One of those weekends

Having looked forward to the Lincoln Handicap at Doncaster for weeks, I am afraid it proved a huge anti-climax with the ante-post selections failing to trouble the judge. There were no excuses on the day with the ground seemingly in both runners favour - they weren't good enough, although I suspect both horses will be running over further in future. Unfortunately, the bad luck continued on Sunday with King of Earth and Siam Ruby suffering narrow defeats - both were advised in the Cheltenham Festival Update as horses to look out and they went down by a neck and short head respectively. One thing the two day meeting on Town Moor confirmed is why I don't rush to get Ahead on The Flat published beforehand. It rarely has much of a bearing of the big races later in the season and is invariably a bookmakers benefit. 

Then, to provide the icing on the cake, Mojito Des Mottes (25/1) failed by a neck to reel in King Al in the valuable juvenile handicap hurdle at Ascot. Ben Pauling's runner-up is featured in the French Revolution section of One Jump Ahead and has improved with each run since arriving from across the English Channel last summer. Racing off a mark of 114, the strapping son of Clovis Du Berlais has benefited from wind surgery and came home strongly. His future lies over fences and is an interesting prospect for the future.