Lost in admiration
Gaery McKenzie is lost in admiration
Well that was some weekend wasn’t it?
Cyrname beat Altior fair and square in my opinion. And I agree with many of the experts that Altior was not done for stamina. He was beaten by the better horse on the day.
Both horses were rated a couple of pounds below their best so the exciting thing is that both should improve for their seasonal debuts.
They could meet again on Boxing Day in what is looking like a vintage King George.
Cyrname is vying for favouritism with Saturday’s other big winner Lostintranslation.
I was very impressed with this horse. He jumped beautifully and travelled so well. Robbie Power rode him with a massive amount of confidence. He was four lengths back at one stage (and ITV even had him out of the picture for a couple of fences deciding to go in close for some reason?!?!) but there was never a worry.
Still has improvement
I said he needed to find a few pounds from his novice form and he proved he has trained on. I think he still has improvement in him and is a leading contender for all the big races. He is as low as 4/1 for the Gold Cup. I cannot stress enough how good I thought this performance was.
That is why LOSTINTRANSLATION is the first of my Tote Ten To Follow horses.
My full list has been posted on The Racing Hub but I thought I would give some reasons behind my selections.
ALTIOR may well win the King George but could end up back at two miles. One defeat does not make this win machine a bad horse.
DEFI DU SEUIL and CHACUN POUR SOI are my others for the chases under three miles. The former beat Lostintranslation twice last season over two and a half miles and beat Politologue over the minimum distance on his first start in open company. He could be aimed at the Ryanair but before that the Tingle Creek beckons.
Chacun Pour Soi is unbeaten for Willie Mullins and he was very good at Aintree when beating Defi by four lengths. Yet to run this season he could go for the John Durkan next weekend.
The next one is one of my hunches. The hunch being that LA BAGUE AU ROI ran too badly to be true in the Charlie Hall. She beat Lostintranslation twice last year.
She also finished in front of Topofthegame and Santini in the Feltham so her novice form is top class. Warren Greatrex has indicated that she may miss the King George and she is a possible for the Peterborough Chase next weekend.
Unbeaten
My main hurdlers will be PAISLEY PARK and SALDIER. Paisley Park was unbeaten last season culminating in his emotional win in the Stayers Hurdle. If in the same form this term he is the one to beat at the distance.
Saldier was the slightly surprising winner of the Morgiana Hurdle ahead of his stable mate Klassical Dream. Some will use the fact that Petit Mouchoir was less than two lengths behind to crab the form but that horse was given a great ride from the front and he is a Grade One hurdler.
Saldier was looking the winner when coming down at the last in a race won by the ill fated Espoir D’Allen. He looks a proper weapon.
I have included three novices in the list.
SAMCRO was one of the best novice hurdlers of recent years and hopefully he will be the same in his first season chasing. He won his debut chase by seventeen lengths. It was expected, and he will have bigger tests, but we know he has gears and his jumping that day was decent.
He is in both the RSA and the JLT and I think the latter would be the target. His jockey, Keith Donoghue, thinks a better pace will see him in an even better light.
I am hoping Samcro stays in Ireland until March so he doesn’t have to meet my other novice chaser RESERVE TANK. Colin Tizzards five year old jumped a lot better on his second start when winning at Wincanton. He will be kept at around two and half miles for now with the JLT the main target.
Finally we go to the movies. ANDY DUFRESNE, for those who don’t know, was one of the main characters in The Shawshank Redemption (surely one of the best films of the last thirty years).
His equine namesake was bought by JP McManus for £330,000 from Gordon Elliott’s travelling head girl Camilla Sharples. He won his bumper by ten lengths and on his hurdling debut earlier this month he was eleven lengths clear at the line. It is very early in his career but he does look exciting.
Hopefully my selections will play a part in the bonus races.
Our team’s Tote 10 to Follow stables, including Gary McKenzie’s picks http://wp.me/p8e3Dl-2Y0
