Monday’s Racing Talk

Always a great feeling to get it right, particularly if it yields in a 12/1 winner. I spotted yesterday that Dandy Man juveniles perform exceptionally well in maidens at Pontefract – albeit a small sample size, a 100% place record seemed significant enough.

Sky Gypsy enhanced the record to three winners from six starters (6/6 placed) and while this could be all just pure chance and luck, I feel there is more to it, given Pontefract is quite a special track.

Overall ten from 18 runners have been placed for Dandy Man at Pontefract, which is a good indicator that this is a legit trend – but his offspring generally tends to do best in their juvenile season.

thedandyman

So there is no surprise to see his two year old’s fare so well in maidens here at Ponti. Certainly a trend to monitor.

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Protectionist an Arc Contender?

I’d say so! The 2014 Melbourne Cup winner never seemed happy at ‘Down Under’ after landing the big race, so it was a wise decision from connections to send him back home to Germany.

Here he’s finally back to his best, as seen at Berlin Hoppegarten on Sunday where he won the Group 1 Grosser Preis von Berlin in emphatic style!

Protectionist obviously possesses an abundance of stamina, though he is not only a world class stayer, but equally a top class middle distance horse in my view.

In fact he looks perfectly suited to a test like the Arc in October. He thrives in big fields, he doesn’t mind cut in the ground and he has a bit of a turn of foot.

Protectionist is now three from three this season and if he comes through his next test, which will be the Grosser Preis von Baden, then he’s definitly Arc bound in a bid to emulate the last German winner of the big race: Danedream.