Midnightreferendum gets the vote at Exeter
MIDNIGHTREFERENDUM can strike gold at Listed level in the Join Racing TV Now Mares’ Chase at Exeter.
Alan King’s eight-year-old was good enough to finish second in the Grade Two mares’ bumper at Aintree back in 2018 and while she did not really set the world alight over hurdles, she still won twice, albeit at a fairly average level.
Midnightreferendum has shaped with some promise over fences this term though, cantering home by 18 lengths on her initial outing, looking an absolute natural with a fine round of jumping.
However, she failed to build on that at Huntingdon as she came down at the third-last when still travelling well enough.
That proved a momentary aberration as she certainly made no mistakes in a Warwick Listed chase next time out, merely finding the classy Zambella too good - a similar situation to when third behind Annie Mc on her most recent outing.
Beaten 25 lengths at Doncaster, Midnightreferendum could have been a bit closer had she not been badly hampered by a faller, so her performance can be upgraded a notch and she might have the necessary improvement to make her mark here.
Findusatgorcombe can make his light weight tell in the Thank You NHS Devon National Handicap Chase.
The three miles and six furlongs will take some getting in soft ground, but Jimmy Frost’s charge has already proved this particular stamina test is his cup of tea with a narrow victory in December.
He beat the reopposing Dawson City a head and they meet on the virtually same terms, so you would think Findusatgorcombe could at least confirm that form.
The eight-year-old subsequently came off second best at Wincanton last month, but switching back up from a three miles and a furlong should help his cause.
CARDIFF City’s win over Bournemouth might just be the best of the lot under Mick McCarthy.
It is his sixth straight win, having not lost any of his eight games in charge, but undoubtedly the most important.
Yes, Cardiff have had more eyecatching wins, but they scrapped to within an inch of their lives to take all three points away from the south coast.
It was their most impressive of the lot. They were solid, gnarled, streetwise and canny and they held the fort stoically for the final 30 minutes and it proved to be the real embodiment of the side McCarthy has built.
Indeed, Will Vaulks spoke about how the new manager has made Cardiff “horrible” again and the win over the Cherries served only as further evidence of that.
And it is a tag the manager quite clearly enjoys.
“Well, if anyone ever says one of my teams is nice to play against, I would be so annoyed and insulted,” he said.
“The best teams are horrible to play against, for whatever reason.
“Manchester City are horrible to play against because they press and keep the ball and run right over the top of you.
“Liverpool last year ran over the top of teams. Manchester United in their pomp, they might not have had the best players, but they ran over teams.
“They work harder than everybody else as well. It’s strange, isn’t it?
“So, if anyone comes off and says, ‘Oh, that was a really nice game, you’re really pleasant to play against,’ well I might be packing it in and playing golf somewhere else.”
Cardiff usurped Wednesday night’s opponents into sixth place on goal difference, a quite remarkable feat considering where City were just a few weeks ago.
It was a result that will serve as a real boost to City fans and players, but with that, McCarthy says, comes the very different pressure of staying in that play-off spots.
“We were never under any pressure to get in the top six,” he added.
“That might have been said when I come in, but to target the top six? Come on, do me a favour. Twenty points from eight games.
“Did I think we were going to get that? No. Did anybody at the hierarchy of the club? No. Everybody hoped for it.
“I’m not that stupid to say I expected it, because we weren’t. So there was no pressure.
“Actually, the pressure was on not falling out the bottom of the league. If we lost in Bristol we would have been in trouble.
“But we didn’t and we’ve won on the back of it since and we are in the top six and the pressure is to stay there and everyone will be pecking at us.
“But I’m not getting carried away. It’s a lovely position to be in. I thoroughly enjoy every single game.”
If you are a Cardiff fan at the minute, that last sentence will doubtless resonate with you, too.