Tag Archives: juvenile

Thursday Selections: November 21st 2019

Newmarket Rowley Mile Winning post

4.35 Newcastle: Novice Stakes, 5f

Normally not my cup of tee this type of contest, however I make an exception for the fact that Agent Shiftwell appears to be undervalued in the market.

The son of Equiano showed plenty of promise on debut at Windsor on less than ideal ground, coming in as a good runner-up in a fairly decent maiden contest under a sympathetic ride.

He should have learned plenty that day and looked also rather ready on the day already, bouncing out of the gate well and travelling strongly for long. Agent Shiftwell has the profile to improve rapidly, out of a listed placed dam who was a winner on the All-Weather as a juvenile also.

The colt should improve not only for the Windsor experience but also for the switch to Tapeta, given Equiano has quite a strong record on this surface with his juvenile offspring (albeit the jury is out on Newcastle).

Selection:
10pts win – Agent Shiftwell @ 7/1 WH

Friday Selections: October, 11th 2019

Newmarket Rowley Mile False Rail

3.35 Newmarket: G1 Bet365 Fillies’ Mile, 1m

Intriguing contest, but possibly a weak one without a real star? For all what the market principles have achieved form wise, they haven’t run particularly fast yet.

Neither Love nor Cayenne Pepper have come near at least a 90 topspeed rating, despite having ample opportunity. You may give recent 9 lengths winner Quadrilateral the benefit of the doubt, though.

Nonetheless, I feel Powerful Breeze is underestimated in this field. The filly was supplemented after kicking her career off with two impressive runs. A winning debut over 7f here at Newmarket, followed up with an excellent Group 3 success at Doncaster.

That day she ran to a 92 topspeed rating, which is by far the best of what any filly has achieved in this field. There is no reason to doubt its legitimacy, as it was a well run race and Powerful Breeze improved nicely from her debut 87 TS performance.

She looks a filly open to plenty more improvement, being well bred, a March filly and by Iffraay. She gets the trip well, the ground is a slight question mark, given she hasn’t met cut in the ground yet.

I’ll give her the benefit of the doubt on that front, given her dam acted on soft, and Iffraay’s offspring tends to perform well enough also. Certainly if she can run here to the same sort of level – possibly even a little bit better – than in the May Hill this filly has a much better chance than the odds suggest.

Selection:
10pts win – Powerful Breeze @ 7/1 MB

Jockey Cam Winner!

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I love jockey cams. We need more of them. They provide incredible insight into how a race is run and what it looks and feels like from jockey’s perspective.

As the armchair jockey I am, I do relish those rare insights immensely. So all the happier I was when this incredible footage of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies race emerged – uploaded by the official Breeders’ Cup Youtube Channel!

Ride with Mike Smith and win the race on Caledonia Road – a 20/1 upset – how he gets rolling from the back of the field to make progress on the outside and eventually brings the bacon home.

For full context: the race replay can be watched here. Fair to say it was a hell of a ride!