Found finally delivered for me
Ben Morgan roared home a deserved Arc success for the Aidan O’Brien star
As a punter you don’t experience a higher feeling of satisfaction than seeing one you’ve fancied for a long time romp home in the Arc. Travelling near the back for most of the way, Found floated through the pack seamlessly around the home bend to sit just off the leaders.
Oozing confidence,Ryan Moore kicked her on plenty soon enough but she wasn’t for stopping, bounding to the line to gain the victory her career has been geared around. A super consistent filly who exudes class, much like her connections.
She probably owed me this one as I have backed her all through her career which has included a lot of near misses,but that made victory all the more sweeter. She has won or been placed in 17 of her 19 races so far, at Group 1 level more often than not, which is a feat I’m sure won’t be repeated all too often.
My £20 e/w bet on Found was always going to be the highlight of the day, but even more so as some of my other fancies let me down. Dabyah was perhaps a bit too free early on and couldn’t quite finish the race off and So Mi Dar was involved in a muddling race where she couldn’t quite reel them in late on. I’m sure there are better days to be had with both of these fillies, especially So Mi Dar who could be a world beater next year.
Mecca’s Angel perhaps didn’t get the cover she would have wanted early on in the Abbaye but still ran a respectable third.I wasn’t totally disconsolate with the result as the victor, Marsha, seems to be held by the former’s stable mate, (and favourite of mine) Easton Angel, who I believe will be a star next year.
As much as I love the Flat,jumps racing is my real passion. I have been brought up on the doorstep of Ludlow racecourse and attended meets with my Dad since a young age and we are also regular visitors to Cheltenham.
Normally, I don’t tend to get too heavily involved at this stage of the season but I was tempted into a couple of bets over the weekend at Chepstow. I struck a £10 win bet on Clan Des Obeaux who has chaser written all over him and he put in a foot perfect round of jumping but seemed to blow up after the last and didn’t quite finish off his race. This is a common trait among Nicholls’ string, they will always come on a bundle after their first run.This one will be there or thereabouts next time out. His four-year-old weight allowance, plus his abundance of class,could prove a winning recipe this year.
My banker of that weekend though,was Ballyoptic.He was an impressive winner of the Sefton at Aintree in the spring where he accounted for Bellshill with the pair pulling 13 lengths clear of the third placed horse, maintaining his unbeaten record for Nigel Twiston-Davies. With this in mind,how he was allowed to start at 8/1 on the Saturday morning for the SIlver Trophy handicap hurdle is beyond me. A £20 e/w bet was swiftly struck and it never looked in any doubt, Ryan Hatch kept it simple and put the race to bed after he popped the last. The West Yorkshire Hurdle is now on the agenda and I will be surprised if he isn’t in the first three in the World Hurdle in March.
Meanwhile,over at Newmarket,a horse for the notebooks next year, Kassia, was thrusting home at 15/2 (£10 win) to cap off a very good year for her.Mick Channon deserves great credit for the way he has campaigned this filly and she looks sure to improve for another winter and could step