And the rains fell, making the form worthless?

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Muddy – the going was plain silly at the weekend

Well the rains kept falling and meetings have been abandoned left right and centre, but what can we make of the results garnered over a muddy cold and pretty damp weekend? Generally speaking, not a great deal to be honest, with the confirmed mudlarks doing what they do best, just a lot slower than anyone else (for example, the Welsh National at Chepstow was run in a time over a minute slower than standard, though it felt a lot longer! Jamie Moore of the famous Moore family rode the winner for trainer Kerry Lee, daughter of Richard Lee, so a combined effort from two of racings premier dynasties to land the massive first prize.

Meanwhile, at Kempton, those who follow the age old theory of always backing the outsider of three (it isn’t profitable in the long term statistically by the way, I’ve checked) will have been dancing for joy after the Nicky Henderson trained Triolo D’Alene took the williamhill.com Chase by forty-nine lengths at the rewarding odds of 8/1! Odds on favourite Ptit Zig unseated two out when looking beaten while Wishfull Thinking never got in a blow, and with 20/20 hindsight (a wonderful thing), what a giveaway that was for the master trainer.

Elsewhere, the Willie Mullins winner factory continued over in Ireland with a double on Saturday headed by the uber impressive Min who is now as short as 7/4 for the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival after beating very little at Punchestown but doing so very easily. Runner up Attribution is only rated 132 so I won’t be getting too carried away with the form, but the winner did do it easily, but his odds are frankly ridiculous and I certainly won’t be suggesting an ante post bet at that sort of price!

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Trainer Gordon Elliott – not a bad Sunday!

As if to remind us all there is more than one trainer in Ireland, Gordon Elliott landed a short priced treble on Sunday afternoon (Tocoroco 13/8, Myztique 11/8 and Sutton Place (4/9), though in heavy going, not one of them goes on my horses to follow list! I cannot see the going being so bad at Cheltenham as to allow times a minute behind standard to win anything, but then again Mother Nature may disagree though I really hope not, and none of us want to see Prestbury Park like a ploughed field?

Meanwhile, those who follow the money will have noted the contraction in the price of the Aidan O’Brien trained Ivanovich Gorbatov ahead of the Triumph Hurdle. A flat bred son of Montjeu out of a Gulch mare (Northern Gulch), he changed hands in December from Coolmore to J P McManus, and promptly hacked up at Leopardstown on heavy going by a hard held two and a quarter lengths on his first race over hurdles. That was just a maiden hurdle so it seems fair to say that either the bookmakers have over reacted, or racing fans have remember that Aidan started off in the National Hunt game and is more than capable of readying one for the big races given the right ammunition?

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