Mubtadi -Southwell
As soon as he missed the break Plan A went out of the window. In the circumstances he ran ok, travelling well before getting tired in the final furlong.
Liam Jones said that he needs gelding - if you saw the size of his balls you would agree - and though Ismail is adverse to doing this, he has agreed that it's the best way to go. It worked with Educate and hopefully it will with this fella. It will happen early next week
The track was ok - getting that much kickback it's hard to tell truly - but the idea will be to give him a few weeks to recover, drop him back to 7f and maybe go onto the Poltrack even though Southwell would also be a possibility.
Today was disappointing but there is a chance he will now drop another couple of pounds and the gelding operation will certainly help. He isn't one to lose faith in just yet.
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There is still plenty to come in the next few weeks. Alhaarth Beauty has a perfect draw in her maiden at Wolverhampton on Saturday. She is top-rated and, apart from a once-raced Tom Dascombe's colt, it doesn't look a strong event.She will also appreciate the 6f trip
Autumnus, an expensive purchase, will make his handicap debut sometime next week, either Wolverhampton or Southwell and will drop back in trip. Light Burst when we can get him in a race while Admiralty will be back in early December.
race planner and profiler for Ismail Mohammed, pundit on Timeform radio and Nottingham Forest fan
Thursday, 25 October 2012
Wednesday, 24 October 2012
Thoughts on Mubtadi at Southwell
Mubtadi 2.00
Southwell
It appears looking at the form that he has been
disappointing but there has been mitigating circumstances. He doesn’t like soft
ground ( I wasn’t doing the planning then) and when he ran at Redcar a downpour
in the morning resulted in the ground changing to good.
But the main reason for the run at Redcar was that he was
ill the next day. The upside is that the handicapper dropped him another 4lbs.
Thus meaning not only does he run off his lowest mark ever of 65 but also is
able to run in a 0-65 for the first time.
The surface will hold no terrors – his sire Dr Fong has
impressive strike rate at Southwell – and there will be a change of tactics.
The horse has been ridden differently at home (from the front) and that will be
the plan unless El Dececy or Elusive Warrior go off too fast.
Ismail doesn’t
presently have that many older horses in the yard to run – we have just 7 to
run over the winter with more arriving in January – so the criteria is that
each race has to be carefully planned. A 33% strike rate in September has been beaten
by 50% per cent rate in October is testimony.
It’s not a strong race and the horse has been working much
better with the likes of Light Burst (rated 80) in recent weeks. The drop in
grade will help a horse that has had problems but still has a touch of class
for this company.
News from Ismail Mohammed's yard
Now Ismail has started to increase his string and now that I do the race planning, race tactics and jockey bookings, I'm in a strong position to discuss the reasoning and chances of horses from the yard.
Mubtadi runs at Southwell on Thursday (preview of the race in the morning) and Alhaarth Beauty, a 72-rated filly from Richard Hannnon, runs a poor maiden at Wolverhampton on Saturday.
There will also be regular updates of horses' running plans, news of the new juveniles that continue to arrive at Revida Place and those that have left.
Wednesday, 7 March 2012
QPR documentary, an option for writing a book, rumours of Gold Cup fav, preview nights.
One of the most compelling pieces of television was shown on the BBC on Sunday QPR: The Four Year Plan. It was an amazing documentary of basically rich men buying a football club and trying to take it into the Promised Land.
It also showed that having money doesn’t necessarily mean you have manners as Chairman Flavio Briatore and sporting director Gianni Paladini (probably the vilest man seen on TV since Dirty Den) so ably demonstrated.
Iain Dowie, manager when the super-rich consortium took over in the 2008-2009 season, was ditched after 15 games – Briatore didn’t like him - caretaker Gareth Ainsworth ( “the prick in the dugout “) after losing a game, Paulo De Sousa (a F****** idiot) and Jim Magilton (useless prick) “for revealing club secrets” before eventually Neil Warnock took them into the “promised land”
By the time the Premiership was reached last season – and it was only confirmed on the final day after the threat of a point’s deduction – Briatore has taken a back seat (given updates by gofer Paladini) and left the day-to-day running of the club to Vice-chairman Amit Bhatia, probably the only likeable character.
I would strongly suggest, if you haven’t seen it, to catch it on the BBC I-Player. It is superb television and shows the pressures of running and even managing a football club.
There are two gems amongst a cluster of diamonds in the programme. Watch out for Briatore’s encounter with a fan outside the ground after he has been booed, it wouldn’t do justice to a seven-year-old, and Paladini’s reaction to a loss in the Directors’ Box. Priceless.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It has been a difficult week but there have been a few amusing incidents along the way. I had a marriage proposal on Monday (which I presumed was serious), an offer to work as a form analyst and to set up my own website, but the most intriguing one was the offer from a publisher to write a book about my life as an jockeys’ agent.
Would people really want to hear the story about Jason Weaver and an incident in a Wolverhampton nightclub, Kevin Darley and the eventful time in Melbourne or the real reason that Darryl Holland got the sack from Luca Cumani? Or Paul Carberry's antics with a broken leg?
Would that make a good read? ____________________________________________________________________________
I did find it amusing the panic that set in after Long Run began to drift in the market for the Gold Cup. Akin to news that there was going to be a bread shortage, people were trying desperately to glean information whether ‘rumours’ were true and even Ladbrokes stopped betting overnight.
Surely the only reason for the drift was the market re-adjusting itself with the news that Kauto Star, as seems likely given the upbeat bulletins coming from Ditcheat, is increasingly likely to take his place in the Gold Cup line-up. No?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cheltenham preview nights? Do people actually learn anything from them? I’m quite sure that they are a good craic but even as I’m writing this piece many trainers haven’t finalised plans for next week, many of their runners have numerous options.
I’m sure it’s a lucrative project for those on the circuit but most of the news tends to come out the day after a preview night, as was with Simonsig and Peddlers Cross. The Betfair market is more of a guide, as seems the case with Grands Crus.
David Pipe’s grey shortened to as low 6.8 for the Gold Cup but yesterday afternoon was back out to 11. Pipe has still to mention at any preview night what is the intended target is but the market is suggesting it will be the RSA, likely to be confirmed after Kauto Star works at Wincanton on Friday.`
It also showed that having money doesn’t necessarily mean you have manners as Chairman Flavio Briatore and sporting director Gianni Paladini (probably the vilest man seen on TV since Dirty Den) so ably demonstrated.
Iain Dowie, manager when the super-rich consortium took over in the 2008-2009 season, was ditched after 15 games – Briatore didn’t like him - caretaker Gareth Ainsworth ( “the prick in the dugout “) after losing a game, Paulo De Sousa (a F****** idiot) and Jim Magilton (useless prick) “for revealing club secrets” before eventually Neil Warnock took them into the “promised land”
By the time the Premiership was reached last season – and it was only confirmed on the final day after the threat of a point’s deduction – Briatore has taken a back seat (given updates by gofer Paladini) and left the day-to-day running of the club to Vice-chairman Amit Bhatia, probably the only likeable character.
I would strongly suggest, if you haven’t seen it, to catch it on the BBC I-Player. It is superb television and shows the pressures of running and even managing a football club.
There are two gems amongst a cluster of diamonds in the programme. Watch out for Briatore’s encounter with a fan outside the ground after he has been booed, it wouldn’t do justice to a seven-year-old, and Paladini’s reaction to a loss in the Directors’ Box. Priceless.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It has been a difficult week but there have been a few amusing incidents along the way. I had a marriage proposal on Monday (which I presumed was serious), an offer to work as a form analyst and to set up my own website, but the most intriguing one was the offer from a publisher to write a book about my life as an jockeys’ agent.
Would people really want to hear the story about Jason Weaver and an incident in a Wolverhampton nightclub, Kevin Darley and the eventful time in Melbourne or the real reason that Darryl Holland got the sack from Luca Cumani? Or Paul Carberry's antics with a broken leg?
Would that make a good read? ____________________________________________________________________________
I did find it amusing the panic that set in after Long Run began to drift in the market for the Gold Cup. Akin to news that there was going to be a bread shortage, people were trying desperately to glean information whether ‘rumours’ were true and even Ladbrokes stopped betting overnight.
Surely the only reason for the drift was the market re-adjusting itself with the news that Kauto Star, as seems likely given the upbeat bulletins coming from Ditcheat, is increasingly likely to take his place in the Gold Cup line-up. No?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cheltenham preview nights? Do people actually learn anything from them? I’m quite sure that they are a good craic but even as I’m writing this piece many trainers haven’t finalised plans for next week, many of their runners have numerous options.
I’m sure it’s a lucrative project for those on the circuit but most of the news tends to come out the day after a preview night, as was with Simonsig and Peddlers Cross. The Betfair market is more of a guide, as seems the case with Grands Crus.
David Pipe’s grey shortened to as low 6.8 for the Gold Cup but yesterday afternoon was back out to 11. Pipe has still to mention at any preview night what is the intended target is but the market is suggesting it will be the RSA, likely to be confirmed after Kauto Star works at Wincanton on Friday.`
Monday, 5 March 2012
For anybody that is remotely interested in why Kieren and I split..............................................................................................................
My association with Kieren came to an abrupt end on Saturday morning while sitting having a coffee at McDonalds and I would like to apologise once more to the woman who was treated to a volley of liquid.
I received the news via a text message at 9am. Stating that he was going to another agent because she was an old friend who was restarting as an agent –she gave up last year because she couldn’t hack it anymore. He thanked me for my efforts. That was it. No explanation.
Initially, I have to admit, I thought it was a joke, somebody had taken his phone and sent the message as a prank. It was only confirmation from Kirsty that I realised it was true.
Did I see it coming? No way. There had been no arguments, we had been planning for the new season. Kieren had finished third in the title, without backing from a major yard in terms of numbers, with 154 winners. He had 900 rides, 130 for different yards, and accrued around £2million in prize money.
I lost Shane Kelly and then Eddie Ahern, who admittedly needed a change after seven years, because of my commitment they felt I was giving to Kieren. They may have been right as winning the championship was the main priority and it nearly killed me.
Even my fiecest critics will agree that my record stands the closest scrutiny. I have produced a champion jockey, and a 2nd and a 3rd. In total, they have won over £10million in prize money. At least I can sympathise with Lee Clark and Gary Megson
Will I carry on being a jockeys agent? I’m not sure. You have no contract and, as I found out, you can be dropped without a seconds notice. What will I do next, if I don’t? I have no idea!!.
I received the news via a text message at 9am. Stating that he was going to another agent because she was an old friend who was restarting as an agent –she gave up last year because she couldn’t hack it anymore. He thanked me for my efforts. That was it. No explanation.
Initially, I have to admit, I thought it was a joke, somebody had taken his phone and sent the message as a prank. It was only confirmation from Kirsty that I realised it was true.
Did I see it coming? No way. There had been no arguments, we had been planning for the new season. Kieren had finished third in the title, without backing from a major yard in terms of numbers, with 154 winners. He had 900 rides, 130 for different yards, and accrued around £2million in prize money.
I lost Shane Kelly and then Eddie Ahern, who admittedly needed a change after seven years, because of my commitment they felt I was giving to Kieren. They may have been right as winning the championship was the main priority and it nearly killed me.
Even my fiecest critics will agree that my record stands the closest scrutiny. I have produced a champion jockey, and a 2nd and a 3rd. In total, they have won over £10million in prize money. At least I can sympathise with Lee Clark and Gary Megson
Will I carry on being a jockeys agent? I’m not sure. You have no contract and, as I found out, you can be dropped without a seconds notice. What will I do next, if I don’t? I have no idea!!.
Monday, 27 February 2012
Kerton v Milczarek. How a cheat escapes a ban while the other cops a 24-month suspension..........................
Inconsistency. The very word suggests some sort of injustice. Injustice is exactly how, I would imagine, Kirsty Milczarek must be presently feeling as she digests the news about Charlotte Kerton.
Ms Kerton was found guilty last week of stopping two horses, Trip Switch and Timeteam. Four others involved were handed bans of at least three years, while trainer George Prodromou was warned off for eight. Yet, Kerton, apart from not being able to apply for a licence for six years, has got off seemingly scot free.
This is the same Kerton - whose ability was moderate at best - who originally denied the charge, blaming period pains. She changed her story at the inquiry. However, she can still set foot on any racecourse, ride work for any stable and, if so deemed, could still ride abroad.
Contrast that with Milczarek, banned for 24 months in December for her ride on Obo Gold at Lingfield in 2009. She was found guilty of passing on information even though the Disciplinary Panel found her not guilty of failing to obtain the best possible placing.
Milczarek is not allowed within 100 yards of any racecourse, can't work in a racing yard and thus denied doing a job she loves and has done all her life
Cynics have suggested she is being punished for being the girlfriend of Kieren Fallon, who has had numerous brushes with the authorities. Yet, apart from his 18-month drug ban, Fallon has never been convicted for corruption, despite what Chinese Whispers would have you believe.
Kerton's decision is almost more amazing than the one involving Fergal Lynch, who brokered a deal with the BHA in 2009, paid £50,000 in order not to be banned from riding anywhere apart from Britain. This from a jockey that admitted stopping a horse for money.
Lynch went to America, earned a tidy sum through being leading rider at Philadelphia, had a brief sojourn being arriving back in Ireland where he continues to ply his trade.
Lynch has since applied for a licence to ride again in Britain which is apparently under review.
It seems that Milczarek, who has always denied the charge, would have been better saying she was guilty - after the 'punishments' dished out to Lynch and Kerton, there is every chance she would still have a licence.
Inconsistency in football could cost a team a point or two, in cricket a wicket. In the case of Milczarek it's potentially her career as there is no guarantee the BHA will grant her a licence when her suspension ends.
Ms Kerton was found guilty last week of stopping two horses, Trip Switch and Timeteam. Four others involved were handed bans of at least three years, while trainer George Prodromou was warned off for eight. Yet, Kerton, apart from not being able to apply for a licence for six years, has got off seemingly scot free.
This is the same Kerton - whose ability was moderate at best - who originally denied the charge, blaming period pains. She changed her story at the inquiry. However, she can still set foot on any racecourse, ride work for any stable and, if so deemed, could still ride abroad.
Contrast that with Milczarek, banned for 24 months in December for her ride on Obo Gold at Lingfield in 2009. She was found guilty of passing on information even though the Disciplinary Panel found her not guilty of failing to obtain the best possible placing.
Milczarek is not allowed within 100 yards of any racecourse, can't work in a racing yard and thus denied doing a job she loves and has done all her life
Cynics have suggested she is being punished for being the girlfriend of Kieren Fallon, who has had numerous brushes with the authorities. Yet, apart from his 18-month drug ban, Fallon has never been convicted for corruption, despite what Chinese Whispers would have you believe.
Kerton's decision is almost more amazing than the one involving Fergal Lynch, who brokered a deal with the BHA in 2009, paid £50,000 in order not to be banned from riding anywhere apart from Britain. This from a jockey that admitted stopping a horse for money.
Lynch went to America, earned a tidy sum through being leading rider at Philadelphia, had a brief sojourn being arriving back in Ireland where he continues to ply his trade.
Lynch has since applied for a licence to ride again in Britain which is apparently under review.
It seems that Milczarek, who has always denied the charge, would have been better saying she was guilty - after the 'punishments' dished out to Lynch and Kerton, there is every chance she would still have a licence.
Inconsistency in football could cost a team a point or two, in cricket a wicket. In the case of Milczarek it's potentially her career as there is no guarantee the BHA will grant her a licence when her suspension ends.
Sunday, 26 February 2012
Lionel Messi - the best player ever?............................................................
I'm rapidly approaching my half century and I have seen a lot of top footballers in my time. I marvelled at the skills of Johan Cruyff and Pele in the 70s, watched open-jawed at the dribbling ability of Maradona in the 1986 World Cup.
Michael Platini bedazzled me with his sublime passing and movement while Paul Gascoigne, for a while, along with George Best, could also be classed as a world class from these shores. Yet, if you moulded all those players into one, they still wouldn't trump Lionel Messi.
Superlatives have dried up to describe the 24-year-old. His goal that sealed the game for Barcelona against Atletico Madrid on Sunday (please find it on You Tube) should have already clinched Goal of the Season in La Liga. It takes a lot, and thankfully I was on my own, for me to stand up and applaud.
Incredibly, some sections of the media have suggested that the Argentinian can't be described as the best ever until his National side win a major event. Utter nonsense. Messi has unbelievable close control, dribbling ability and can finish with the coolness of an asssasin.
In the big games Messi has also delivered. That's more than can be said about his current rival for best footballer on the planet, Ronaldo. The Real Madrid striker has scored more goals in La Liga but has gone missing in the important games.
Real Madrid will win the title this season as their squad has more depth than Barcelona and are likely to dominant the Spanish Premier Division for the next few years as Barcelona bed in their youngsters to take over eventually from the old guard of Alves, Xavi, Puyol and co.
Messi, voted FIFA’s Ballon d'Or for the past three years, will be around for the new era and has the time to rewrite the record books to a level never to be surpassed. The greatest ever? I'll let you decide
Michael Platini bedazzled me with his sublime passing and movement while Paul Gascoigne, for a while, along with George Best, could also be classed as a world class from these shores. Yet, if you moulded all those players into one, they still wouldn't trump Lionel Messi.
Superlatives have dried up to describe the 24-year-old. His goal that sealed the game for Barcelona against Atletico Madrid on Sunday (please find it on You Tube) should have already clinched Goal of the Season in La Liga. It takes a lot, and thankfully I was on my own, for me to stand up and applaud.
Incredibly, some sections of the media have suggested that the Argentinian can't be described as the best ever until his National side win a major event. Utter nonsense. Messi has unbelievable close control, dribbling ability and can finish with the coolness of an asssasin.
In the big games Messi has also delivered. That's more than can be said about his current rival for best footballer on the planet, Ronaldo. The Real Madrid striker has scored more goals in La Liga but has gone missing in the important games.
Real Madrid will win the title this season as their squad has more depth than Barcelona and are likely to dominant the Spanish Premier Division for the next few years as Barcelona bed in their youngsters to take over eventually from the old guard of Alves, Xavi, Puyol and co.
Messi, voted FIFA’s Ballon d'Or for the past three years, will be around for the new era and has the time to rewrite the record books to a level never to be surpassed. The greatest ever? I'll let you decide
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