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Flat out in search of region’s rising stars
With the Flat racing season kicking-off today, Colin Woods (Janus)
offers his ten to follow, selections which should keep Northern Echo punters
in profit in the week and months ahead
THIS afternoon's
Lincoln Handicap
meeting at Doncaster
marks the beginning
of a new Flat racing
season on turf.
It's a time when owners dream
of future glory, while
professional pundits get down to
the business of some serious
number-crunching.
Sorting out the wheat from the
chaff is the name of the game,
but while previous performance
is the principal yardstick,
potential must also be factored
into calculations.
Charged with the task of
compiling a ten-to-follow team is
always a challenge, but hope
springs eternal and, thankfully,
we're not short of firepower in
these parts.
One trainer in particular to
have witnessed substantial
expansion over the past couple
of years is Bryan Smart, who
has never been so busy, with 116
horses in his care.
The squeaky-clean air atop
Sutton Bank is ideal for training
racehorses and it came as no
surprise to insiders when MAZE,
won at Royal Ascot in 2007.
The Chesham Stakes was the
trophy, captured in fighting
fashion as the classy colt
vanquished his closest three
pursuers in a thrilling finish.
"Maze has wintered well and
I'm happy with him, my stable
jockey Tom Eaves has been
riding on the gallops and will be
his regular partner," said Smart.
"We're holding our breath for
the 2,000 Guineas as we are not
sure if he is going to stay the
stiff mile at Newmarket.
"The plan is to crack Maze off
in the seven-furlong Free
Handicap and see where we go
from there. Tom has worked on
getting him nice and relaxed at
home.
"Despite being bred to be a
miler, after winning the sevenfurlong
Chesham he got very
quick on us and but for shying at
York, should have won over six,"
One of Smart's main patrons,
Sheikh Rashid Bin Mohammed,
owns PRINCE HAMLET, a threeyear-
old not in Maze's league,
but still held in some regard by
the trainer.
"Prince Hamlet won very
nicely on the fibre-sand at
Southwell and as a result we've
deliberately kept him for a grass
campaign."
Michael Dods is another of our
local trainers to see numbers
swell, the building of extra boxes
helping to accommodate 60+
plus horses at his Denton-near-
Darlington base.
KIWI BAY is one of those
inmates Dods' believes will
thrive during the coming
months, particularly with a bit
of ease in the ground.
The son of Mujahid had to
wait until October before
shedding his maiden tag, but
when he did score, at Newcastle,
the job was done in sparkling
style.
"Although Kiwi Bay won over
seven furlongs, he wants further
and is a nice horse if the cards
fall right for him," enthused
Dods.
A less exposed individual, yet
one to keep on your side, is
ANOTHER DECREE, who, in
common with Kiwi Bay, has
done well physically from two to
three.
"Another Decree has still got
some strengthening to do,
however he's got plenty of size
about him and is
straightforward, so should do his
stuff for us," said Dods.
In terms of sheer volume, no
northern trainer comes near
Mark Johnston, with his mighty
string in excess of 230 spread
over three different sites at
Middleham.
Last year, Johnston sent out a
mind-bending 166 winners
during the 12-month period.
But it wasn't so rosy in the
garden regarding prize-money, a
point not lost on Johnston, who
has asked his yard managers to
aim for higher value races.
Even though Godolphin have
taken away Johnston's top-rated
juvenile, McCartney, the recordbreaking
Scot retains a veritable
army of quality with which to go
to war.
Right at the top of his list is
the tall and imposing
CAMPANOLOGIST by
Kingmambo, a stallion capable
of producing Group 1 tackle.
Last Saturday's burn-up at
Kempton, where Campanologist
battered a decent field in a
Conditions contest, confirmed
all the promise he'd been
showing on the Low Moor.
"He's a lovely horse for whom
the sky is the limit," said
Johnston, clearly relishing the
prospect of bagging bigger
things at the likes of
Newmarket, York, Ascot, and
Goodwood.
Bringing along their stock on
the all-weather circuit has been
a constant feature of the stable's
modus operandi, a trend
maintained by THEBES, due to
run today in Kempton's 3.50.
Sired by Cadeaux Genereux,
responsible for their 1996 St
James's Palace hero, Bijou
D'Inde, Thebes has already
spreadeagled rivals at Southwell
and Wolverhampton.
Generally-speaking widemargin
winners always warrant
maximum respect, therefore the
fast-improving colt should not be
opposed without sound reason.
George Moore had some
encouraging words for the
lightly-raced BOGSIDE
THEATRE when asked for his
nomination.
"I'm as pleased as punch with
her, she didn't run as a two-yearold,
which can often be a major
advantage, especially for fillies.
"She won two from six for us
last year, plus finished a good
second on her final start at
Haydock, and you've got to think
there's more to come," revealed
Moore.
Most right-minded punters
would buy into anything Patrick
Haslam recommends, so when
he put forward CHOOSE YOUR
MOMENT, it was time to listen.
Thrice-raced at two, Choose
Your Moment won on his
Carlisle debut, then finished
third at Ripon, before thumping
a decent line-up in a back-end
York Nursery.
"I've always liked him and he's
gone the right way since the
autumn, definitely one to follow
in my book," was Haslam's morethan-
helpful opinion.
Manor House Stables is also
the new home for REALLY
RANSOM, a beautifully-bred
filly who recently left the
Emerald Isle and John Oxx to
join Haslam, who said: "John did
nothing wrong, but my brief is
to get her into Group 3s and it
shouldn't be long before she
pokes her head into the winners'
enclosure."
Shifting over for the final pick
from the region's other leading
training centre at Malton, ANNA
PAVLOVA is well worth
including for the second year in
succession.
Richard Fahey's outstanding
race mare romped to a famous
victory under Frankie Dettori at
Longchamp's star-studded 2007
Arc de Triomphe fixture.
Granted soft ground, it's not
beyond Anna Pavlova's powers
to grab an all-important first
Group 1 win in what will most
probably be her swan-song
campaign.
8:49am Saturday 22nd March 2008
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