Newmarket - 24/5/09

[fintron]

4.05 Newmarket Thebes - won at Wolverhampton in March off 4 lb lower mark and although he hasn't followed up on the turf since, a number of efforts have suggested his turn isn't far away. He came close to landing a sprint at Doncaster in this grade but found only a well-handicapped Advanced too good when defeated by three quarters of a length. Next time out at Newcastle he ran a decent third behind Tamagin when narrowly losing second at the finish, but the first three pulled well clear of the field and the form of that race is working out exceptionally well - Valery Borzov, Excusez Moi, Celtic Sultan and Machinist were all comfortably beaten and have come out of the race and won since. Those pieces of form prompted the handicapper to raise his mark 1 lb to 91 for his last outing over course and distance three weeks ago. He finished second to Evens and Odds, but you could argue that winner was better handicapped on the pick of his form as he was racing 4 lbs below his highest even win and his yard and renowned for plucking wins out of knowhere. Thebes has another 1 lb on his back today but has been knocking on the door of late, has proven twice previously he acts over CD (winner in Aug '08 as well as 2nd lto) and with Grag Fairley returning to the plate (jockey for all 4 career wins) I think he should give a good account. TBP 2.45 (Betfair)

[WoodyTHFC]

Re: Newmarket - 24/5/09 3.30 Takaatuf 9/2 boy bog 10 pts This is what I said about this one lto before it won, ‘Tough race. Opinion Poll, Marching Time, Mutamaashi (hamdan no.1) are respected but Takaatuf arguably sets the standard here and still has improvement in him. This one made good progression last season and in the end had little trouble in winning his maiden on quick ground beating custody with a massive gap to the rest. He came out this season and ran well, just to be denied late on, with the front four clear and amongst them Headline Act has won since and Thief of Time also run creditably enough in defeat. He is only 2 pounds higher today and could go fairly well.’ He is up 3 pounds today but that seems fair enough for a horse who certainly is going the right way and even though its a tough opposition today, he could win again.