Richard Hannon: “Soft ground is ideal for Gisburn”

NEWMARKET

1:10

Captains Bar (Ryan Moore)

He showed a great attitude to win at Haydock last time and looked as though he was crying out for a step up in trip so a stiff seven furlongs here will be right up his street and he won’t mind the ground. This is his first run in a Handicap and he could be potentially well treated off 81 with further improvement expected.

 

1:45

Dukebox (Ryan Moore)

I thought he ran well enough at Haydock last time when he was probably a little ring rusty so I’d expect him to be much sharper here and the step up to ten furlongs should be a plus. He’s always been a smart horse and he should have no problems with the ground, having won on good to soft at Newbury.

Foden (Rossa Ryan)

He actually ran very well last week in the big sales race behind what could end up to be a very good horse. We’re obviously taking a big step up in trip but he’s a relaxed horse who takes his work well so has every chance of getting the distance, but does obviously need to improve significantly.

 

2:20

Tacarib Bay (Pat Dobbs)

He showed a gutsy attitude to win at Haydock on debut despite running quite green and he has improved plenty since then. The step up in distance should suit and he’s a colt we like a lot but are under no illusions as to the task he faces, but if he can run a nice race and finish in the money we’ll be happy.

 

YORK

1:30

Desert Angel (Sean Levey)

He seems to have been revitalised since we put a set of blinkers on him and I thought he put up a very good performance at Newmarket last time. He’s now up to 88 so has to pull out even more but is in great shape and home and takes his racing well so we’re going again.

Oh Herberts Reign (Dane O’Neill)

He ran well in a big sales race here at the Ebor meeting but the step up to a mile will hopeful help and the ground will be fine.

Hapap (Hollie Doyle)

He’s quite a buzzy colt who can get worked up but ran his best race last time at Goodwood when he probably should have won had he not hung across the track. I’m hoping the step back down to a mile will help and he has a decent each way shout if things go his way.

 

2:02

Gisburn (Sean Levey)

We went into the Coventry quite confident of a big run but the ground was much too quick for him and he jarred himself up quite badly so it’s take a while to get him back, primarily because we wanted to give him plenty of time because he’s a nice colt for the future. The soft ground here will absolutely perfect and I’m very confident of a big show.

Witch Hunter (Dane O’Neill)

Ultimately he’s not done quite what we expected. However, he obviously needed his first run at Newbury but still went down by a neck and then he got stuck behind a wall of horses at Salisbury last time and Ryan had nowhere to go so had to sit and suffer. That was disappointing but showed that he is a very smart colt and I won’t be one bit surprised if he shows what I know he’s capable of after two very eyecatching (and arguably unlucky) runs in defeat.

 

3:50

Elsals (Dane O’Neill)

He’s a very smart colt by Havana Gold who we’ve taken our time with and things have really started to click with him of late. He’s up against horses that have had a run, and he will come on for this as well, but he’s pretty good and will put up a good show.