Wyatt Earp to gun down Catterick rivals
It is fair to say that the Peter Salmon trained Wyatt Earp may well have his best days behind him. Now at the age of nine he has recorded 10 victories during his career, the best of which came in the Skybet Dash at York back in 2006. Although he is no longer able to be competitive at such a high level, he retains enough ability to win smaller races and such an opportunity is available at Catterick on Tuesday.
The Ladies Evening Handicap at 3.00pm is a Class 5 event over a distance just short of six furlongs and Wyatt Earp has already won two similar contests this season. The first of those came at Wolverhampton back in February where he made all the running to beat Secret Witness by half a length. Although he went off the boil a little after that run, he bounced back to winning ways at Carlisle in May, again making every yard and staying on well to come home just over two lengths ahead of Cornus.
His profile suggests that when allowed an easy lead, he is a difficult opponent to pass, and with no obvious challenger for pole position, this race looks perfectly set up for career victory number 11. He could well start at rewarding odds too as the favourite is likely to be Dancing Red Devil from the Paul Green stable.
This three-year-old filly by Desert Style appears to be on an upward curve judged on recent performances. She made a winning debut as a juvenile, showing a good turn of foot inside the final furlong to beat Bazsharani by almost four lengths in a decent novice event at Chester. However, she failed to build on that very promising first effort and disappointed for the rest of that season.
So far this term, she has had three outings and her penultimate run showed some signs of a return to form. Contesting a good handicap at Chester, she stayed on in good style despite suffering from interference, to finish fourth to Diamond Johnny G. That was over the minimum trip and when stepped up to six furlongs last time, she finished best of all when coming home in third behind Gramercy at Haydock.
The major concern with her is her tendency to miss the break from the stalls and if she does that here, the race could be over before she can land a blow. With that in mind, her position as market leader could be false and has to be worth opposing over this sharp track.
Minturno is a consistent sort who comes into this race in good form. He has made the frame on his last four starts, filling the runner-up position on two occasions. Last time at Redcar, he came in for heavy support, going off the 7/4 favourite for an ordinary handicap. Having been a little slow from the gate, he ran on nicely towards the line, finishing second to San Jose City. The main problem with this one is he does not win very often, and on occasions has appeared to back out of a battle. Therefore, he is a risky proposition for win purposes.
An interesting outsider to consider is Klynch, from Ruth Carr’s yard. The trainer won this race last season with a similar type in Redwater River, who came into the race without having the most obvious of chances. Klynch has quite a bit to find with Minturno on their running at Redcar, having ran on at one pace into sixth place, some three lengths adrift of his rival. However, a better showing is on the cards as the horse is currently up for sale, and what better advertisement than a good showing here.
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