Trio At Bath On Monday

It's a trip to Bath on Monday and despite the fact we're well into the autumn, the ground is still on the quick side, which might not be ideal for some of our horses. Kaizen Factor goes in the ten furlong nursery and the Azamour gelding was very disappointing on his first two starts before running much better when fourth on soft ground at Chepstow. Unfortunately we feel that the handicapper overrated the bare form and his initial mark of 68 seemed on the high side. He struggled from a bad draw on his handicap debut at Kempton and despite finishing a well beaten ninth, the handicapper only dropped him a pound. He may well be too high in the handicap but with My Anchor, runner-up from Chepstow in the field and raised twenty pounds in the process, we will at least get a direct guide to how strong that Chepstow form actually is.

Madame Kintyre ran her best race of the season when second at Ffos Las last time out, clearly relishing the heavy ground. While she won on firm ground as a three-year-old at Bath, she does seem to want some ease in the ground now she's a bit older and she will want some heavy showers on Monday to help her chances. In the finale, Winnie Perry has each-way chances, his last two efforts have been pretty solid when finishing third at Warwick and Ffos Las and the blinkers should help him travel in a 'Hands and Heels' contest.

Long Priced Places

We could do with a winner but our two runners so far this week have run well at big odds. Isis Blue ran up to his best finishing third at 20/1 in first time cheekpieces at Kempton on Tuesday evening. He wasn't suited by the steady early pace but still stayed on well inside the final two furlongs, finishing three lengths behind the highly regarded Pomology, trained by John Gosden.

On Wednesday, Winnie Perry returned to form by finishing second at 16/1 at Lingfield, confirming his appreciation for an AW surface. He is well handicapped and is certainly capable of winning a similar event in the future.

Isis Blue Back On AW

Things haven't gone quite as well as expected for Isis Blue this season, although an impressive victory at Salisbury in May showed how good he actually is when things fall right. He's had excuses on his last two starts, it was very difficult to make up ground when fifth at Sandown and he saw too much daylight and probably failed to stay twelve furlongs at Salisbury last time. He returns to the AW at Kempton this evening, a surface that suits and has first-time cheekpieces to try and get a bit more out of him and if running up to his best, he has strong each-way claims this evening.

Having made a promising seasonal return when fifth at Wolverhampton, things haven't gone so well on the turf for Winnie Perry this season, his best effort a length third of three at Warwick, He has dropped nine pounds since that Wolverhampton return and back on the AW at Lingfield on Wednesday might just see a return to form in a weak looking Class 6 event. He certainly has the ability to win a small race.

Three Meets On Monday

It's a very busy Monday for the yard with three runners at three meetings, unsurprisingly Dad has chosen to go to Newton Abbot, nice and close to home!

The best chance would be Icebuster at Windsor who steps back up to twelve furlongs, having been outpaced throughout dropped back to nine at Newmarket last time out. He isn't an easy horse to win with, as slow starts mean he needs a strong pace to be seen at his best and that might not be guaranteed tomorrow. Tom Queally takes the ride and if he can be ridden prominently, without been chased up off a slow pace, he should go quite well with just nine runners. The handicapper put him up six pounds for his Haydock success so he needs to keep improving and Proofreader will be difficult to beat, as he looked a very well handicapped individual when meeting all sorts of trouble at Chester last time. However, lets hope he continues his good run of form and picks up some more prize money.

At Leicester, Winnie Perry needs to get his confidence back after losing his action at Bath last time out. The race may be too competitive but hopefully he has a trouble free run. A similar comment applies to Princess Anabelle who hasn't jumped well on her first two hurdle outings, having made a very bad mistake at the first on her debut. She has schooled under Mark Quinlan at home and jumps really well, so hopefully she at least gets involved today. Although the step up in trip should suit and she was only two lengths behind one of the favourites Garryleigh in a bumper at Taunton, so has the ability to run well.

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.