Gladiatrix Gets Back On Track

With her owner-breeders keen to chase black-type, life has been a little tough for Gladiatrix this year but back down to Class 4 level she returned to the winners enclosure at Windsor on Monday evening. She enjoyed the heavy rain that fell before racing and as she likes being in space, the race panned out ideally as they spread out across the track and she ran out a convincing winner by two and a quarter lengths. Obviously life will be harder back in Class 3 company but with confidence boosted, hopefully she can get back on track and will probably try to get black type again later in the season.

Purple Spot showed her first bit of form when finishing fifth in the fillies maiden at Windsor on Monday and her future lies with the handicapper but she should continue to progress. Burnt Fingers was a little disappointing at Haydock, but it was difficult to come from behind that day and it may be that she just runs best for Andrea Atzeni.

Biotic has not progressed as much as we liked but still ran a solid race when second at Kempton on Wednesday, he is still a giant of a horse that needs to strengthen up so should improve with plenty of time on his side. Shavansky ran a nice comeback race, looking dangerous for place money before weakening inside final furlong to finish fifth and Nelson's Trick made a promising debut in sixth.

Winning Return From Injury For Burnt Fingers

After Biotic made a winning handicap debut on the Monday, it was nice to follow up just twenty four hours later with four-year-old filly Burnt Fingers at Kempton. She had one start as a two-year-old for experience and looked promising at three when finishing third on her seasonal reappearance before finding a sprint trip too short at Bath next time out. Sadly she then broke her pelvis and missed the rest of the season. However, her owner-breeder has been extremely patient and it was excellent to see that rewarded when she made a winning return. In what was a quite competitive handicap, she raced a little green in the early stages but really stayed on strongly inside the closing stages to suggest she has a bright future this season.

Sharper Two Year Olds Make The Track

We already have one decent two-year-old in Master Carpenter and we have two more two-year-olds making their debuts today. Both Seaham and Urban Dreamer would be among our sharper sorts and have showed enough speed and potential at home for us to target them at the £10,000 Racing Post Bonus maidens. However, these races tend to be much more competitive than non-bonus versions and with few of these races so far in 2013, both races are strong on paper.

Seaham is a half-brother to two winners over five and six furlongs

and is Myboycharlie's, a very useful Group 1 sprinting two-year-old, first UK runner (has had winners in Southern Hemisphere and only Irish runner third). This Newbury maiden is traditionally very strong and this year's event has representatives from all the top yards and some expensive purchases so looks no exception. The only runner with experience is Paul Cole's Meritocracy and he finished third in a very competitive maiden at Kempton on Saturday (fourth Vodka Time won at Newmarket Wednesday) so sets a high standard. It certainly won't be an easy task and a mid-division performance is normally good enough to win an ordinary maiden but we're hopeful Seaham will put up a positive performance.

Urban Dreamer faces a field of fifteen rivals at Bath but his race doesn't look quite as strong. Obviously Beau Nash showed a useful level of form on his debut when second to Master Carpenter on his debut and with that form working out so well, he will be hard to beat with the benefit of experience. Urban Dreamer is also by a first season sire in Intense Focus and he is already off the mark with two winners from seven runners, while his dam was a very useful sprint handicapper in Ireland.

 

He shows plenty of speed at home and we're slightly concerned he might not stay a stiff five furlong on soft ground so might prefer it to dry out, although drawn out in stall fifteen, he might be better off if the ground is soft as they will come stands side, giving him a good draw. All in all, it will be very interesting to see how both two-year-olds get on and hopefully they put up a good show and show promise for the future.

 We also have Burnt Fingers in the sprint maiden at Bath and she made a very promising return when third at Leicester two weeks ago. That was over seven furlongs and we're not sure if dropping back in trip is the right thing to do, as there is a mix of speed and stamina in her pedigree. However, the form she showed at Leicester gives her each-way claims in a big field and this filly is likely to progress throughout the season and sure to be winning at some point.

At Wolverhampton last night, Ice Tres ran well on her handicap debut, finishing third in a 56-70 Fillies Handicap. She seemed to prefer a return to more patient tactics, although the slow pace meant it wasn't easy to come from behind. She's handicapped to win if things go her way this summer.

Successful Debut For Carpenter

Master Carpenter was an impressive winner on his debut at Leicester on Friday, our third winner of the week and our first two-year-old success of the season. He was also Mastercraftsman's first representative on the track and has got Coolmore Stud's first season sire off to a great start. Although he broke on terms, Master Carpenter was green and outpaced in the early stages, however, he started making progress from the two pole and was easily on top in the final hundred yards. His pedigree, half-sister to a ten-furlong winner while dam also won over ten furlongs, suggests he will improve the further he goes and it looks like we have a smart prospect on our hands. We are a bit limited to where we go from here as no six furlong races for six weeks but the Garter Stakes at Ascot, a race we won with Optimate, likely to be his next target.

On her second start, Burnt Fingers showed she had strengthened up nicely over the winter by finishing third in the fillies maiden. She should keep progressing with experience and shouldn't be long in winning this year.

Carpenter Makes His Debut

Master Carpenter

We have our second two-year-old runner of the season as Master Carpenter makes his debut at Leicester on Friday. His pedigree suggests he may need further, half-sister won over 10f for Henry Cecil while dam also won over 10f but he shows enough speed on the gallops to have a run. His sire, Mastercraftsman (MC is his first runner), was a useful two-year-old and made a winning debut in May so hopefully he's injected some speed into him and it will be interesting to see how he gets on but in all likelihood, he will improve for the experience.

Burnt Fingers makes her seasonal debut in the fillies maiden and she has strengthened up nicely over the winter. She had one run for experience last autumn at Newbury and showed speed before tiring in the soft ground. Her half-brother Coconut Penang was fourth in the Coventry for the yard in 2002 and while this filly is a late developing sort, she should progress with time and experience and we hope we can have some fun with her this year. It doesn't look the strongest of races on paper and it would be nice if she picked up some place money.

While it's certainly back to reality for James as he has a trip to Wolverhampton on Saturday evening with Winnie Perry in the 8.20. Winnie Perry had the three runs at two and ended his season with a third at Bath but the handicapper hasn't taken any chances with his opening mark of 67. There are only seven runners but it's a competitive race and he's the only maiden in the field so it isn't an easy task. However, the horses have started the new season in top form and long may it continue.

Also, Pat had his first winner as a professional when steering Shirataki to success for Peter Hiatt at Lingfield today. Hopefully it will help him get some more rides now the turf season has started and he will be supported by the yard when possible.