Friday 30 October

Daurica returns to the happy hunting ground for the yard that is Uttoxeter this afternoon, with a good chance to maintain her fine run over hurdles. A winner of her last two starts she has been given a little break and seems in grand form. It would be more favourable if this afternoons heat was over about another half a mile, but today is the last time she can run in a Novice, so it was a race she had to take in before going in handicaps. She is a really game and tough performer, and is simply the quickest thing I have seen over a hurdle, so although there are a few decent prospects against her this afternoon, it is hoped that she will run well and finish in the frame. Sam takes the ride as her regular partner Tom O'Brien is out injured at the moment, but Sam has ridden her before and has done plenty of the schooling on her. Good Luck to all. Bobby Gee will be entered for a Beginners Chase at Haydock next Thursday - I am more keen to go down the handicap route as he will be running off of his proper mark and not carrying level weights with some 130+rated hurdlers, but we will put him in and have a look. Stratford yesterday was a classic example of how the system forces novices into handicaps - There was a novices chase that we nearly entered Bobby in, that ended up with 3 runners, the winner Ashkhazar had won the Imperial Cup and Kingwell hurdle and was rated in the 150's and the 20-1 outsider was still rated 4 lbs superior to Bobby over hurdles, so what is the point of taking them on, we cannot win, so we are forced to run our boy in the hurly burly of a handicap first time.