Our racing expert Lucky Loader gives his thoughts and eye catchers from the weekend’s racing, which saw the return of the Flat on the turf with the two-day Lincoln meeting at Doncaster.
One horse I was very impressed with on the Town Moor was Charyn in the opening Listed Doncaster Mile Stakes. I put him up in my ITV racing preview, where he won with plenty of ease. If you go back through the form book from last season, he strung together a lot of promising runs, which included a third in the St. James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot, so it was good to see he still retained the ability.
His trainer, Roger Varian, said he had done well throughout the winter and grown stronger, and he sees him as a Lockinge horse. I could definitely see him running well in a race of that nature, but he probably would have the ground to have a bit of cut, as most of his best form has come with soft in the going in the description. When the rain is about, he’ll be a horse I’d want to keep on side this season.
In the Brocklesby, Zminature won the first-two-year-old race of 2024 for Dylan Cunha. I’m not sure what the form will be worth, but his trainer, Dylan Cunha, is one I think he could be in for a good season. If you don’t know much about him, Cunha made a name for himself as a Group 1 winning trainer in South Africa and made the transition to the UK in 2022.
Last year, he did really well with a horse I followed called Silver Sword, who won at the Ebor meeting. I wouldn’t be at all surprised to feature him again this season in some big races, so he’s one trainer I’ll be following closely over the next few months.
Over the Irish Sea, I thought Purple Lily looked like a filly, who could be competitive in some of the Classics this season. It was only a five-runner race she won at Naas on Sunday, but she did it in a comfortable fashion. Her trainer Paddy Twomey is a trainer, who has done very well with his fillies’ in recent years, and it surely won’t be long until he’ll get a breakthrough Classic winner.
After the race he said the daughter of Calyx is unlikely to head to the 1,000 Guineas at Newmarket, where she is a 16/1 shot with Rhino, but instead she’ll probably go for the Irish 1,000 Guineas at the Curragh. Wherever she goes she’s a name you might want to put in your tracker.
Now moving over to the jumps, there wasn’t much to report this weekend, as most horses that will feature at the Spring Festivals are under wraps until then. However, we still had some good meetings at Newbury and Ascot. One race that I think will work out well in the future was the Goffs Bumper at Newbury. Though the winner Regent’s Stroll was impressive I had my eye on horses that finished behind him, including Big Ginge.
Now, despite finishing seventh, I thought he shaped better than the bare result suggests. He did a lot of things wrong during the race; he was keen earlier, and he struggled to turn left at the first bend. His jockey, Jamie Neild, then went forward, where he seemed to settle a bit better and did well to stick to the task up the home straight. The son of Mount Nelson comes from a nice family that has produced a lot of National Hunt winners, so I am sure he’ll improve over obstacles. He’ll be a horse I’ll be looking forward to watching next season.
So that’s all for my round-up this weekend. We’ve got a busy period coming up where I’ll be doing previews for All-Weathers Day on Good Friday, the ITV racing at Musselburgh on Saturday, as well as my thoughts for the Irish Grand National and Rhino’s sponsored race meeting at Huntingdon over the Easter weekend.
Watch out for more from me this week!
Horses To Note:
Charyn (Roger Varian)
Purple Lily (Paddy Twomey)
Big Ginge (Nigel Twiston-Davies)
