Good Morning,

£3 Discount: Paul Ferguson's Jumpers To Follow

The highs of horse racing, as a fan or an owner, I find it hard to match, it's a buzz that keeps us coming back for more, but the down days, of which there are plenty, can be hard to stomach at times! Sir Canford is fine which is the main thing, but i'll touch on Plumpton's debacle shortly, including the odd 'eye-catcher'.

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But first...

Paul Ferguson's 'Jumpers to Follow' book is for many an essential read ahead of, and during, the main winter jumps season.

I've got a unique discount code for you, worth £3 (every little helps!), which gets you a discount off the print, digital edition or print/digital bundle.

To get a taster...

You can read a FREE 25 page mini version HERE >>>

If you like the look of that, you can find the full book/digital options by clicking HERE >>>

And use my £3 discount code at checkout: rtpjtf23

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Looking back at Plumpton...

Well, the sun shone, the company was great as always, and Sir Canford came home safe, and I should never begrudge those positives. If that's a bad day at the races, I'll take it. But evidently it didn't get much better than that!

Sir Canford - some of our eagle eyed owners watching at home spotted that he was kicked by Cherry Cola, just before the tapes went up. To my eye it didn't look like much but the next morning he was sore on that back right leg, and maybe he was feeling that when asked by Sam to pick up the bridle. He certainly jumped the first couple as if feeling something, very big at the second in particular. He'll be fine in a couple of days and as he didn't have a race, he was hardly blowing, he'll be out asap.

However, we could well be looking for excuses there, as the immediate reaction from Sam was that the horse didn't want to know, and we should be concerned, as it could be that he's woken up post Uttoxeter's win and decided he doesn't want to do it anymore. I do struggle to get my head around the idea of a horse winning three starts back, travelling smoothly and trying really hard after 2 out to win, to then never wanting to do it again. But maybe that effort took him to a place he doesn't wish to return to. Who knows! He's had his injury problems in the past and maybe he's had enough. We've leased him for 6 months, until the end of October, and he's got x2 runs to see if he can return to Uttoxeter's levels of performance. He was working well beforehand, and hopefully it was all down to that kick, we shall see. We've had some fun with him, but does he still want to do it? He deserves another chance or two.

Looking ahead for some 'eye-catchers'...

Well Sir Cs 3.10... Aviewofthestars improved those Fergal O'Brien Plumpton stats I shared - this horse was backed in from 14s>5s overnight, before drifting back out on the day, lightly raced and evidently transformed for a switch of yards. This did look a competitive 0-105 on paper beforehand, and maybe the form is solid enough for the grade, for all better 'winter' horses will start coming out soon. But decent 'summer form'.

Rebel Intentions - Lavelle's 6Yo backed up his winning run from LTO for me, showing that the wind op had worked and he could be consistent - his win was over a more galloping 2m5f and I think he found this trip sharp enough at this track, especially coming down the hill. He stayed on well after the last, having looked like he'd be well stuffed, and they could find a 0-100 for him, 2m5f+ (or a stiffer track) for him to bag another win.

Harry Redknapp paid £150k or so for Icare Grandchamp and they'd have been hoping he was better than a 105 handicapper when spending that amount. He's a half brother to a Grade1 winner but doesn't appear to have received many of those genes as yet! He did look a big brute in the parade ring and should be better for a fence in time, in theory. He's still a big baby who hasn't settled down and hopefully he can reward connections at some point. He could look well handicapped one day, maybe when chasing?

I didn't do well with pokes of course, for all x2 of them were speculative 20s pokes who didn't run that well, not much damage done thankfully. Imperial Alex was disappointing and weak enough in the market - he jumped fine, didn't look in love with the course, and maybe found this happening quick enough at times. I hope we'll see a better horse next time with this under his belt, over further and a more galloping track maybe. His hurdle efforts and overall profile suggest there should be a weak chase in him off 92. King of Story was moving well when badly hampered by Gambie Tiep, who was travelling like the winner, but then Tamaris hadn't been asked and did look on great terms with himself pre race. That race may throw up another winner or two, at their level.

Our Champ was one for the Chris Gordon/Rex Dingle stats, who made a morning 7/2 look quite generous, not that I was on of course! A trainer/jockey combo to note and worth noting that Chris Gordon has evidently got them fit at home, if wanted. Worth noting for those who last races in March/April, such as him. It can take a trainer 12-14 weeks to get a horse race fit after a holiday, esp if they had a full 2 months off over the summer. He may well have been back in training the start of August, but was plenty fit enough.

I'm not sure how many horses Paul Henderson had when he stopped training, and this one had some ok form for him, but if you've got a HRB account or other system software, you could set up a system that will flag horses who had their last start for him, and making debut for a new handler. I'd be surprised if Our Champ is the last horse to improve a bundle for a change of yards. Get Back Get Back ran ok, maybe needs his mark to come down a bit, 122 looks his mark, and could have done for a stronger pace. I suspect Harry Fry will find something for him at Plumpton but he doesn't want the ground worse that Good to Soft.

My Nap Line of Descent nearly halved in price, but only ran so-so. I'm not sure he liked the course, struggled with the fences when attacking them running downhill, and probably found this sharp enough which was the fear. Based on his Southwell 2m4f win, I'd like to think there's another chase in him from 110, maybe back over further, and back at that course. No doubt I'll never catch him right! That was 'ok form'.

One of those days all round! It was mediocre racing generally and it generally paid to focus on the top of the market this time (urgh) but if you like your stats, do note those I shared as they found two winners on the day at Plumpton, and will point to plenty more in time.

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Don't forget, Paul Ferguson's fantastic jumps bible...

To get a taster...

You can read a FREE 25 page mini version HERE >>>

If you like the look of that, you can find the full book/digital options by clicking HERE >>>

And use my £3 discount code at checkout: rtpjtf23

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Thanks for reading,

Josh