Saturday's Selection

To say I was sick after Silver Gleam's run today is an understatement. The fact that she got beaten wasn't the reason, as she was a pretty chancy selection in any case (40/1 shots usually are). I was more frustrated by the fact that Easterby's other entry won it. Sometimes when you are looking for different angles in a race you can end up tying yourself up in knots, and that is what happened to me earlier.

Silver Gleam actually ran a decent enough race, and a couple of  furlongs out she looked as though she was going to play a big part in the finish. She faded in the closing stages though, and nurseries beckon for her now. She has shown enough ability to win a race and, if she gets a mark of 65 or lower, I think she can run well on her handicap debut, perhaps back down at 7f. 

Luckily the trainer of Saturday's selection only has one entry in the race, and Bergholt looks primed to run a big one back at Goodwood and upped to 12f in the 5.40. This 3yo son of Sir Percy caught my eye when running a cracker at a big price here back in May (9f), and he has had just the two runs since. 

He ran off a mark of 72 that day and Jamie Spencer was on board. He was held up out the back in typical Spencer style, and just over a furlong out Spencer asked him to quicken. Quicken he did, and he closed quickly on the leaders in the final furlong, never nearer than the 2L he finished behind the winner Bathos. 

That run suggested that he would benefit greatly from a further step up in trip, but the 10f he faced on his next two starts simply wasn't enough of a stamina test. He is bred to stay too, and his half sister Khione was a listed winner over today's course and distance of 12f (good). 

His trainer Philip Hide has had a winner and a third from his last couple of runners, so it looks as though he is coming into some sort of form. Martin Harley takes the ride, and he is a jockey I have an awful lot of time for. He is probably better known for his judgement of pace on front-runners, but he is well capable of riding hold up types too. 

I reckon Hide might have earmarked this race for Bergholt since his run here back in May, as Goodwood is a track that not every horse enjoys running at. He has been given a nice break of 78 days since his last run, and that is not a worry as he ran very well fresh on his seasonal return at Chelmsford. Hopefully he can repeat the form of his run back in May, and with an extra three furlongs to play with he could outrun his current odds of 22/1. 

STEVOS' SELECTION: 5.40 GOODWOOD-BERGHOLT E/W 22/1