Sunday was filled with a couple of puddings.
Imperial Me Cen was very bad, but so was the other French horse in the race. I don't think that form will amount to much, as the Karl Burke horse was closer than he should've been.
Cathedral was the best horse in the race, but David Egan showed his incompetence. The ride he gave Cathedral was appalling. Why he had her off the pace by so much in a steadily run race, I'll never know.
Sophiesticate 11/4 (1pt) – Ayr 4.40
Speaking about jockeys who don't do a lot for me, Paul Mulrennan is one, but he is on my selection on Monday. I tipped up a horse in the race that Sophiesticate ran in last Monday. Sophiesticate ran a good race in the circumstances.
She had Lauren Young, a seven-pound claimer, riding him, and she gave the horse too much to do. She was held up towards the rear, came down the outside with a late effort, but it was too late. Normally, whenever Paul Mulrennan takes the ride on a horse who previously had a claimer on, it's a positive sign. Paul is the main man for Jim Goldie, and they are a potent combination in the Northern UK and Scotland racing.
Sophiesticate has been running in Class 4 and Class 5 races this year, and the last time she ran in a Class 6 was August 2022. She managed to win the Class 6 race from three years ago, and that also came off a mark of 65, which is 6lbs more than today. Her hold-up style is always going to mean she will need luck in running, but she will enjoy being against weaker opposition.
No matter what ground comes up, she will be fine.
Phoenix Of Dreams 13/2 (0.5pt EW, 3pl) – Windsor 7.10
John Quinn has been sharing the training licence with his son for the past twelve months. When he was solo on the licence, he didn't send too many runners to Windsor, and the same has been the case now that he trains with Sean. This is their first runner at the track since combining, and Jason Hart comes down for the one ride, which is always a positive sign.
Phoenix Of Dreams was a consistent average horse last year; he would run to a similar level every time. This year, he has only raced once, but from what I saw, he might have improved. Given he was off the track for 217 days and he returned with a fourth-placed finish in an eleven-runner field, just a length and a half behind the winner. It looks very promising, as he wasn't strongly fancied in the market, so they must've known he needed the run.
With that run under his belt, and the travelling they are doing coming to Windsor, there are a lot of positive signs. The heavy weight is a slight concern, but the rain appears to be falling at the right time, which is a positive for him. He has won on soft ground before, and his run on good to soft last time out was nearly a career best on RPRs.
GambleAware