Equinties - David and Goliath

Gm Equinauts

Every one knows of the story of David and Goliath -the tale of an unassuming shepherd name David, who, armed with only a sling and stones, bravely stepped up to fight the monster-sized Philistine warrior, Goliath, when every one else was too afraid.

The rest is history, if you believe in such things…you wouldn’t have heard of the story had Goliath won!

There are many real life David and Goliath stories in life, namely us versus the nasty bookies, and today, Salisbury plays host to another!

The 15.00 Listed Stonehenge Stakes see only three runs line up for Listed honours and headlines are focused on Aidan O’Brien’s THE PARTHENON - an extremely rare Salisbury runner for racing’s ‘Goliath’, Ballydoyle, who are chasing the £5m prize money mark. THE PARTHENON is 6/5 to win.

Enter David.

Now, we’re not exactly calling Charlie Fellowes a young Shepherd but it’s fair to say the young and up and coming trainer is no Aidan O’Brien and certainly doesn’t have the firepower like him. Still, he has bravely confirmed his intention in the race by entering his ‘David’ in LUTHER, his unbeaten 3yo by FRANKEL.

Could LUTHER be the stone to smite the skull housing the biggest racing brain in the world!?

We think so. He’s already won for us so owes us nothing and we’ll side with David today!

The three horse line up is completed by NEW CENTURY for Andrew Balding and Oisin Murphy who both are well versed in such battles.

Good luck, Charlie and LUTHER - every one loves the under dog!

Let’s dive in.

HEADLINE ROUNDUP

MORE MENUISIER

David Menuisier has had a muddling season. Behind his smile for camera you might find gritted teeth, perhaps seething over the thought of what a better season he should have had. When racing fans will be quick to forget about several poor rides on his lower level horses, his win tally won’t but it’s the big occasion’s David might be stewing over.

Arguably he should have won the 1000 Guineas with TAMFANA (check the green hat):

He’s placed in several Group 1s this season and his form currently is solid with five winners from 13 recent runners.

The Frenchman is looking to make amends at the top, skipping the York Ebor Festival in order to target the Autumn with SUNWAY, DEVIL’S POINT, CAIUS CHORISTER and more all swerving the Knavesmire for later dates.

He said: "Sunway is preparing for the St Leger and who knows what else after that. We can’t fight every battle. You have to choose your battles to win the war. Caius Chorister will probably be targeted for the Prix de Royallieu. It’s very unlikely she’ll end up in the Ebor.

"None of them will meet their engagements at York next week, so I’m not sure how many will be going there. They will target the autumn. Devil’s Point, Sunway, Tamfana, War Chimes, Sirona and most of them will have targets later on in the year."

This makes a lot of sense from Menuisier. SUNWAY could take on the Great Voltigeur, but why not give him a break (after five runs this season) and then bring him back fresh for the Leger, a Classic.

It does look like he could have one interesting runner at York, though.

"I might have a nice one to send to the Melrose in Master Builder as long as the ground is on the slow side or good at the worst. I’m not sure about that though.

"He’s a nice horse. I'd prefer to take my time with him, but he'll run in the Melrose off 85 depending on the ground. That’ll be quite a favourable mark for him should he stay the distance."

BIG MOJO

We love BIG EVS, so that means we should love BIG MOJO, right? Although they’re not related, with almost the same name, same silks, and same race planning - it’s as if they were separated at birth!

He landed the Group 3 Molecomb Stakes at long odds and his trainer thinks he could well be as good as his Group 1-winning stablemate.

Mick Appleby, for all he loves conquering Wolves, has really turned a corner with the quality of animal in his stable and now, he has his eyes on next week’s Group 2 Gimcrack Stakes for the improving two-year-old.

He said: "I think he should be fine at six furlongs, there's no reason why not. The Molecomb was a hot race, and York's a pretty easy six so it should be fine for him."

If that York assignment goes well form him, he could well take up his entry in the Middle Park Stakes and emulate BIG EVS by winning a juvenile Group 1.

That would be quite something for the Rutland trainer.

A LOOK AHEAD

We like Newbury, so this week, we are going to preview the 7f handicap at 15.00 on Saturday. Despite the rain, at the time of writing, it’s quick with a fairly dry forecast so we’ll look at the race on the basis the ground will be on the quicker side of good.

There are some nice horses in this race looking to secure the £25,770 winning pot and it’s Racing League winner PEDRO VALENTINO who heads the market.

His last run was a winning one in the first week of the Racing League and the fourth, YANTARNI, nearly won at the Shergar Cup on Saturday.

He’s progressive, likes seven furlongs and will handle the ground.

AWAAL is prominent in the market and is another who likes seven furlongs, and while a mark of 100 is useful, he may prefer softer ground compared to a quick surface.

QIRAT is an unexposed three-year-old who has tried three handicaps this year, winning one. That victory came at Goodwood when he beat AL SHABAB STORM. The runner-up has improved 17lbs since and QIRAT is only 4lbs higher, so he could be well-handicapped still.

UNITED APPROACH has has just five runs at his age of four which is rather interesting. His seasonal reappearance came at Newbury when he finished fourth to LETHAL LEVI and RUMSTAR. The former was second in the Bunbury Cup and the latter was a big eye-catcher from the Stewards’ Cup, so that form looks solid.

WALEEFY has a big reputation for one huge reason; he is a half-brother to BAAEED.

A few of BAAEED’s relations have taken time to wind themselves up, a little bit like BAAEED himself, but he seems to be improving at a rate of knots at the age of three, so he could really be anything off 87 but he’ll need to improve as his form doesn’t quite stack up.

Two more three-year-olds that are worth mentioning are ZABRISKIE POINT and STARLORE. The former has dropped to a mark of 89 which looks good based on his form with STARLUST, and Charlie Hills has always thought plenty of him.

As for the latter, he is a well-bred Juddmonte colt who won on debut, and has then failed to win on his next five outings.

He’s come in for a bit of money so far as he is 8/1 from 12/1, though a mark of 97 could be a touch too big based on what he has done.

Verdict: Cox has a very good record in this race and we think, given the form the horse is in, PEDRO VALENTINO will be bang there in the places if not winning it. The most interesting horse in the race however might be SPANGLED MAC who won the race last year. The handicapper hasn’t let up much (he’ll run off 4lbs higher) but he did it easily enough last year even after having a torrid time of things in running, suggesting the extra weight might not be an issue! 12/1 is a speccy poke in the trust he’s been targeted for the race.

RISK ON

Fave’s day for us but they’re faves for a reason…

14.15 PROSPERITAS

Trainer in good form and this horse is the best bred in the race with good debut form behind him. Should be hard to beat in this company today. 11/4 a good bet.

17.25 ELWATEEN

Vibes strong that this girl is pretty smart and one of bin Suroor’s best he’s had for a while. First time out with Stoutes the danger so a standard play at 11/10. Could be the fc with Stoutes?

17.55 THE EYES HAVE IT

Looked very, very good on debut and shouldn’t be beaten today.

15/1 treble on the above.

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