ALEX DUNN RACING WEEKLY REPORT (28th March – 3rd April)

 

Introduction

A solid opening and close to the week, with Truckers Tangle going down by less than a length at Fontwell and Sigrid Nansen going down a slightly larger margin at Kempton. In the visit we passed our BHA inspection and Thahab Ifraj has been schooling really well over the fences, with Tulsa Jack and Shades of Silver also having a pop.

Round Up of runners

The start of the week did not go to plan as Micheal Nolan was booked to ride Truckers Tangle at Fontwell, but sadly had a fall on an earlier ride and so will spend a small amount of time out on the side lines. Get well soon Micheal!

Trucker ran another cracking race, but yet again ran into one just too good. He put in a game performance jumping to the lead from 2 out and just getting at the last, to go down 3 parts of a length at the line. This was his fourth second this season and so shows he clearly has promise yet just needs to catch a break at the races. So long as he keeps putting himself in these positions the win will come sooner or later.

Envole Toi jumped much better at Stratford yet he still maintains the tendency to remain careful over his fences. He has run 7 times this season, winning one and being placed twice and will probably tuck him away till next season knowing that we have a great horse come next season and are lucky to have him.

Tamby and Hannah Welch had a good tussle at Doncaster, with Tamby riding Punkawallah whilst Hannah took an outside ride, but missing out on the places. Hannah joins us for the summer now, whilst maintain her Fegentri commitments on her university placement, and hopefully there are some exciting times ahead.

We sent 2 runners on a long distance raid to Musselburgh on Tuesday, with Enmeshing running rather surprisingly, whilst the Mr Consistent Cry Wolf finished fourth and thus extending his impressive placing tally. He has won over £30,000 in prizemoney since joining in June, running 14 times and only missing out on a top 4 finish once, getting beat 2 lengths 6th.

The other 2 runners on Tuesday both finished 5th at Lingfield, being Claudine and Regulator. Claudine just weakened off towards the end, whilst Regulator kept on well from off the pace taking his 5th in a big field.

As I said, the week started with solid form and ended with it too in the form of two thirds. Gang Warfare rather surprised us a little bit coming on leaps and bounds for his run at Kempton. Sigrid Nansen suffered some interference at Kempton that didn’t help in her quest for her maiden win, but ran well none the less. She is pressing all the right buttons and sooner or later her win is bound to come.   

News in Racing

Grand National fever is picking up, not only in the towns and cities, but also in our yard too. Looking at the field, it would appear that there are 5 interesting ones to follow:

  • Tiger Roll – Doesn’t need explaining
  • Rathvinden – Has won over 4 miles and comes into the race fresh
  • Ramses de Teillee – low weight and second in Welsh national this year
  • Vintage Clouds – very good second since wind surgery at Cheltenham, stamina proven.
  • Joe Farrell – bottom weight and winner of last year’s Scottish National

Best of luck to all runners and riders

Statistical Summary

Jumps 18/19

Earnings - £86,250

Wins - 7

Top 4 finishes – 51/148 (34.46%)

Flat 19

Earnings - £64,128

Wins – 8

Top 4 finishes –32/81 (39.51%)

Total 2019

            Earnings - £78,030

            Wins - 8

            Top 4 finishes – 45/127 (35.43%)

ALEX DUNN RACING WEEKLY REPORT (21st– 27th March)


Introduction

Bargain buy Waqt breaks his duck at Lingfield Park on Monday. This combined with De Little Engine’s second means we have broken the £60,000 yard prize money barrier, keeps us in touch with the top 20 in the flat standings for another week and means we have achieved over half of last season’s prizemoney total in just under 3 months, boom! However we must not forget How About Its’ remarkable win on Saturday, bringing yet more success to the yard.

Round Up of runners

No runners in NH this week, yet this did not mean it took anything away from the excitement on the flat with a winner in Waqt and a close second with De Little Engine as well as How About Its’ win in a point.

Waqt proved to the hero of the hour on Monday, carrying top weight to lead in the last furlong and then hold on at the line. It was pleasing to read in the racing post write up that they thought ‘He should get a mile and is with the right yard to progress from here.’ It’s always a great positive when outsiders believe in what you are doing. This was the first of a much overdue win for the freshly formed Helium Racing ownership, having gone close twice with 2 unlucky seconds yet Waqt’s win has put a smile on everyone’s face.

How About It won his point to point in dramatic fashion on Saturday. Sent to the front early on and then sitting off the pace for the middle of the race, delivering a deadly challenge after the last to get up in the dying strides and winning by a head giving John his fourth winner of the season. This was a huge performance given the second horse was rated 30 pounds better and so proved very sweet indeed. Unfortunately celebrations were cut short the next day as we lost Saroque and John is out until early next week. Such are the highs and lows of the sport.

We would have been pushing are luck a bit to win by 3 heads in a row and so it was De Little Engine who are luck finally faded on. He did everything right and looked as if he had done enough but for a super human effort by Grey Destiny to collar Engine right on the line. Grey Destiny came with a wet sail right around the outside and so cruelly came out of nowhere to beat us. Engine loves Wolverhampton and so a return in the not so distant future is not out of the question.

There were some more good performances on the flat with 4 of our horses finishing down the field and yet only being beaten by a handful of lengths. Gendarme was beaten 6 lengths and was only burnt for toe in the last furlong, Diamond Refelection was a similar story yet beaten 5 lengths, whilst Jupiter stayed on from the rear to finish 5 lengths 5th and Mr Minerals was just under 4 lengths 9th in a blanket finish with a rather chaotic run in in the last furlong. When I look at all of this the horses are actually running rather well which is pleasing to the eye.

News in Racing

Again it is the BHA at the centre of attention and this time it seems more positive. Paul Bittar, former BHA Chief Executive has backed Nick Rust the current Chief Executive, but says ‘BHA should focus less on those who don't like racing’. It was not helpful when Rust compared racing to foxhunting as John Gosden pointed out this week, but if the BHA acts in a way to promote racing rather than compromise it then maybe we can put the welfare debate behind us and focus on what the sport is really about, Racing!

The article below I found to be quite an interesting read on the situation.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/mar/25/talking-horses-racing-tips-news-bha-move-away-london

Statistical Summary

Jumps 18/19

Earnings - £84,927

Wins - 7

Top 4 finishes – 50/146 (34.25%)

Flat 19

Earnings - £60,445

Wins – 8

Top 4 finishes –29/72 (40.28%)

Total 2019

            Earnings - £73,024

            Wins - 8

            Top 4 finishes – 42/116 (36.21%)

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Waqt post race

 

 

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De Little Engine  

 

 

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De Little Engine at Wolverhampton  

 

 

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Issue 33 ALEX DUNN RACING WEEKLY REPORT (7th – 13th March)

 

Introduction

A bunch of good performances this week from our horses, Argus went agonisingly close at Southwell whilstTsundokuturned it around at Plumpton. Whilst on the home front we are very much looking forward to receiving Frankie’s first pony!

Round Up of runners

The first of the two seconds featured Tsundoku at Plumpton. She really turned it around Plumpton after a couple of lesser efforts on the flat and ran with a lot of zest. She put in a good effort to try and chase down the winner, but in the end with its jockeys’ claim it proved too much. However this was a huge step in the right direction.

Argus on the other hand was just unable to hang on at Southwell, going down a neck on the flat. This was a 4 pound rise for his course and distance win last time at the course and so probably made the difference. He’s run a game race and so hopefully given another chance by the handicapper he may collect a win next time.

It was a stable debut for Waqt at Kempton and shaped up very well. Brought for 2,000 gns, he collected a 5th of that in prize money on his first run, this sign bodes well for the future.

Swift Crusader ran a solid race at Sandown under Tom Scudamore, finishing 4th. He is yet to finish out of the first four since joining the yard and this race was of the highest quality. The winner won very well and despite Swiftiecarrying top weight he performed admirably.

Sigrid Nansen probably threw the race away at the start, with a tardy getaway. She was just in the quicker of the 2 divisions and finishing third the first 3 pulled well clear of the field. She is another going in the right direction.

Statistical Summary

Jumps 18/19

Earnings - £82,773

Wins - 7

Top 4 finishes – 48/ 139 (34.53%)

Flat 19

Earnings - £54,756

Wins – 7

Top 4 finishes –25/58 (43.1%)

Total 2019

Earnings - £65,181

Wins - 7

Top 4 finishes – 36/95 (37.89%)

ALEX DUNN RACING WEEKLY REPORT (28th February – 6th March)

Introduction

Northern raid to Newcastle returns with interest for Cry Wolf, Ventura Blues and Mr Minerals. This sublime effort followed up in the week with a couple takes us over the £50,000 mark for the season on the flat!

Round Up of runners

Our raid on Newcastle, proved a great success with Cry Wolf building upon Argus’ catalytic win last week to bag another one this week. I have no idea why all his shares were not sold months ago as his form has been sublime. He performed very well at Newcastle, where he was cruelly denied last time by a miss timed run to this time looking the winner from halfway up the run in. His versatility is fantastic, winning over both 1m4 and 2 miles and so will look for another race in this region soon. Ventura Blues finished 2nd of our trio, yet this was in a class 3 and took home a valuable £4,660 for her efforts. She ran very well, with the racing post saying the winner was ‘emphatic’ and so we were satisfied with her performance. It would be great if she could win one of these juicy prizemoney contests and off her first 3 runs which were all places for us this is not out of the question. Mr Minerals completed the trio of runners to make a win and 2 places for Team Dunn. He was always in the frame and went well to finish a respectable 4th place. The trip was 7 furlongs and his only win came over a mile and the way he stayed on this may be where his future lies though is still competitive over 7 furlongs and so no reason to change yet.

Truckers Tangle was a bit frustrating at Fakenham as it felt like a gettable race. He ran well all the way though just didn’t have the toe at the end and then made a bad mistake at the last, but survived. Fakenham was a big step up in trip for him and maybe it was a bit too much, maybe not though time will tell.

Enmeshing was an increrdibly infuriating second this week. I say infuriating and by this I mean it is so annoying to get beaten by a short distance at the end of a race. Enmeshing ran very well and looked like he might just make it to the line infront at one point, but ultimately his lack of toe just got the better of him.

Hollander was 2 lengths second at Kempton in a 6 furlong sprint on Wednesday. He ran on well to get past horses close to the line but wasn’t able to challenge the winner. This was a massive step in the direction from his last run, when coming last over 5 furlongs at Chelmsford and hopefully not too long now till Helium Racing can break their duck.

News in Racing

Under a week to Cheltenham! It was very annoying to miss out on the opportunity to be there with Tulsa Jack, but the Flu Epidemic and weather took the choice out of our hands. Al Dancer looks difficult to beat in the first and McManus looks to have one of his strongest hands in a while going in. Hopefully a safe and fun week will be had by all.

Statistical Summary

Jumps 18/19

Earnings - £79,878

Wins - 7

Top 4 finishes – 46/ 133 (34.59%)

Flat 19

Earnings - £51,237

Wins – 7

Top 4 finishes –22/49 (45.9%)

Total 2019

            Earnings - £58,414

            Wins - 7

            Top 4 finishes – 31/80 (38.75%)

 

 

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