Trigger And Small Set To Blow Away Their Rivals

The South Midland Area Club meeting takes place at Tweseldown racecourse at Church Crookham near Fleet on Sunday 10th February 2008. They have 142 entries on a 7 race card with the first race set to commence at 12.00pm. At this meeting cars will be charged at £10.00 to include the driver with additional adults costing £5.00 per person. There will also be a fully licenced bar, various stalls and catering facilities.

A fantastic days racing looks in store for this final meeting to be staged at Tweseldown racecourse this season. I hope many of you will make the effort to come and support your local meeting as you will not be dissapointed with the racing on show. Also a donation from the profits will be given to the Air Ambulance Service who look after the horse racing world so well. The course is in great condition despite heavy rain over the past few weeks and the going should be near perfect with a good covering of grass over most of the course. Amongst the entries are two of the most impressive horses we have seen in the area so far this season, Barbury Castle winner Gaye Triger and Something Small who blew away the opposition at Larkhill recently.

The first race looks a hard race to solve as much depends on Sudden Arrival takinghis chance in this race or opting to wait for the Mens Open race later in the afternoon. If Sudden Arrival does takes part in this race then he looks to have a very strong chance of recording victory and would definitely be the selection after recording a decent win at Dunthrop in December and then running a very respectable race to finish fourth to Something Small at Larkhill in January. Sudden Arrival will appreciate this drop down in class after that event and should get back to winning ways. The other runners in this race look very closely matched. The main danger could be Noakard De Verzee's after his decent second behind Honourable Spider at Detling and may give Sudden Arrival plenty to think about. This looks a very decent race to open the meeting.

The restricted race looks very open with many unexposed horses. Shady Hollow will be looking to follow up his victory earlier in the season at Dunthrop,but will have to improve to take a race of this nature as this looks very competitive. Caramill Gift, who is a horse I really like, clocked a time six seconds faster than Shady Hollow at the same Dunthrop meeting and with plenty more improvement likely has to be the selection in this race. MeandMrsJones recorded 3 decent seconds towards the end of last season and will be looking to get off that run of seconditius to record a well earned restricted victory. I think he must have a good chance although this is his seasonal reappearance so it might be best to wait for him for another day when fitness can be assured. The other runner who showed up well last season was Teeton Bollinger and it would not be a surprise to see Mrs Tice get this one ready first time out. A fascinating race looks in store with Caramill Gift and Phillip York hopefully coming out on top.

The Mens Open is the highlight of the card with a very decent entry. Something Small after his brilliant victory at Larkhill would definitely be the selection, even though he only managed to finish second to Mister Banjo at Chaddersley Corbett last week. On this occassion I don't think the horse enjoyed the sticky going and will hopefully get back to the winners enclosure. If Something Small does not take his chance then the race could be left to stablemate Irilut who should be over the 4-mile exertions at Dunthrop a few weeks ago. The other horses that take the eye are Denvale who returns back to pointing following his most recent outings in National Hunt races. If on song he could easily make Something Small pull out all the stops, as could Lord of Illusion who won extremely well at Weston Park beating Reflected Glory by two lengths. A fantastic race looks in store and hopefully send Something Small on his way to taste Hunter Chase glory.

Let's hope Gaye Trigger makes an appearance in the Ladies Open Race following his near perfect display at Barbury Castle in January. This horse looks a future star for the Barber team and will surely be sent to Paul Nicholls next season to start a National Hunt Career. We hope that all point-to-point enthusiasts will be able to see this very exciting and talented young horse in action on Sunday. Gaye Trigger obviously is the selection for this race and looks a certainty on what he has achieved so far, not having to move out of first gear at Barbury racecourse to record an easy runaway success. Rachael Green has currently slipped behind in the Ladies Jockey's championship following Polly Gundrys four timer at Black Forest Lodge last weekend and could do with a few more Gaye Trigger's to ride but lets hope she registers another victory on Sunday and gets back in the hunt for the title race. The other runners to take the eye are Shareef and Blue Business who fought out a titanic battle at the course earlier in the season with Shareef coming out on top by a short head. Blue Business franked the form at Dunthrop and I would expect him to come out on top of Shareef this time around. Oracle Des Mottes is also worth a mention after winning well at Larhill in January. This horse is another strong type from the Barber Yard and if Gaye Trigger does not appear then Oracle Des Mottes will surely be the Barber/Green representative. Oracle Des Mottes would therefore be the selection in Gaye Triggers absence and will also be very hard to beat.A fantastic race looks in store and who knows we may see a future Aintree or Cheltenham winner with Gaye Trigger if connections let him take his chance.

The Intermediate race looks the hardest race on the card with many horses winning last time out. You could give a chance to almost all of the 21 runners declared. Mr Goofy was impressive at Tweseldown in January beating The Tailor Carey and again will need to improve on that performance to take this but is heading in the right direction, travelling and quickening up nicely in that race. Marblehead also battled well to take the restricted race at Dunthrop but would need to improve a great deal to be in with a chance in this. Peppershot, Flax Hill and Exceptional are all improving and also rate serious dangers. I am going to stick my neck out and select Merry Vic to take this race. It was not a strong restricted race he won at Larkhill but he was extremely impressive and recorded a very decent time. I think with further improvement likely he is the one they all have to beat.

The open Maiden race could well be split with 33 runners declared. Many of the horses are unexposed but the best of them seem to be Blazing Guns, Captain Valiant, Lansdowne Park, Man of the Moment, Silent Gunner and Delayed in Dublin. Blazing Guns was sent off a well supported favourite at Dunthrop but was never travelling with the same sparkle as in his previous races. If he could return to form he should have a very good chance of taking this race. It is very difficult to choose between many of the other runners as they are very unexposed but the one I liked, who could take plenty of beating is Delayed in Dublin for Alan Hill and James Tudor. Delayed in Dublin jumped really well for an inexperienced horse and would of finished in 3rd place at Barbury before James Tudor pulled him up on the approach to the second last. This was a very nice introduction and should come on leaps and bounds for that experience. I think this horse will go very close to winning this race, and is worth keeping an eye on for the future.

The meeting closes with a club members conditions race. This race looks very difficult to solve as many of the runners are entered in other races earlier in the afternoon. Peppershot, Half Inch and El Viejo all ran in different races at Higham a couple of weeks ago and look to be the main horses to concentrate on. Peppershot was well clear until throwing Phillip York out of the saddle at the last fence in a similar race to this and could easily gain compensation in this race if the horse has not lost his confidence. Half Inch was never going well in the mens open and I could not fancy him in his present mood but has the form in the book to take this event. El Viejo ran in the novice riders race and looked the winner until being caught near the finish. This was not a great race but could improve for that first outing with stronger handling. Aqua Ardente can also show some decent form on his day but is a bit long in the tooth now and I would not expect him to run to the same form as he has shown over the last few years. Peppershot is going to be the selection to make amends for that last fence mishap and should score with a clear round.

As the actual declared runners for each race are not known until the day, we will make a selection of which horse we believe will have a good chance of winning the race. A second selection will also be given in case this horse does not run. The best two bets of the day will be tagged in the form of a Nap being the best bet, and a Next Best being the second best bet of the day.

Selections :

Race 1 Sudden Arrival (Noakarad De Verzee)

Race 2 Caramill Gift (Teeton Bollinger)

Race 3 Something Small (N.B.) (Lord of Illusion)

Race 4 Gaye Trigger (NAP) (Oracle Des Mottes)

Race 5 Merry Vic (Mr Goofy)

Race 6 Delayed In Dublin (Blazing Guns)

Race 7 Peppershot (El Viejo)



Have a great days racing and hope to report a few winners in our Review of this meeting on Tuesday.

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