John Ingles provides an overview of the key things to note on the racing front on Tuesday.
Three points of interest
Festival entries meet again at Market Rasen
The best race on Market Rasen’s card is the mares’ novices’ hurdle (14:20) featuring Bluey and Siog Geal who both hold entries in the Dawn Run at the Cheltenham Festival. Their respective stables, Emma Lavelle and Fergal O’Brien, have the ‘Hot Trainer’ flag, both mares are open to improvement and there’s little to choose between the pair on form.
That much was clear when they met at Windsor a month ago. That race was a good-quality mares’ event won readily by Paul Nicholls’ odds-on favourite Jubilee Alpha but both Bluey and Siog Geal ran well to make the frame. Bluey, the winner of her previous start at Wincanton, was less two lengths back in second having made the running until the final flight, while Siog Geal, a winner at Catterick on her debut over hurdles, was only beaten a further length into fourth.
Siog Geal shaped as though she’s crying out for further than two miles, having got outpaced before rallying on the flat, so slight preference over a similar trip here is for Bluey who can land another win from the front in this small field under Joe Anderson.
Catch Venetia Williams’ French import on British debut
Venetia Williams has already had a couple of French imports win on their stable debuts this winter and she could well have another at Taunton where Catch On Me, bought to join his new connections for €120,000, looks interesting on his first start for the yard in the longer of the two maiden hurdles (15:05). Catch On Me was lightly raced in his native country for Jean-Philippe Dubois where he won on the Flat at Vichy last May before a couple of runs over hurdles.
The second of those was a four-year-olds’ contest at Auteuil in September in which Catch On Me stayed on from the rear to finish third in a race which has thrown up some at least fairly useful winners. The fourth Isis d’Inor went on to win in Group 3 company at Auteuil, while the fifth, Kloth of Utopia, finished third in a good novice at Ascot earlier in the season.
Catch On Me is open to improvement but even just a repeat of his Auteuil form would make him the one to beat and he is 7 lb clear on Timeform's weight-adjusted ratings. Catch On Me is a half-brother to several winners, including Cardigan Bay who was a fairly useful hurdler for Charlie Longsdon. Perhaps he’s more notable, though, for being a son of the French-based Japanese sire Martinborough who made a name for himself when his son Majborough won last season’s Triumph Hurdle and is now hot favourite for the Arkle.
High Court Judge going for six-timer
James Owen’s all-weather horses can be hard to stop when they’re on a roll. Overnight Oats and Carlton have both run up four-timers this winter, but High Court Judge went one better at Newcastle on Saturday when recording his fifth success in a winning streak which began on January 6th and has seen his Timeform rating rise from just 53 to 80 in a six-week period. That’s remarkable progress from a five-year-old who has had several different trainers during his career and only joined Owen in the autumn when he was languishing on BHA handicap marks in the 40s.
Saturday's success came off a BHA mark of 65 but the handicapper hasn’t caught up with High Court Judge just yet judged on the way he forged clear to win by three and a half lengths, and he’ll be hard to beat again turned out quickly under a penalty at Wolverhampton (20:30) where he has won twice already in his current hot streak.
However, that penalty is offset by the 7 lb claim of his teenage rider Warren Fentiman. This is another ‘rider restricted’ meeting for jockeys who have ridden no more than 30 winners in a twelve-month period. Far from reflecting a lack of success, Fentiman qualifies as he only began riding in the autumn, notching his first winner in November and soon building up his current total of 15 victories.
More from Sporting Life
Safer gambling
We are committed in our support of safer gambling. Recommended bets are advised to over-18s and we strongly encourage readers to wager only what they can afford to lose.
If you are concerned about your gambling, please call the National Gambling Helpline / GamCare on 0808 8020 133.
Further support and information can be found at begambleaware.org and gamblingtherapy.org.
