£20,000 Handicap Success For Shavansky

Ten-year-old veteran Shavansky has been in cracking form in 2014 but luck had eluded him from adding to his ten career victories. In a £45,000 handicap he was too keen and a slipping saddle meant he hit the front at halfway but was only collared inside the final furlong. He then hit trouble in the home straight when coming from behind to be placed in two competitive handicaps at Lingfield before the tight nature of the inner track at Kempton meant he never got involved last time out. However, everything went right at Lingfield on Friday and he bagged the valuable winter handicap he deserved. Settled nicely in fifth place on the inside, a massive gap opened up the inside entering the home straight and he showed an impressive turn of foot to put the race away inside the final furlong. That takes his career earnings to over £120,000 and he heads for the Rosebery Handicap at Kempton next.

We nearly doubled up at Wolverhampton as Ice Tres finished second back over twelve furlongs. She may have hit the front too soon but was beaten by a well handicapped winner. Hopefully the handicapper won't go overboard as she is certainly capable of winning a race.

Three-year-olds Cotton Club and Graphene needed the experience at Lingfield but were not disgraced in what looked a competitive maiden for this time of year.

Back To Back Wins For Masai

Having struggled since returning from an injury, Masai Moon benefitted from some generosity from the handicapper to win off a career low-mark of 59 at the beginning of March. To keep Masai in 0-60 company, he made a quick return at Southwell eight days later under a six pound penalty. Despite a slow start and a wide trip from stall ten, he always looked like he would hit the front and won by a length from Laughing Rock, who was third the time before. Masai will now be forced into Class 5 company and will probably head for a 0-70 over 6f in a couple of weeks time. He probably needs seven furlongs in better company but there are no suitable races on the fibresand so hopefully he can get away with a sprint trip for a third time.

Masai Wins And We Are Off The Mark

Masai Moon took advantage of some generosity from the handicapper to get the yard off the mark in 2014. The ten-year-old had struggled since returning from an injury but dropped into a 0-60 and returned to the fibresand, he won cosily by three lengths. All being well he will return to Southwell next Wednesday under a six pound penalty in a similar contest and he should go close in his bid to follow up.

Masai Well Handicapped

While ten-year-old veteran Shavansky is in cracking form this winter, things have not worked out quite so well for fellow ten-year-old Masai Moon. After picking up an injury last spring, he has had three starts this year and lacked a bit of spark. However, the handicapper has been very generous and dropped him 11lbs in those three runs and was only beaten four lengths at Kempton last time. He returns to Southwell on Tuesday and runs in 0-60 company for the first time and he does seem more effective on the fibresand surface. His last win at the Nottinghamshire venue came off 79 and with Pat's claim, he is effectively 27lb lower. Six furlongs is a slight concern as he is getting older and the trip has always been on the sharp side but his two 2012 wins both came at the sprint distance.

Talking of Shavansky, he goes in a £19,000 handicap at Kempton on Wednesday over ten furlongs. The old boy is in cracking form and we have decided to put Andrea back on board to see if a professional can get anymore out of him. However, the tight nature of Kempton's inner track is not really ideal, eleven furlongs would have been preferable and it looks a very competitive race so it is no easy task.

It is a very busy Wednesday with Modem and Miss Tweedy in action at Lingfield. Modem has been progressive since switching into handicap company and stepped up to middle distances. He won nicely at Lingfield in first-time blinkers before improving in defeat when third off a four pound higher mark at Kempton last time out. The blinkers may have just made him a bit keen last time so we have taken them off to see if he still needs them to concentrate. It is a competitive race once again with three of his rivals on the back of a win but he's down from a 0-80 to 0-70 so should find it slightly easier than the Kempton race. Miss Tweedy shaped nicely on debut at Newbury before disappointing on her second start. She certainly has some ability but is the type to progress with time and experience and will probably find life easier in handicap company.

More Places!

Well we are now into March and we are still awaiting that elusive first winner of 2014 but the horses are running well with a 50% place strike rate. We are generally quiet during the winter months with a reduced string just ticking over but prize money wise, this looks set to be our best ever AW season, with over £28,000 in the bag. So far we have had twenty runners in 2014, racked up six seconds, two thirds and two fourths and £8,298, although it is certainly frustrating that one of those six seconds was not a winner!

Dance continues in good form on the AW this winter, making the running at Kempton on Thursday evening before being overcome by a 66/1 shot that had shown no worthwhile form in three months! However, she is certainly running well and the family improve with age so she should be winning soon. The waterlogged gallop, due to the never ending rain so far in 2014, meant that Wyndham Wave probably needed the run more than we thought on the same evening. The night before a slow pace was unsuitable for Ivors Princess but she ran a creditable race in fourth. The most important thing is that was three consistent efforts in a row on the polytrack at Kempton and she remains well handicapped.