What a spectacular victory by Treve in the Arc! I must admit that I was quite surprised by how easily she destroyed a top quality field but I was disappointed at the lack of pace. You would have thought that horses such as Leading Light and Ocovango would have been driven up to the leaders as soon as their riders realised it was going to turn into a sprint finish. Of course that doesn’t take anything away from the winner and it’s great news that she is to be kept in training at four.
We are treated to far more humble entertainment tomorrow from Nottingham with a distinct “end of season” feel about the majority of the card. Whilst there can be some good bets in maiden races at this time of year, the handicaps tend to be virtually impossible as horses are entered all over the place to try to earn their winter feed. The exception on Wednesday is a very interesting nursery at 4.00 in which Luca Cumani runs easy Newcastle scorer Volume.
I am no expert on the riding skills of Kirsty Milczarek but she looked as though she was trying very hard not to win by too far. The filly by Mount Nelson was sent off at 8-11 at Newcastle after a very promising debut third at Newmarket. She led two furlongs from home and was ridden clear to win by four and a half lengths without Milczarek having to resort to the whip. The form may not have amounted to much but the style of her victory suggests that there is a lot more to come. William Buick takes over tomorrow and is riding at the peak of form after a Monday treble.
The chief threat may come from Gold Trail who won a better looking race at Haydock at the start of September. The odds-on favourite that day was Sir Michael Stoute’s Snow Sky who has since hacked up to give the form a boost. The runner-up Tahadee did not perform quite so well when a well-beaten third at Goodwood but Gold Trail is also capable of improvement.
Top of The Glas and Bureau also have to be considered as previous winners but Volume and Gold Trail look the two with most scope and I’m siding with the Cumani filly. She is a top price of 2-1 early with Paddy Power and will hopefully get us off to a winning start to the week.
Volume 4.00 Nottingham 2-1 Paddy Power
