.
She was produced by O’Farrell to lead at the last, and outstayed the field to run out an eased down seven length winner to give me a second winner on the day after being as big as 6/1 when my preview first went out.
Scoop the Pot was a non-runner in the fifth, and Go on Chez was given an absolute scorcher by Henry Brooke to get up and beat Dee Star right on the line, another close finish on the day to go with the one in the second.
I finished the day off with two seconds in the last two races where both my tips were beaten by necks and were both quite nice prices but I’d obviously much rather have them win!
Alqamar is very smart for James Moffatt and Charlotte Jones, and he toughed it out well to show he could be a horse going places in the sixth race of the day, put him in the notebook if you haven’t got him in it already by the way, and my tip in the last Universal Folly rattled home in the run to almost nick victory off First Quest but in the end had to settle for second, as Hugh Nugent’s mount clung on at the line.
Overall though, a good day of racing for me and the spectators, and Cartmel definitely delivered which will hopefully mean people will be returning on Monday so that the racecourse can finish their season off in style, it’s back to work for me though to try and pick those winners out for the meeting and hopefully I am able to keep my good run going!
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