Exerts from my Diary Notes Service
Zeroshadesofgrey
29th October 2016 – Wetherby – His profile strongly indicates that he can improve significantly on this performance when he returns to racing on a more testing surface. He was very good at most of his fences and, like the runner up, was clever when he needed to be. This was a very encouraging seasonal debut and it was good to see his astute trainer being rewarded for his patience after last season’s disappointing performance in this very same race on his chasing debut.
He completed from the first fence to the line in a time approximately eight seconds slower than Cue Card. Nearly all of this time difference was taken up by the breathers he was able to take in this less competitive race from the winning post to the first fence down the back on both circuits. This, of course, would still imply a wide margin victory for the 172 rated Tizzard horse; nonetheless, I think it was still encouraging that he was able to match such a highly rated chaser from fence to fence in what was only his second ever chase and his first for a year. Add the likelihood that he will probably be much better on softer ground and he starts to become a horse to watch out for in my opinion.
Royal Vacation
29th October 2016 – Wetherby – He may well have stayed this extra distance today. It is difficult to be categorical about his stamina given that this was, in effect, no more than a two horse race. He jumped very well on the whole and was clever enough when he needed to be. He has finished well behind two decent sorts in small field novice chases now and may get a little forgotten about as a result. I suspect he is well in off 129 and, although the name of his sire suggests he could be best on this sort of ground, his overall profile supports his suitability to competing on a very soft surface.
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