My personal highlight was Empire Of Dirt (for obvious reasons!) and the way that Don Cossack finally shut up the doubters in the Gold Cup was another highlight of the week. Ivanovich Gorbatov also came in for us yesterday but as for Modus, God only knows what has happened to him since leaving Robert Stephens and he ran an absolute stinker. I was gutted to see Croco Bay fall as he was my biggest fancy of the week, but you can't win them all as they say, and it is just 360 odd more sleeps until it starts all over again.
SATURDAY'S SELECTION
First of all I would like to pass on a positive message for Sizing Coal in the Midlands Grand National at Uttoxter. This fella was 3rd in the Irish equivalent at Fairyhouse at huge odds this time last year and he has looked an out and out stayer. Seemingly this 4m2f slog has been the target for him and he looks sure to absolutely relish the extra distance. The only slight worry is the drying ground, but there is still a bit of cut in it so he should be fine. He is a best price of 11/2 and hopefully he runs a big one.
However, one horse I like at even bigger odds later on at Uttoxeter is another that looks sure to benefit for a step up in trip, and When In Roam looks a big price in the 5.20. This 7yo daughter of Flemensfirth is rated just 80 (down from an initial mark of 92) and she was good enough to win a bumper so she obviously possesses some ability. However, her four runs in maiden and novices' hurdles showed only the slightest glimmer of promise, and she ran a stinker on her handicap debut at Stratford last May (22f good) when she unseated when well out of contention.
She made her seasonal comeback on unsuitably heavy ground in another handicap at Uttoxeter (20f heavy) back in December and she managed to pick up some place money in 3rd, though she was admittedly beaten 26L. She stayed on late in the day in that heat, and it was on her next run at Catterick that she really caught my eye (19.5f good to soft). She was ridden by an inexperienced claimer and on the face of it she finished a well beaten 6th, However, she was badly outpaced about half a mile from home and she looked to be becoming detached at the back of the field before staying on past beaten horses in the straight and only finishing around 6L behind the runner up.
That effort came off a mark of 83 and she has been dropped another 3lb to 80 for today. She will also get to race solely against her own sex for the first time in a handicap. Dave Crosse returns to the saddle and she gets the step up in trip that her running style and pedigree suggests that she needs (her full brother Go West won at 24f/26f). I think she is definitely worth chancing each way at nice odds in a poor race that won't take much winning.
STEVOS' SELECTION:5.20 UTTOXETER-WHEN IN ROAM (E/W) 14/1
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