Carlisle - end of October

CARLISLE – Wednesday October 30^th

Going – Soft

1.10 2m 1f 3yo Hurdle (Class 4)

A winner in France, AZZA made the pace and gradually wound things up from three out. She had the race in the bag before the last with many of the others weakening in the testing ground. However, the second MOST HONOURABLE stuck to his task up the hill and was not disgraced beaten six lengths in second.

1.40 2m 4f Novices’ Handicap Chase (Class 4)

HOLLOW BLUE SKY, off the track for over 600 days, stayed on to land the spoils from the fast closing THE NEPHEW.

Two to take from this race from my point of view. The first is SAMSTOWN, previously with Lucinda Russell and now with Alistair Whillans. He travelled well enough for much of the way but was tapped for speed in the closing stages. I suspect the race will bring him on, he stays well and should be capable of winning a similar race off his current mark.

The second to note is NEWSPAGE who stepped up significantly on some very ordinary hurdle form from 20lbs wrong at the weights. He raced prominently and jumped well enough before fading from two out. John Wade knows the time of day with his chasers and this one can be placed to win at the lower end of the scale.

2.10 2m 1f Novices’ Hurdle (Class 4)

THE LIQUIDATOR stepped up from bumpers to win easily on his hurdling debut.

KNIGHTLY ESCAPADE put in a fair effort in second, but I’m a little bit wary that previously poor looking QUICK BREW was third.

Keep an eye out for the James Walton trained COQUET HEAD. The stable never hurry their horses and this three times point winner is likely to prove better over fences. He travelled well enough off the pace but couldn’t match the principals up the hill.

2.40 3m ½ f Handicap Chase (Class 3)

PAPAMOA can be a hard ride as he often comes off the bridle early on. He travelled a good deal better on this occasion and one thing he does do is stay. While he didn’t appear to be going as well as the second three out the one thing you do know is that he will see out the trip. He stuck to his task and did enough after the last to hold on. Well worth keeping an eye on for these middling class stamina tests in the north.

MY BOY PADDY was going well in the latter stages but couldn’t find enough to see off a determined opponent. This was a sound effort on seasonal debut though and there should be a similar contest for him before long.

The rest were well beaten with INCENTIVISE not jumping well and never really in the contest from halfway.  FULL OF JOY chased the leaders before throwing out distress signals at the bottom of the final hill.

CHAC DU CADRAN went well enough in front until misjudging the tenth, a fence he had hit on the previous circuit. There’s a long run before this fence and I suspect some horses’ concentration can waver. He can be forgiven the lapse and is a fair staying sort who won the North Yorkshire National last season.

3.15 2m 4f Handicap Hurdle (Class 4)

BIG CASINO continued a pretty decent day for the Twiston-Davies stable. He held off a fair sort in TALKIN SENCE who wasn’t disgraced on seasonal debut and is one to note at the likes of Ayr and Kelso.

BALLYBEN was held from two out but plugged on for third.

3.50 2m Novices’ Limited Handicap Chase (Class 3)

DEFINITE DREAM and FIRTH OF THE CLYDE pulled well clear of the remainder in the closing stages.  The latter is particularly is one to note as he is lightly raced and clearly has plenty of ability.

RUPERT BEAR ran well to three out before weakening on chasing debut. Like his stablemate Coquet Head in an earlier race he will likely come on for the run and can win a chase or two at this level.

4.20 1m 6f 3yo NH Flat

This turned into a three furlong uphill sprint. HURRICANE HOLLOW put a fair bit of distance between himself and the opposition in the latter stages. I notice this one was bought by Tom Malone and that’s a pretty good sign as he has made some pretty purchases for Lucinda Russell. This one provided a first ever ‘jumps’ winner  for Keith Dalgleish. Given that he has started in bumpers one would imagine Dalgleish will have an interesting contender in hurdles if he so wishes.