Monday racing tips: Andy Ayres picks out his best bet for today’s racing while updating us on all the latest gossip from the tracks following a top draw weekend of racing
Don't miss out on all the latest talk from the tracks as Andy Ayres discusses a pair of retired superstars and a couple of youngsters it could pay to look out for next time
WHAT a stellar weekend of action we just enjoyed.
There were more highs and lows than you’d see in an Eastenders omnibus, the biggest trough being Alpha Centauri’s career ending injury in the Matron Stakes at Leopardstown.
Jessica Harrington’s super filly lit up the summer – she was head, shoulders and half a body better than the other three-year-old milers - and will be sadly missed.
On the same card John Gosden’s Roaring Lion put up a performance full of bulldog spirit to chin Saxon Warrior in the Irish Champion.
He hangs left quicker than Jeremy Corbyn when Oisin Murphy presses the button, but has the heart of a Samurai and just would not let Saxon Warrior beat him here.
Poor Saxon Warrior was the second high profile retirement of the weekend after it was announced he’d sustained a serious tendon injury in the heat of this battle.
LATEST IN HORSE RACING
In truth he’s been a nearly horse, but Ryan Moore clearly has a soft spot for him and you’d walk a mile with a stone in your shoe to watch those bare-knuckle scraps with Roaring Lion.
These head-to-heads are what makes the game tick and I’d love to see the two-year-old rockets Quorto and Too Darn Hot face-off in the Dewhurst Stakes.
This dynamic duo are cut from the same cloth – robust, uber-talented and by Dubawi – and a dust-up between them would be racing’s equivalent of A.J. standing toe-to-toe with Tyson Fury.
Talking of sharp youngsters, artful Archie Watson has decided to send Soldier’s Call to France for the Prix De L’Abbaye next month.
HAVANA' BALL Karl Burke strikes again as Havana Grey scoops the Group 1 Flying Five
Wily Watson feels the weight allowance his lightning-quick colt receives is a big plus and he’s keen to strike again while the iron is hot.
Richard Hughes needs a decent horse to ignite his training career – Glendevon promised much but has delivered diddly this year – and has a fair prospect in Lille, who caught the eye on her debut over 5f at Sandown on Friday.
She’s a big unit and probably wasn’t completely revved-up, but the toe she showed to get involved after fluffing the start was massively encouraging.
Sprint maidens are notoriously weak at this time of year – if you’re quick you should have won by now – and she’ll be hard to beat next time.
Monday Magic
CUBAN HEEL (7.00 Kempton) has gone close in fair handicaps on his last three outings and should appreciate this drop in class.
Morse would have struggled to unravel the messages that were flying around before the 1m novice event here.
A key member of the Ed Dunlop team was super confident about their colt Venedegar and gave a pal of mine – Tall George – a fistful of dollars to back the horse.
His vote of confidence lasted about five minutes before he returned and reclaimed the money saying he’d heard the Dascombe runner was a Group horse!
Well, both the Dunlop flyer and Dascombe Group horse were beaten by John Gosden’s Kosciuszko, so it’s probably fair to assume he’s a pound or two above average.
Clive Cox’s CUBAN HEEL has been bumping heads with some fair sorts in handicaps over the summer and should appreciate dropping in class for the 1m maiden at Kempton tonight (7.00).
He was beaten a cigarette paper by that tough-nut Sir Plato at Ffos Las last time and will be unlucky to run into anything of his quality here.