Round up of the last few days runners from Dodlands

Dodlands had several runners in the last week, 3 at Newcastle on Tuesday and a couple at Ayr the following day. A bit better was expected than a solitary 4th place though.....

Anyway, lets start the recap on Tuesday (31st January) at Newcastle.

Houxty Reiver ran in what turned out to be a strange race. A bumper on the All Weather, where the amateur ridden 2nd fav Jack Hyde strolled into a 60 lengths lead by the time the field turned down the back straight. He wasn't caught.
Our mare didn't make any impression and finished well down the main field. Houxty Reiver is a lovely mare but she hasn't shown much in her 2 races to date.

Shoeshine Boy, despite shouldering 12st 2lb over a trip short of his best, started favourite for the 2m 6f handicap hurdle (does anyone read our race previews?). He looked to be caught on his heels as the tapes went up and was in midfield when making a mistake at the 3rd and unshipping Lewis Dodd. He then completed the full distance of the race, enjoying a loose school mostly upsides the remaining runners. He did return with a minor nick - probably incurred at the 3rd - so he may well have a lengthier time until his next run. Still hope to have him out before the end of the season though.

Gie It Laldy's runs in a couple of bumpers had us taking a positive view of his hurdling prospects but he didn't jump with any fluency in the 2m 4f novice hurdle, which left him using up whatever spare energy he had just to keep in touch. He was pulled up entering the home straight.

Onto Ayr on Wednesday.

After a long spell on the sidelines, last month over c&d Enemy At The Gate ran a nice race on his comeback. He returned here for his handicap debut over 2 miles but couldn't match the pace of the race from 4 out. It may have been the 'bounce' factor but more likely is that he needs a staying trip to be seen at his best. A drop of a few pounds from his OR98 mark wouldn't seem out of place either.

The best run of the week from our quintet, came from Ann Marshall's bumper horse Both Barrels. First time out a couple of months ago he ran quite green before staying on into 3rd place and we thought pre-race that he could sneak into the "4" again. Although showing signs of inexperience, Both Barrels ran on inside the final 2 furlongs from a good bit back and finished in 4th place. SP of 40-1 (does anyone read our race previews?), so attractive in the "each way extra" market for those of you with an unrestricted Bet365 account.
He is another of our geldings who shapes as if needing a staying trip over hurdles.