FALLING AT THE FINAL HURDLE

Ben Morgan didn't have the best of luck in the home straight this month

- Ben Morgan

A carefully planned early finish at work during Winter months normally ties in with a race meeting at my local track, Ludlow, and I managed to sneak off there again at the start of my punting month.

I enjoy being able to stand, in my own peace of mind, on the side of the parade ring and take everything in. It’s amazing what you can pick up from just watching and listening from that position and although I wouldn’t confess to being a natural horseman, I’ve picked up enough down the years to understand what a ‘fit’ horse looks like and more importantly what ‘confident’ connections look like.

I was keen on a couple unexposed novices going into the day and if you were to tell me before the first race that none of them were to win I would have offered you long odds.

Norman Fletcher seemed to have a penalty kick in the opening novice hurdle but Henry Daly unleashed promising novice Wyenot and he showed a good bit of stamina to power past Nigel Twiston-Davies charge late on.

After that I certainly expected the well-supported, expensive Itack Blue to do the business in Division 2. However, he ran like a horse who has severe wind problems as he bombed out on his first start AFTER a wind op.

Baby Sage very nearly made it on my ten-to-follow list this year but just missed out, however, I didn’t expect her to miss out here. Unfortunately, she unshipped at the first and strong market vibes meant very little in the end.