fintron Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 His motto is 'always trying'. Have a look at the profile of his winner in the first at Goodwood - Landaman..... Handed a mark of 83 at the back end of last season and starts this season on 82. Finishes 7 of 16, 9 of 9 and 7 of 7 and magically, the handicapper then drops him down 7lb, just the exact amount needed to permit him entry into 0-75 handicaps. Knowing he's got a well handicapped horse, they win at Beverley in a class 4 in May then pick up a penalty. Because he runs before reassessment he is allowed to race of 81 (under a penalty) when winning again at Beverley in a 0-75. He wins at odds on. Now he's just defied a 9lb rise and a three-grade rise to win at Glorious Goodwood. lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aidymac Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 Re: Mark Johnston It finished 7th of 16 on it's first run after a long break.. It finished 9th of 9 on soft ground and 7th of 7 on heavy ground.. It's last 2 wins came on good to firm and it's only other win back in 2011 came on good to firm. It is clearly a horse that loves fast ground, end of story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jayalexander Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 Re: Mark Johnston His motto is 'always trying'. Have a look at the profile of his winner in the first at Goodwood - Landaman..... Handed a mark of 83 at the back end of last season and starts this season on 82. Finishes 7 of 16, 9 of 9 and 7 of 7 and magically, the handicapper then drops him down 7lb, just the exact amount needed to permit him entry into 0-75 handicaps. Knowing he's got a well handicapped horse, they win at Beverley in a class 4 in May then pick up a penalty. Because he runs before reassessment he is allowed to race of 81 (under a penalty) when winning again at Beverley in a 0-75. He wins at odds on. Now he's just defied a 9lb rise and a three-grade rise to win at Glorious Goodwood. lol So you must of tipped him then? ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fintron Posted July 31, 2012 Author Share Posted July 31, 2012 Re: Mark Johnston It finished 7th of 16 on it's first run after a long break.. It finished 9th of 9 on soft ground and 7th of 7 on heavy ground.. It's last 2 wins came on good to firm and it's only other win back in 2011 came on good to firm. It is clearly a horse that loves fast ground' date=' end of story.[/quote']If he knew it hated soft ground then you'd like to think he wouldnt have run it on heavy. I dont think the ground matters to Johnston, he's a scatter gun merchant, he runs his horse in any race irrespective of ground or grade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fintron Posted July 31, 2012 Author Share Posted July 31, 2012 Re: Mark Johnston So you must of tipped him then? ;) I couldnt have been having it Jay...it was rising from a 0-75 at Beverley and up 9lb and three grades - not my sort of bet. Fair play to anyone that found it though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kithanga Posted August 1, 2012 Share Posted August 1, 2012 Re: Mark Johnston As I backed it I'll try to explain. I agree that his runners can be really hard to fathom at times but with this one I think there was enough information to explain its improvement. Firstly it didn't run until a 3yo (late developing type?) then improved markedly when encountering faster ground (as Aidymac stated), had been unraced after it's easy win under a penalty (laid out for a race & meeting Johnson has a good record in?) and had a good young claiming jockey on board to take a further 5lb off (a tactic he has used before). All in all I thought that as it had won so well in lower class that it had a reasonable chance in the race given the other pointers and priced it up at about 10-1. I really wanted to be on Cai Shen but its price never budged and got nowhere near my minimum so I backed this one about half an hour before the off as it was the only one trading higher (18.0) of the three I was willing to back. So don't agree it wasn't possible to find but do agree that it wasn't a strong (think it'll win) type bet, more of a price based wager. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fintron Posted August 1, 2012 Author Share Posted August 1, 2012 Re: Mark Johnston Well done for backing it K. I can see why people would have fancied it yesterday in its hat-trick bid and, although those types are not my cup of tea, I think it did have reasonable claims yesterday. Just to try make it clear though for fear of being misunderstood, my gripe in the OP was over its performance in those previous runs, when it was bringing up the field, and, some would argue, was not giving everything as it came down the handicap. Aidy has made a reasonable defence and said that it may have been a ground issue, and he'd probably get away with that with the stewards if trying to explain the sudden improvement. I just hate the whole Johnston operation. Have had some joy with them in the past, but have also had some terrible runs, and it seems it is a lottery backing runners from his yard. It seems you have to simply ignore last time out form and take the opinion that, if the conditions of a race in question will suit, then back it regardless of last time out form. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bathtime For Rupert Posted August 1, 2012 Share Posted August 1, 2012 Re: Mark Johnston Very rarely back Johnston runners myself. Can't make head nor tail of them to be quite frank. Possibly through laziness/rubbish at working things out but I've backed horses from the yard in good, consistent nick and them bombing out and seen horses of theirs with no form dotting up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
south_eastern_ram Posted August 1, 2012 Share Posted August 1, 2012 Re: Mark Johnston I dont really like the yard either, backed Crown Counsel at 13/2 last Friday, backed into about 5/1 and sat close to a very steady pace which looked ideal but ended up nowhere in the end. Wouldnt have won any way as the winner done it nicely, but Johnston runners are very difficult to predict. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mowgli77 Posted August 1, 2012 Share Posted August 1, 2012 Re: Mark Johnston Johnston was in the RP the other day and states his yard had a virus for a long time and they were all out of form and also said there have been lots with foot abcesses due to all the wet weather. He did state he has a few he expects to go well at Goodwood and reckons he'll land 2-3 winners. Quite timely this thread as Hurricane Higgins flies in at 14-1. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aidymac Posted August 1, 2012 Share Posted August 1, 2012 Re: Mark Johnston Johnston was in the RP the other day and states his yard had a virus for a long time and they were all out of form and also said there have been lots with foot abcesses due to all the wet weather. He did state he has a few he expects to go well at Goodwood and reckons he'll land 2-3 winners. Quite timely this thread as Hurricane Higgins flies in at 14-1. Very true. His horses also tend to improve on good ground also, the majority. Apparently Higgins hates the stalls, so they entered him into this no-stalls start, and Fanning the cute hure did a small bit of cheating at the start drifting over to the inside before the off to get a good position. I had no bet in the race, i didn't think Higgins would stay that far, but this is Mark Johnston, anything is possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jayalexander Posted August 1, 2012 Share Posted August 1, 2012 Re: Mark Johnston . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mowgli77 Posted August 2, 2012 Share Posted August 2, 2012 Re: Mark Johnston Johnston lands his 4th Goodwood winner of the week with Heavy Metal. Form suggested it had no chance, stable form this week suggests it did. Ahern was awful, was way too short in the betting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aidymac Posted August 2, 2012 Share Posted August 2, 2012 Re: Mark Johnston Johnston lands his 4th Goodwood winner of the week with Heavy Metal. Form suggested it had no chance' date=' stable form this week suggests it did. Ahern was awful, was way too short in the betting.[/quote'] I had it backed. The good ground and stable form being the main reasons. It was only beaten a nose on good to firm ground in a Listed race at Epsom 3 runs back, i thought that form gave it a squeak, but i agree, on form it was an outsider. I ain't bothered though, winner winner chicken dinner. :lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bathtime For Rupert Posted August 2, 2012 Share Posted August 2, 2012 Re: Mark Johnston Glad I didn't get suckered into backing Ahern. Too short. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aidymac Posted August 2, 2012 Share Posted August 2, 2012 Re: Mark Johnston Glad I didn't get suckered into backing Ahern. Too short. Not only that, but Barron hasn't had a winner at Goodwood in 9 years, and has only ever had 1 winner at Goodwood, i am sure the layers were laughing to the bank when they heard that statistic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mowgli77 Posted August 2, 2012 Share Posted August 2, 2012 Re: Mark Johnston I had it backed. The good ground and stable form being the main reasons. It was only beaten a nose on good to firm ground in a Listed race at Epsom 3 runs back' date=' i thought that form gave it a squeak, but i agree, on form it was an outsider. I ain't bothered though, winner winner chicken dinner. :lol[/quote'] I'm thinking the stable form must have an effect on price. I had Heavy Metal at around 11-1 based on form but when you also take into account stable form I should probably have had it a few points shorter. I was not having Ahern at anything under 5-2 and the fact Spencer was on it over a short trip put me off even more. Well done with the winner Aidy, should have had a saver on it with doubts about the 2 Fahey runners. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aidymac Posted August 2, 2012 Share Posted August 2, 2012 Re: Mark Johnston I'm thinking the stable form must have an effect on price. I had Heavy Metal at around 11-1 based on form but when you also take into account stable form I should probably have had it a few points shorter. I was not having Ahern at anything under 5-2 and the fact Spencer was on it over a short trip put me off even more. Well done with the winner Aidy' date=' should have had a saver on it with doubts about the 2 Fahey runners.[/quote'] Thanks mate. It was overpriced, that is why i backed it. I wouldn't have gone near it at anything under 8/1. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickf88 Posted August 2, 2012 Share Posted August 2, 2012 Re: Mark Johnston If you all don't mind me asking for your opinion on this but I can't believe Bannock is 33/1 tomorrow for the Betfred Mile. Very competitive race of course and poorly drawn but that hasn't stopped Johnstone's horses so far. Fanning on board, and although hasn't won over the trip I'll be on each way anyway on the off chance. Any opinions or am I losing the plot? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mowgli77 Posted August 2, 2012 Share Posted August 2, 2012 Re: Mark Johnston If you all don't mind me asking for your opinion on this but I can't believe Bannock is 33/1 tomorrow for the Betfred Mile. Very competitive race of course and poorly drawn but that hasn't stopped Johnstone's horses so far. Fanning on board' date=' and although hasn't won over the trip I'll be on each way anyway on the off chance. Any opinions or am I losing the plot?[/quote'] It stepped up in trip recently at Ponty and ran really well in what was a quickly run race, 3 secs faster than the other race over 1m on the day. Set The Trend probably went off too fast but Rugged Cross finished well and Bannock looked a possible winner but swerved right late on. 33's could be too big, especially with the stable in this form. It certainly wasn't disgraced last time out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lodge Posted August 2, 2012 Share Posted August 2, 2012 Re: Mark Johnston If you all don't mind me asking for your opinion on this but I can't believe Bannock is 33/1 tomorrow for the Betfred Mile. Very competitive race of course and poorly drawn but that hasn't stopped Johnstone's horses so far. Fanning on board' date=' and although hasn't won over the trip I'll be on each way anyway on the off chance. Any opinions or am I losing the plot?[/quote'] I certainly think he is better than a 33-1 shot, especially when you look at the price of something like Prince of Johanne who he finished 3L ahead of last weekend. Yes he hasn't won over the trip but only had 1 go at 8f.... Draw isn't great but it certainly doesn't rule him out of things Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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