It was very satisfying to find another race for Camberley Two at Yarmouth yesterday, he has now won his last four races and he will be attempting to join Frankel's dam Kind who achieved five straight wins in 2004.   There are several options for Camberley Two to run again with a 6lb penalty right through to Haydock on Friday evening 5th August.  Any five day entries that are made for him up to this Saturday morning (for the following Fridays races) will all be before the handicapper has a chance to reassess him. Although yesterdays race lacked any strength or depth, he won with authority and no doubt faces up to a 9 or 10lb rise in the future. We have no runners today and Silver Lime (USA) runs for the first time tomorrow evening at Sandown.

I felt sorry for Pontefract racecourse as there were alot of people who had come to see Cityscape run, but unfortunately there was a strong breeze together with consistent sunshine throughout the day and the ground having been good when I arrived at midday was definitely riding fast by mid-afternoon.  Cityscape is too good a horse to risk at this stage in the season and as usual patience is the word when it comes to training horses. There are no immediate plans for him but having a fresh horse in the Autumn when the ground changes might be an advantage.  Zero Money got himself a bit hot and sweaty before his race but it was warm and there was a big crowd together with a splendid Brass band. He had the advantage of a good draw and it was frustrating to be narrowly beaten by the in form Tim Easterby, but it was an encouraging run and he deserves to win another race.

Camberley Two heads to Yarmouth today for the 4.15pm having had a break of nearly a month since his last race at Brighton over 7 furlongs. He is in good form but whether it is possible to win four races in a row is questionable, but he is progressing and a mile at Yarmouth will suit him better than 7 furlongs at Brighton,  stepping up to 10 furlongs may suit in the future.

Camberley Two

Folly Bridge ran well at Newmarket to be 5th and beaten 2 lengths in a race that she ran in last year when she was beaten 4 lengths off a 8lb lower mark, it's going to be tough for her to win off her current rating of 99.  I'm not sure why Discovery Bay was so disappointing at Ascot and I don't have an excuses at the moment but perhaps a mile and on faster ground will see him in a better light and his next race is likely to be in a maiden.  Loxton Lad ran as expected but he did get on his toes before the race so we might remove his wedding tackle before too long which might help him in the future.

Cityscape and Zero Money run at Pontefract today and the ground is currently good having been on the easy side yesterday after plenty of rain during the week. Let's hope it his 3rd time lucky for Cityscape having been withdrawn at Ascot and Maisons Laffitte on the two previous  weekends due to fast ground.  I hope Zero Money will be suited by dropping back to 6 furlongs as he didn't quite last home at Doncaster recently over 7 with the blinkers on for the first time and he has a good low draw.    

So nearly a wonderful double at Ascot yesterday with Primevere just being passed in the last 10 yards as they went to the line. She ran a good race and I hope will collect a Listed race in time and it might be worth seeing if she stays 10 furlongs which will give us more options. The handicapper was proved to be correct with his assessment of raising Keys 16lbs and I was thrilled with his performance considering the race was run in a dawdle and he had a little trouble in getting a run when he needed it. I get the impression that he will stay as far as you like and races like the Csarewitch or Doncaster Cup over the extended 2 miles will come into the reckoning.

Today we have three runners with Folly Bridge running in a 7 furlong fillies handicap at Newmarket with top weight of 10 stone which will be tough. I hope the ground dries out and that there is a decent pace which will suit her but there are plenty of younger horses that might prove difficult to beat. 

Folly Bridge

Discovery Bay is off to Ascot to run in the first race with Serena Brotherton.  He ran well over a mile in the spring and then I mistakenly thought that 10 furlongs would suit him at York but he ran a little free and did not finish his race. It is possible that 7 furlongs maybe too sharp for him but they do tend to go quite fast in these ladies races so it is arguable that you need a miler under these circumstances. He has a bit to prove against some hardened handicappers but we have an excellent and experienced lady rider who has won 52 races in her career so far, including winning this race last year. It would be great to have a winner for Her Majesty at her track and on King George day !

Discovery Bay

Loxton Lad returns to Salisbury for the 6 furlong maiden race but he will need to improve considerably to make the frame but he is progressing and 7 furlongs will be more to his liking in the future.

Loxton Lad

We have two runners today at Ascot where I gather they missed alot of the heavy showers that we certainly had in Wiltshire and the ground remains soft and good to soft in places.  Primevere runs in the fillies Listed race over a mile and will be experiencing soft ground for the first time and it is always difficult to know how they will handle it but she would definitely prefer some ease in the ground rather than being as fast as it was when she disappointed at York in the Spring. I get the feeling that she is progressing both mentally and physically and her last performance when she was runner up to Nahrain  at Sandown was a much improved effort.  Having finished 2nd in a Listed race it will be a great thrill for her to achieve a win at this level for her owner/breeder  Anthony Oppenheimer and his Hascombe and Valiant Stud. She is a daughter of Singspiel who has produced alot of fast ground horses but he did win the Canadian International at Woodbine on soft ground as a four year old.  

Primevere

Keys runs 6 days after his facile victory at Newbury last Saturday and it is pure speculation as to how far he could have won that day but the handicapper has raised him 16lbs in the future.  In an ideal world, I would have preferred the ground to be faster for him but it was soft when he won his Listed bumper at Cheltenham.  In my experience, quite alot of handicap good things have a habit of getting beaten but I am hoping that by him running over staying trips he will continue to produce improving performances.  It should be noted that   Colour Vision (Fr) trained by Mark Johnston also carries a 6lb penalty, but has been raised by 12lbs for future handicaps and won his last two races with ease.

Keys

Zamarelle eventually went in the stalls having backed out a couple of times and then relaxed well as soon as she was shut in.  At Newbury, she had reared up several times dislodging Steve Drowne and eventually galloped loose up the course, so yesterday was a big improvement !  She ran on well having looked quite green in the early stages to finish 6th and beaten around 5 lengths, she will be better suited to fast ground on the turf and a mile will suit this year and at least 10 furlongs next year.

Zamarelle runs today at Lingfield in the first race.  She was an intended runner at Newbury recently but unfortunately played up in the stalls, so has had to pass a stalls test last week before being allowed to run today.  She is a  nice scopey homebred filly who I hope will run well. She is a half sister to Red Eyes who did Federation on the line at Newmarket on Friday evening.

Zamarelle

Unfortunately the heavy showers that arrived during the day at Windsor had made the ground on the slow side which did not suit Lovage, which was not a huge surprise as most of Exceed And Excel's progeny love the fast ground. She ran well to finish 4th from what turned out to be a poor draw as they finished the race up the far side.  I withdrew Sergeant Troy as I thought he would be unsuited to the conditions.

Keys has now been raised 16 to a rating of 94 by the handicapper which is I suppose to a level that we thought he might have reached after winning his Listed bumper at Cheltenham in January.  Quite where the huge improvement came from having run in 3 maiden races I'm not sure and most of the staff were a little shocked or surprised by the manner of this victory at Newbury.  The plan is to run him again at Ascot on Friday with a 6lb penalty in the Brown Jack Stakes and we will see if the handicapper is correct.

Today I am planning on having two runners at Windsor this evening, with Lovage running in the 7.10pm.  She completely missed the break on her debut at Newbury and did well to be beaten around 5 lengths in a race that looked weak at the time but several winners have now come out of it.  She is well drawn and it would be a disadvantage should she miss the break again and I hope that she runs well.

Lovage

Sergeant Troy has been a little disappointing in his last two races and as long as the ground does not turn soft, he will run in the 8.40pm. He wears a visor for the first time and it will be interesting to see if he produces a better performance. The last time he ran at Windsor, he was carried wide across the course and was virtually pulled up !

Sergeant Troy

Yesterday was a rather long day and a frustrating trip to France having left Beckhampton at 8am in heavy rain and with a forecast of heavy rain expected at Maisons Laffitte by midday but unfortunately it didn't arrive until 6pm ! There had been a strong drying wind over night and the ground was riding good to firm so sadly not good enough to risk Cityscape  I thought that it was very noticeable how few people were at the races on a day when there were two Group 3 races, the stands looked a bit like a morgue or Kempton at one of their winter evening fixtures.  I decided not to run Sea Of Heartbreak at Newmarket as they had 7mm of rain before racing and the ground had turned slow and the race turned into a bit of a slog which wouldn't have suited, she does hold an entry at York on Friday.  Keys was a revelation at his first attempt in a handicap having been placed in three maiden races over 11 and 12 furlongs. He had started to look a bit disappointing having started favourite on two occasions and being narrowly beaten twice at Kempton. The handicapper gave him a mark of 78 which seemed fair and the only hope was that he would improve by going up by 4 furlongs in distance. He won with Jamie Spencer doing '' hand-springs'' and with considerable easy which was certainly a bit of a surprise, it will be interesting to see how his performance was viewed by the handicapper on Tuesday when the ratings are published. He has an entry at Ascot on Friday in The Brown Jack Handicap over 2 miles which is worth £14,000 to the winner and 60% more than his Listed bumper victory at Cheltenham in January. Should he run he will have a 6lb penalty taking his rating to 84.  Having had a rather frustrating few days with 4 seconds from 8 runners it was very acceptable to have a winner again.