Sand Stormers: La Capriosa to land the spoils on Thursday

Sand Stormers / Paul Smith / 01 February 2012 / Leave a Comment

Southwell is the venue for this week's Sand Stormers nap.

"The run was surely too bad to be true given her previous progressive profile and hopefully something will come to light – she wouldn’t be the first filly to run inexplicably badly – and she gets another chance......."

Paul Smith is back with his weekly round-up of the action on the All Weather.

I suspected Pearl Rebel's win at Kempton on the 12th of January would be strong form. I also liked the way Chambles kept on from off the pace and thought she would be worth following in a lower grade.

The first part of the prophecy seems to have come true, with fourth-placed Chapellerie winning next time and fifth-placed Words Come Easy also going in on her next start. Even the tailed-off Jawking ran well next time.

Unfortunately, the second part of the plan ran into a brick wall with Chambles running a lifeless race in the face of what looked a really good opening at Lingfield, never travelling and well beaten at the line.

The run was surely too bad to be true given her previous progressive profile and hopefully something will come to light - she wouldn't be the first filly to run inexplicably badly - and she gets another chance.

The same can't be said of Clear Praise, who ran another stinker. He had his optimum conditions but refused to settle and never landed a blow. That was the second successive start in which he had raced too freely and he can't be backed for now until proving more tractable.

Steelcut did manage to reach the frame on tough terms in a claimer on Friday and he has the ability to go close in the same grade on Thursday (14.20).

There are two concerns this time though - there doesn't look a strong pace on the cards and, for me, Richard Evans claiming 3lb wouldn't be as good as Matthew Cosham taking off 5lb. The latter is obviously subjective but Evans only had 59 rides in the whole of 2011 and can't be as sharp as someone riding on a daily basis.

There were a few possible additions to the list this week - I thought Whaileyy was hugely impressive at Kempton and was well worth his place in a higher grade, but there was talk about him running over 7f next time and he looks a natural sprinter to me.

Swinger ran much better than the beaten distance of 14.5 lengths would suggest at Southwell and he travelled very strongly up with the pace for a long way. The trouble with putting him in now is that much will depend on how the handicapper views his debut effort - he is likely to do a lot better in that sphere though.

I don't follow the jumps as closely as the Flat but I did think Eurhythmic ran well enough in a Lingfield maiden last week to think that his mark of 74 over hurdles might be able to be exploited on better ground in the coming months though.

Jim Old doesn't have the string he once did, and the fact that Eurhythmic was a 50-1 poke despite a BHA rating of 76 on the Flat clearly suggests he doesn't retain all the ability he once had in Ireland. That said, he will be eligible for some utterly dreadful handicap hurdles and might not be a lost cause.

The one I plumped for in the end was Lastkingofscotland, who ran a cracker from the front in a Wolverhampton handicap on Monday. A horse with 60 Flat runs could hardly be described as progressive, but he has been in good form of late and this was a fine run in a race in which he had to go very hard to get the lead.

The horses to finish around him were all held up in the early stages and he did enough to think his current mark wasn't beyond him. He certainly doesn't have to lead - in fact, it probably cost him on Monday - but there are umpteen races for a horse like him and he ought to go in again in the short term.

He's got an entry at Wolverhampton on Monday (15.55) and would need serious consideration.

La Capriosa has been coming to the boil this winter and she ran well having had plenty of use made of her over 6f on her last start.

She drops into a 0-65 at her preferred track and over her optimum trip and she looks worth an interest in the 13.30 at Southwell on Thursday, all the more so with the excellent Raul Da Silva taking the ride for the first time.

As 0-65 handicaps go, this isn't a bad one, but it is exactly the sort of race I would have hoped to see her in and she can end her losing streak here.

Sand Stormers NAP
La Capriosa (13.30 Southwell, Thursday)

LIST OF HORSES TO FOLLOW
Aiaam Al Wafa (likely big improver when switched to handicaps (27/10))
Adorable Choice (underrated filly who did well to last as long as she did at Newbury (21/10))
Bond Fastrac (still well handicapped on old form and good second at Nottingham (11/10))
Chambles (going the right way and latest third (12/1) better than it looks)
Flag Of Glory (shaped nicely on first run for Peter Hiatt (27/10); can do better)
Forever's Girl (best of those held up (10/11), return to 6f, Polytrack a plus)
George Guru (lightly raced and still on the up; poor draw (2/11))
Glastonberry (stuck to the inside (7/1) and still open to improvement)
Global Village (did well to make up as much ground as he did (2/1))
Greek Islands (looked worth upping in trip (12/10))
Incomparable (looks ready to strike when dropped back to 5f)
Intransigent (related to smart AW performer and promise on debut (10/10))
Kames Park (no chance the way he was ridden in slowly run race (12/10))
La Capriosa (forced an overly strong pace over the wrong trip (8/1))
Lastkingofscotland (big effort from the front in a strongly run race (30/1))
Priestley's Reward (ran best race so far when second on All Weather debut (22/10))
Showboating (good effort in slowly run race (14/1))
Steelcut (best of those held up at Lingfield (7/1))
Wrapped Up (no chance from a wide draw last time (18/11); still unexposed)