I would like to think that we have a decent chance in the Ladbrokes Gold Cup though I would take some convincing that 6-4 ante post about Swift Hoffman to win it, is anything but skinny. It would be great to think that the bookies are right.
I was uncertain whether or not to enter any runners until I saw how good the Monmore going was at the recent trial session. In the past few weeks, the track has looked a bit dry but they’ve clearly put a lot of effort in.
I was surprised that so many of the big kennels aren’t involved. Its possible that Hoffman, on a track he runs well, might have scared a few off, but equally likely that they had other commitments with the Towcester and Sheffield races all on at roughly the same time.
I was always confident that Hoffman would get a good draw because there are so few wide seeds around these days.
There were only four wide seeds out of 36 runners and everybody knows how much Hoffman loves the stripes.
You hear a lot of complaints from racing managers about a lack of graded wide runners, and that has filtered through to the open racers.
Look at most competition trap draws and you’ve find that two thirds of the runners are railers. If I was shopping for more dogs and was offered a fast breaking wide runner, it would have to come into your thinking.
Quite why wide seeds have disappeared is a complete mystery to me as much as anyone. There is a theory that breeders are schooling their dogs differently, but I don’t really see any evidence of it.
In all honesty, Hoffman’s race looks made for him as I would expect the inside five to all move to rails and give him a clear run.
The only note of caution is that 480 metres on a fast track like Monmore is as short a distance as he would want to run these days. I think he’d look better value in the same field running over 500 metres at Nottingham as an example.
We have Farran Heaslip (T2) and Burgess Oscar (5) in the opening heat.
It is great to have Heaslip back. It is all down to the expertise of vet Frances Allen who stitched up the dropped monkey muscle and did a phenomenal job. You would have to say, on the evidence of the 28.03 (480) trial at Perry Barr, that Heaslip is at least as good as he was before.
Of my four though, he is the one who I fear for the most. He has Farloe Nutter and Express Master on his outside and looking to cut across in front of him. I actually think Burgess Oscar is better drawn, despite the orange jacket, because he should avoid worst of the crowding and he ran well from five at Hove.
Vatican Gurkha is also a railer, but he breaks better from the middle and I am not too displeased with trap four in the last heat.
Thankfully none of my dogs are reliant on a fast break and if any of them are in a qualifying position at the second bend, I would be very disappointed if they went out. If any of them happen to be leading at that point, I would be gutted if they got beat.
It will be one of the last chances to hear George Atkinson as the Monmore commentator. I love his commentaries. George is a proper dog man who knows his stuff and really creates an atmosphere for racing.
He has nicknames for all the trainers. I have been christened ‘Racey Rosney’.
Most people aren’t normally that polite!
