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Alex Hammond’s Blog
- Updated: October 26, 2016
Sky Sports racing expert Alex Hammond covers a multitude of subjects in her latest blog including Thistlecrack, the weekend’s action and a Melbourne Cup 1-2-3.
Do you think Rivet is capable of challenging for a Classic next season and if he were yours, would he be running in the Qipco 2000 Guineas at Newmarket?
Well, he may well be capable of running well in, or winning ‘a’ Guineas or ‘a’ Derby, but maybe not ‘THE’ Guineas or ‘THE’ Derby. The reason I say that is because of comments made by jockey Andrea Atzeni in an interview on At The Races last week before his Racing Post Trophy win. He explained his reasoning for the colt’s disappointing showing in the Dewhurst, which is run on the same course as the Guineas. Atzeni felt he didn’t handle the dip on the Rowley Mile as he’s quite heavy through the shoulder and that is definitely a worry for him going forward. The chances are, if he didn’t handle Newmarket, then Epsom is going to be completely out of the question, but that is the job of trainer William Haggas to decide whether he takes the gamble next spring. I think if I was lucky enough to own him I’d head for the French or Irish Guineas, or maybe the French Derby could be his ideal race. Also, he is unlikely to bump into Churchill or Caravaggio at Chantilly as I don’t think he is quite up to their class.
Cheltenham kicked off their season last weekend with the two day Showcase meeting, which horses caught your eye?
Well the meeting got off to the best possible start with the win of El Bandit in the opening race on the opening day, the Neptune Investment Management Novices’ Hurdle. He has now won five in a row and looks to be crying out for a step up to three miles, with trainer Paul Nicholls saying afterwards that he wouldn’t be surprised to see him make up into a World Hurdle contender come March time.
Nicholls was successful in the very next race with another horse to keep an eye on. Marracudja has already run in Grade 1 company over hurdles, but he pulled up in that novice event at Aintree and was put away for the summer. He has now had two runs over fences, winning both and looks like he will make his mark over the bigger obstacles. He could do with settling a bit better as he looks a tad one dimensional as he blazes a trail from the front which won’t help his cause in better company, but he’s very useful.
On Saturday Sceau Royale was the impressive winner of the Masterson Holdings Hurdle for Alan King and Daryl Jacob. He had a great start to his juvenile hurdling career last season, but didn’t cut it at either the Cheltenham or Aintree festivals when King admitted his horses weren’t quite right. With another summer on his back and with King in better form, hopefully he can fulfil the promise he showed as a three-year-old. Whether he ends up being good enough to be a contender for the Champion Hurdle remains to be seen, but he can do better I’m sure. He’s currently 25/1 with Sky Bet for the Champion.
What did you make of Thistlecrack’s chasing debut and is he a valid contender for the Cheltenham Gold Cup?
It’s not often you watch a horse and know you are seeing something really special, but that happened at Chepstow on Tuesday. Of course, we already knew Thistlecrack was smart as he has hit the dizzy heights over hurdles, but he looked as natural a chaser as you would wish to see on his chasing …
