Southwell Races

2020s  first blog from Southwell races. The meeting was not over busy with small fields making
it difficult to pick winners. This meeting also continued to see Ben Curtis' successful streak with him having a double. My one horse to watch for the rest of the season is the new comer Iron Heart,
the horse didn't like the kickback from the fibre sand but despite this still managed to finish third. Another impressive performance was Silverturnstogold who had its four-timer under Elisha Whittington and Tony Carroll. However Whittington got suspended for excessive use of the whip, what do you think about this? Should they be disqualified from the race?

The 2:20 had Angel Lane leading with Argus and Rasaasy close up. Blowing Dixie and Cosmelli were both held up in the rear. At five furlongs out Cosmelli made headway getting involved in the race. Four furlongs out had Argus and Rasaasy being pushed along, the latter was quickly outpaced. Blowing Dixie made nice headway at three furlongs out whilst the leader Angel Lane needed to be pushed along. The challenge between the two was clear at two furlongs out. Cosmelli and the rest of the field were slowly dropping away. At one furlong out Blowing Dixie was the undisputed leader and was smoothly ridden clear. Angel Lane became one paced. First was Blowing Dixie by 4 3/4 lengths, second was Angel Lane by 3 1/2 lengths and third was Cosmelli by 3 1/4 lengths. This showed how stretched out the field was.

The penultimate race had Jungle Secret with a slight lead to Requited, Our Charlie Brown, The Right Choice and Al Suil Eile. Global Melody was held up. There was not much room between the whole field. Global Melody on the home straight make headway. At three furlong out Requited, Jungle Secret and Global Hope were ridden along. With two furlongs to go Al Suil Eile and Our Charlie Brown made ground up. The Right Choice was ridden to challenge. Into the final furlong it was a three way battle between Al Suil Eile, Global Melody and The Right Choice all close together. All heading each other at some point. Global Melody however was on the stands side rail but in the final stages did not have enough pace to keep up with Al Suil Eile. First was Al Suil Eile by 3/4 length, second was The Right Choice by 1/2 length and third was Global Melody by 3 lengths.

New for 2020!

There's going to be a new aspect to Bryan's Horseracing Blog's especially for 2020! I will be discussing jockeys I think are doing particularly well, horses for note and anything controversial that has a risen that will have a big impact on the industry.

So the biggest talking point for me right now is the fact that Donnacha O'Brien has his first entries as a trainer for Friday at Dundalk. The two horses are Mythological and Flower Garland, both are owned by his mother and were previously trained by his father. He should know how to get the best out of both of them as he has ridden both before. Hopefully Donnacha's success as a jockey can be transferred to training.

There are numerous hot jockeys as the moment the most undisputable is Ben Curtis. Curtis since the new year has had 11 winners and it is less likely he has been unplaced. He is building on his success from last season much like Luke Morris and Adam Kirby. Luke Morris well know for being an all weather specialist has had 6 wins since the new year, continuing building momentum. His four timer on 2nd January highlights his success. Adam Kirby also has a 13% strike rate. They are showing already that the all-weather championships will be close.

Additionally conditional jump jockey Jack Tudor has caught the eye with his recent successes. The most notable being the welsh grand national. Clearly one to watch in the future as he is only 17.

Hopefully the next blog will be from Sunday's racing at Southwell.