9th July 2015
Hi ,
It's good to be 6th in the top performers table with a 47% strike rate and 36% return on investment at the start of July. The winners have been coming in for us at a steady rate the last few weeks with a nice brace of winners on Monday Lilian Baylis (13/8) along side Soul Searcher (2/1) but i do not think I will ever be top of the tree competing against tipsters using the machine gun approach! But rest assured I will continue do my very best for my troops.
The Australian star sprinter Brazen Beau from a smart family has strong claims in the Group 1 Darley July Cup at Newmarket on Saturday after delighting his jockey James Doyle with his racecourse work this week at HQ.
Entries were revealed last week for the two feature handicaps at the Goodwood Festival - the £250,000 Qatar Stewards' Cup (Saturday, August 1) and the £150,000 Betfred Mile (Friday, July 31).
The Stewards' Cup has more than doubled in value since last year, with a prize fund increase of £150,000, while the Betfred Mile is up £20,000 on the 2014 offering.
A total of 142 entries have been received for the £250,000 Stewards' Cup, including three of the last four winners of the great six-furlong handicap.
Last year's winner Intrinsic, trained near Newmarket by Robert Cowell, could bid to become the first dual winner of the six-furlong showpiece since Sky Diver (1968 & 1969).
Other previous winners engaged are the Yorkshire-trained Hoof it (Mick Easterby), who defied top-weight of 10st when storming to victory in 2011, and the 2012 hero Hawkeyethenoo from Jim Goldie's Scottish stables.
Trainer Roger Charlton has sent out three winners of the Stewards' Cup, most recently Genki in 2009, and is targeting this year's race with Huntsmans Close. The five-year-old was withdrawn from the Wokingham after getting loose, but gained compensation with a neck victory over Charles Molson (Patrick Chamings) in a six-furlong handicap at Windsor on June 27.
Three quarters of a length further back in third was the lightly-raced Gamesome, who was turning out quickly after a good sixth in the Wokingham at Royal Ascot seven days earlier.
The Olly Stevens-trained four-year-old caught the eye in two outings at Newmarket earlier this season, coming home sixth in the Group Three Abernant Stakes in April and was an unlucky fifth in a competitive six-furlong handicap at the Guineas meeting.
Stevens, who is based not far from Goodwood at Chiddingfold in Surrey, said: "Gamesome came out of Windsor in great shape."
"Goodwood will probably be the earliest we will run him back as he's had two quick runs but the Qatar Stewards' Cup is the sort of race he needs to be going for."
"He is still relatively inexperienced and hopefully there is more to come from him."
Newmarket trainer William Haggas has two Stewards' Cup victories to his name, courtesy of Conquest (2008) and Rex Imperator (2013). The Newmarket handler has engaged Mubtaghaa and Valley Of Fire, who were first and third in the valuable sales race at York last season.
Derby hero Golden Horn left his rivals toiling in the Eclipse at Sandown on Saturday and is now 4/5 favorite for the King George at Ascot at the end of the month the Gosden trained 3yo is one of the best horses in the world at present and will be very hard to beat this season.
Mount Logan will go close at York on Saturday in the John Smith Cup.
Yours in sport
Back Next Thursday.
Kevan Minter - The Colonel.
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