Top to Take Care of Rivals
The opening race on Wednesday’s Catterick card is the European Breeders Fund Maiden Stakes, for two-year-olds over a distance of six furlongs. Eleven runners are set to line up at 2.10pm for what promises to be a competitive affair, with some promising juveniles attempting to notch their first win.
One of those that has shown definite signs of ability in his two outings to date is the Mark Johnston trained Top Care. This beautifully bred son of Bernstein, cost $50,000 as a foal, and had clearly been showing up well on the gallops prior to his debut at Carlisle, being a well-backed 9/4 favourite. Unfortunately, he refused to settle that day but ran encouragingly to finish sixth behind Al Madina.
When reappearing in a Doncaster maiden at the beginning of July, he improved on that effort in finishing fourth to a decent newcomer in Georges Lane. This race looks an easier task and with the benefit of those two runs behind him, he looks more than capable of getting his first win. His trainer has a terrific record at this track with a strike rate of 25% over the past five seasons, which rises to 30% in the two-year-old category. Greg Fairley gets the leg up here and is currently riding better than ever, with four wins in the past ten days. With so many positives, Top Care looks sure to take a great deal of beating.
Howard Johnson’s juveniles are in flying form at present and Baby Driver represents him here. He looked very inexperienced on his debut at Ripon, losing his action at halfway and eventually dropping away to finish last of twelve to Waltz Darling. His following run at Hamilton was a much-improved effort, even though he still showed signs of greenness. Wandering around in the rear, he eventually got the hang of things in the closing stages and ran on well to take second place behind Mayson. There certainly looks more to come from this son of Proclamation and it would be no surprise to see him in the shake up.
The likely favourite though is Malgoof, a once-raced colt trained by Bryan Smart. He made his debut in a novice stakes race at Beverley earlier this month, and having been slowly away, he stayed on well into third place behind the well-regarded Black Moth. That run is sure to have brought him on and the yard is in good form at present, with four winners in the past two weeks. However, his draw in stall 11 is far from ideal at this sharp track and he will need a very good break from the gates to get a good position. For this reason, he is worth opposing and is likely to find a better opportunity in the near future.
Currently, any runner from Richard Fahey’s stable is worth considering and he has a promising entry in Talley Close. Strongly fancied to make a winning debut at Newcastle, at one stage he looked likely to do so when travelling strongly two furlongs from home. However, when asked a question he found very little off the bridle, eventually weakening into third behind Alfraamsey. Although he may well improve for the experience, he did look straightforward that day and did not appear to have too many excuses. On the other hand, he does have a good draw in stall four and having shown good early pace on his first start, this is an ideal position from which to make the most of it. Paul Hanagan takes the ride and he will be eager to get another winner in his quest to become champion jockey.
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