On a very tough and freezing night, those who were expecting a good and forward showing by “The King Of The Valley”- trainer Caspar Fownes- would have gone home licking their wounds having slid down the mountain slope. Despite saddling up three hot pots- Gracytom, Perfect Ten and Snitzel Kid- the wins were not to be.
First to flop was last-start winner Gracytom which almost came last. Speaking of last, the winner of the race- Lucky Record- came from last for Brett Doyle to win the race whereas Gracytom went backwards. Going by this run, the horse might be looking for more distance or is a weak horse with no upside.
With Brett Doyle having also won Race 1, in Race 3, Fownes’ Perfect Ten, again ridden by Vincent Ho, got off to a bad start and was never ever going to be a chance. The race was a showcase for the Happy Valley crowd to see just what a masterful and intelligent jockey is Darren Beadman. Standing in, or perhaps sitting in is a better term, for the suspended Douglas Whyte, “The Dazzler” took the disappointing John Size runner Prosperity straight to the front, controlled the race and was never ever going to lose.
For such a disappointing conveyance, it was surprising to see how much money was placed on the horse to win and which made it go off as the second favourite. Meanwhile, with Beadman at his best, Vincent CY Ho was struggling to make up the ground lost at the start of the race and made a little headway on Perfect Ten which was actually more of a two out of ten ride. It was and is a race to forget.
In the next race, Fownes’ Snitzel Kid and the favourite, had the run of the race with Tye Angland aboard, but then went wide coming around the turn and finished hard for fourth. Keep following this horse, especially with Angland aboard. The race was won in a very slowly-run race, thanks to another front-running ride, this time by Zac Purton who rated Manfred Man’s Happy Seven to perfection. Nothing took it on and if we were Purton, we would have been giggling all the way home and wondering if the other jockeys were asleep or even in the race. Maybe Dr. Freeze had frozen them in time?
Another horse in the lead- Happy Yeah Yeah- won the next race. We never even saw Fownes’ Many Gains. But at over 20s, no one was really expecting it to do much.
As for the next two Fownes’ runners, it was a huge run from Green Zone for third, probably the horse with the least chance of the stable’s runners while Private Road in Race 7 did nothing.
All in all, a disappointing night for followers of “The King Of The Valley”- but have no fear.
The Caspar Fownes stable will strike soon- and when he does there’ll be plenty of dancing at Happy Valley!