Racing round-up from the last couple of days

One solitary placed effort from 5 runners across Tuesday (Ayr) and Wednesday (Hexham) may seem underwhelming but re-reading our racing previews which are published on the evening of racing (whadd'ya mean ya never look at 'em?), four of the horses were having their seasonal debut and the one horse fancied to do well finished a plucky runner-up beaten a neck.

Anyway, onto a review of the action starting on Tuesday at Ayr.

Cowboy Cooper was yet another of our bumper horses to run with lots of promise when 7th at Ayr. By the time of the last race, there was a clear difference in the varying ground in the home straight, with the stands' side appearing as golden highway.
Our gelding was quite green and Craig kept him in midfield with plenty of cover to compensate. By the time he was able to make a move to come stands' side over a furlong from home, the first three had scarpered clear. But Cowboy Cooper picked up very well on the better ground and finished in nice style in 7th.

We were delighted with him.

Wednesday at Hexham where the ground was a quick-ish good to soft. Hard to fathom, especially in mid November but the groundstaff had done a remarkable job in the circumstances.

Honda Fifty could not have picked a more competitive handicap hurdle (2 miles Class 4 0-120) for his first run of the season at Hexham on Wednesday. Watching the race again (viewable via links on the horse's web page), he hit 3 out but still held every chance at the top of the hill turning for home. The Arakan gelding was unable to match the pace of the leader though and came home in 6th.
He's run well and will progress from this run.

In just her second race over hurdles, Maid of Houxty jumped and travelled well for a long way in the 2 mile novice hurdle but dropped quickly to the rear 2 out. She kept on in the home straight to finish in 8th and maybe a flatter track will suit her better.

Her full sister Bonny Houxty ran a similar race (maybe not jumping quite as well, though) in Division 1 of the 2m 4f handicap hurdle. Still holding every chance climbing the hill after 2 out, she weakened quickly after having raced prominently. A slight stumble after the last led to Craig pulling her up (she was in 6th at the time) but she was fine afterwards. She too would appear to be more suited to a flatter track.

And didn't Shoeshine Boy run well in the last - Division 2 of the Class 5 0-100 2m 4f handicap hurdle?
The enthusiastic lads from Mousetrap Racing were clearly confident and had been supporting their gelding all morning so much that he started 2nd favourite.
In a prominent position throughout, he ran in the manner of a true stayer, keeping on well from a few lengths down approaching the last to collar the favourite (Golan Cloud) on the run-in. But he could not quite catch Harriet's Shoughall Boy and went down by a fast diminishing neck.
Still, he showed ability at this level and will be suited by softer ground and a wee bit further.

A farewell to Jimmy's Jet

Although he didn't quite meet his reserve last Friday at Tatts Ireland Cheltenham Sale, Jimmy's Jet has been sold in a private deal and has joined Sandy Thomson's yard.

A real pleasure to develop the raw potential in this lovely gelding from the Sales ring for the Bewley & Fyffe partnership, and onto victory on debut at Ayr last month.
Best of luck to his new stable.

Jimmy's Jet (Georgina)