Soft Ground Could Suit Duffield’s Charge At Thirsk

I thought that Romanised ran a nice enough race in France at the weekend, but I thought it was a bit of a farcical contest. Yes, Alpha Centauri was a deserved winner and she is probably the best miler of her generation. However, I was bemused watching the race unfold with two lines of horses in single file, and I don’t understand why Success Days and Romanised didn’t tack across to the others as soon as the stalls opened. Particularly as Success Days was in as a supposed pacemaker.

It is no secret at this stage that Ken Condon’s charge needs a furiously run mile to be seen at his best, so I thought Success Days would veer across early, gun it and try to get Alpha Centauri out of her comfort zone. Instead, he stayed in the middle with Romanised tracking him at what looked a leisurely gallop to me, and I wasn’t surprised to see Romanised getting done for toe late on and missing out on a place. It was a good run in the circumstances, but he could have finished closer if different tactics were used.
 

Barry McHugh has a fine record when riding 2yos for Ann Duffield.

Tomorrow I am going to take a chance on a nursery handicap debutant at Thirsk who I believe will be suited by the soft ground and the step back up to 6f. You Little Beauty has had three quick maiden runs over 7f, 6f and 5f and she has been handed an opening mark of 52. She was well beaten on her first two starts at 6f and 7f on good to firm, but I think she was a big eye catcher on good to soft over 5f at Beverley last time.

She was drawn wide, was slow away and Franny Norton was in no panic to put her into the race. She could only manage to finish 8th of 10, but she was only 4.5L behind the winner and she was doing all her best work at the finish, under what can only be described as a very considerate ride. She didn’t feel the warmth of the whip once and I think there could be more to come if she is ridden a bit more forcefully.

In fairness to Norton, she did look a bit green when he started shoving her along and it may well be the case that she is a filly that needs more time. However, I think that Beverley run demonstrated that she definitely has ability, and she didn’t seem to have any issues on the easy ground. In fact, she seemed to quite like it. Her pedigree suggests there is a chance she will like it even softer and the ground at Thirsk is currently very much on the soft side.

Another cause for optimism regarding You Little Beauty’s chance at Thirsk is the booking of Barry McHugh. He has an excellent frame hitting strike rate of almost 62% when riding 2yos for Ann Duffield, with 3 wins and 13 places from just 26 rides on Juveniles for the stable. If You Little Beauty can get away on level terms off her opening mark of 52 McHugh could enhance that superb record, and at odds of 25/1 she has to be worth a small each way investment.

STEVOS’ SELECTION: 5.50 THIRSK-YOU LITTLE BEAUTY E/W @ 25/1