Newmarket LYNN UNDER BOLD stakes

Welcome to Newmarket on yet another bank holiday weekend with the regular racegoers struggling to find a pitch to watch among all the daytrippers. The feature event this week is the LYNN UNDER BOLD memorial stakes run on the fast dirt track which caused such uproar when it was laid next to the Rowley mile. Indeed as a young reporter cutting my teeth on the local news desk for the Suffolk Herald & tractor drivers weekly, it fell upon me to cover the story of Senior Steward Sir Hector LittleHampton-Fitzwell who publicly  proclaimed that a dirt course would be laid at HQ over his dead body. The obituary said that he’d choked on his port and stilton while deliberating a particularly close finish to the first race run on the new dirt track, which meant that the official result was a dead heat.

Anyway enough of the past, the dirt track has been accepted by all and sundry here now, and this reporter regularly makes the short journey from Cherry Hinton to cover the varied races that Newmarket cards. Onto today’s race.

For older fillies and mares, this six furlong dash has attracted a field of eight and there are some decent types among them. Regular racegoers will have held a few quid back for this one as the market is fairly open, giving reasonable returns whichever you back, and it remains to be seen whether the hordes that descend for the bank holiday racing have ‘done their lot’ on the previous nine races or are likely to play up their winnings from that nice each way touch in the last.

In stall 1 is King Stalwart from the twinhollow stable. This five year old mare by Stalwart out of a Kingsbridge mare is one of the outsiders of the field at 12/1. She is a nice type who always seems to give her true running, but even at allowance level is an infrequent winner, having won 4 from 25. She has only made one foray into stakes class, which resulted in a very nice third in the Prospector Can’t memorial stakes. She likes to dictate the pace and jockey T Cooper could take the rails and lead from start to finish ‘just like that’.

Spirt Select sits in stall 2 and iluvced’s seven year old mare looks like a solid contender here, even though age may just be beginning to catch up with her. S he boasts a record of 11 wins from 41 starts, with several good runs in group company and whilst she’s no spring chicken anymore, this old girl can still spruce herself up for a night on the town. She has won three times in her last five allowance starts, and although she hasn’t run many stakes races lately, she is still more than capable of running triple figure speeds which give her a good chance here. I Jones will be happy to track the pace and hope that his strong running mount will pick up the leaders down the straight.

Ant’s honor comes next from stall 3 and looks like value at 7/2. She has won 10 times from 25 starts which is a healthy ratio by any standards, and apart from her last unexplainably bad run, seems to be very happy racing in stakes company. She won the two prior to that one very comfortably and posted nice speed figures in the process. A Craig will be happy to keep his filly on the pace, and the daughter of Gulch should certainly reward him, and backers with a big run.

She boots from the meguire3rd stable comes from stall 4 and she will hope to kick the opposition all round the track. The daughter of Storm Boot is a hard one to weigh up. Her 2 yo form which included a group 3 win would see her go close in this, but she has only won one race since in an allowance. She seems to be coming back to hand this season, with more consistent runs, but doesn’t seem to have the legs for this on the balance of her form. K Mitchell will hope that the filly will track the field and come with a run reminiscent of earlier halcyon days which will belie her 12/1 odds.

T Jumpster comes next from stall 4 and with 65 runs under her belt, looks to be having one of her last hurrahs in stakes company. She’s still only a 6yo, despite that, and maybe she can keep rattling off the performances in the manner of a Zha Zha Gabor, showing her less experienced sisters how it’s done. The daughter of Jump Start looks to be in at the deep end here and T Anderson will do well to pick up the leaders on the 10/1 chance, but anything’s possible, as her trainer youngnhung keeps boasting.

Oroka Akuba(JPN) breaks from stall 5 and this lightly raced daughter of Sunday break could be the fly in the ointment. She’s 10/1 in the betting which would suggest that she is overmatched here, but there is no doubt that she is a useful performer. Her runs this year, have been in good company, and she has run well enough without bothering the judge to suggest that she does not have to step up too much to get involved in the mix here. Another who will track pretty close to the front, Bo Edwards will be hoping for a big run from nevarlost’s runner.

Fleury is the favourite and breaks from stall 7 hoping to add to her 7 wins from 21 runs. She is well up to this, and was so lightly raced during her first three seasons, that there is no worry about whether there is more to come from the 6yo daughter of Forty Niner. Since stepping up to stakes class, she has never been far from the winner, even in group class and has won 2 stakes from 6 attempts. J Bradley will hope that freddurst’s filly runs as well as her 2/1 price suggests and puts this beyond doubt with her strong late run.

Last but by no means least, is Deputy Danzig from stall 8. Jockeymax1’s five year old daughter of Deputy Minister is rated a 3/1 second best and while she rarely ventures into stakes races, she has notched up 14 wins from her 43 races. She is in cracking form, having only finished out of the top two on one occasion in her last eight runs. She regularly runs speeds in triple figures and jockey C Williams will be hoping for another here to ensure that she runs well. When she does run in stakes, she gives a god account of her self, and all connected with her will expect another.

All in all, a decent field for this test, with many of the runners having a fair shout. I’ll stick my neck out and suggest that Ant’s Honor will win, from Fluery with Oraka Okuba running third and beginning her stride up the ladder.