Andrew Asquith is back with his all-weather column through the winter months and has two recommended bets at Kempton this evening.
All-Weather Angle: Wednesday November 20
1pt win Victorious Street in the 5.30 Kempton at 13/2 (bet365, Ladbrokes)
1pt win Silent Glance in the 8.00 Kempton at 6/1 (bet365)
The All-Weather Championships season is well and truly underway now and we have already seen some sparkling performances, notably from Night Raider in the Listed Golden Rose Stakes at Newcastle last weekend.
He maintained his unbeaten record on an artificial surface in hugely impressive fashion, travelling powerfully at the head of affairs and giving his rivals no chance of getting on terms with him, really pouring it on entering the final furlong and clear of a very reliable and smart Annaf, who finished never nearer than at the finish.
Annaf wasn’t best away, and was given too much to do as the race went, but to suggest that he would have beaten Night Raider had he been ridden closer to the pace is highly unlikely.
Unfortunately, Night Raider is reportedly set to head out to Dubai for a winter campaign, so we are unlikely to see him back on the all-weather in Britian in the coming weeks and months, but there is no denying he’s a serious horse on an artificial surface.
On the same day, William Haggas enjoyed an excellent day at Lingfield as he took both Listed contests with Sea Theme and Doom, who were both dropping in class.
The former landed short odds with the minimum of fuss, having contested Group 1 events on her previous three starts, and she provided Lingfield’s card with a bit of class. It wasn’t a deep race for the grade and Sea Theme didn’t need to improve to easily come out on top from Beely, who was well beaten in a handicap from a mark of 84 on her previous start, so it isn’t form to be getting carried away with.
A similar story applies to Doom, who produced a performance quite a bit below the five-year average for the mile fillies’ Listed race, and also didn’t need to improve to score by two and a quarter lengths. She will carry a penalty if found another opportunity in Listed company next time and, given she’s had her limitations exposed at minor pattern level earlier this year, she may struggle to defy one in a stronger race.
Looking ahead to a cracking card at Kempton this evening and there is an excellent handicap over a mile which has plenty of depth to it. It is easy to see why Roi de France is a short-priced favourite, given he’s an unexposed three-year-old, was strongly fancied for the Cambridgeshire, and he represents top connections.
His form is very solid, too, and there’s no doubt he’s a well-handicapped horse. However, there are several others in this field who are more than likely ahead of their mark, and with that in mind I’m looking to take him on.
The obvious one for me at the prices is the Simon & Ed Crisford-trained VICTORIOUS STREET, another lightly-raced three-year-old. His sales price rocketed to €370,370 at the breeze-ups last year and he showed fairly useful form on turf in two starts last season, finishing in and around horses that have developed into at least useful performers.
He was much improved on his return from 10 months off when opening his account on his all-weather debut at Southwell in August, though, and that performance impressed me.
Victorious Street was always in a good position up with the pace and travelled powerfully in the first half of the race, looking a natural on a synthetic surface. It looked as though he was going to play second fiddle to the eventual runner-up when entering the straight, however, headed around two furlongs out, but he found plenty for pressure and, though the winning margin was only a neck, he was comfortably on top of another progressive sort at the line – they also pulled miles clear of the remainder.
That form has worked out well, too, the second and fourth both winning next time, while the third has won two handicaps since. The timefigure he recorded wasn’t bad, either. He only beat one rival home on his latest start upped to a mile and a quarter back on turf at Doncaster last time, but that was a muddling event, the two who set the fractions finishing first and second, and Victorious Street wasn’t given a hard time once his chance had gone.
It may be that he just isn’t as effective on turf, also, and given his American pedigree, I’m more than willing to give him another chance back on an artificial surface from what looks a lenient mark based on his Southwell form. He’s fared well with the draw, the long straight at this track will enable him to hit top gear, and the pace looks to be in the low numbers so hopefully he’ll get a nice tow into the race.
Victorious Speed represents a yard that won this race 12 months ago with another three-year-old and he looks a little overpriced at this morning’s prices.
I’d expect Duke of Oxford to win the two-mile handicap later on the card for the second year running, but his price has contracted accordingly overnight, so he isn’t a betting proposition, but half an hour later I do like the claims of SILENT GLANCE now she’s returned to the all-weather.
Ralph Beckett has two good chances, also saddling top-weight Power of Destiny who will be having her first start since leaving Sir Michael Stoute, but Silent Glance looked promising when winning her first two starts over this course and distance and at Wolverhampton and there may be more to come from her.
The bare form of her debut win is nothing special, not a strong field and the pace was only steady, but she forged clear of those inferior rivals in good style, overcoming inexperience to do so, too.
As expected, she improved a chunk when following up under a penalty over a mile and a half at Wolverhampton in May, still looking green at times, having to be niggled along at certain stages, but she displayed a taking turn of foot coming off the home bend to quickly settle matters.
Silent Glance has blown out twice since on turf, but she reportedly lost her action on good-to-firm ground on her handicap debut at Salisbury, and she clearly wasn’t at home in gruelling conditions in a useful race at Newbury last month.
She remains very lightly-raced, though, and more importantly, is very much unexposed on a synthetic surface. She is another who is a little bigger in the market than I would have expected this morning and I think there is enough juice there to chance her resuming her progression back on the all-weather having been dropped 5lb in the weights.
Preview posted at 0915 GMT on 20/11/24
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