Richard Fahey: Roll with the punches
Richard Fahey assesses the chances of his team on the second day of the St Leger meeting.
Last Updated: 11/09/13 4:46pm
You have to learn to live with plenty of disappointments in racing, but even so it was frustrating to see Garswood miss the break at Haydock on Saturday.
We don't really know what might have happened if he hadn't done it as he was finishing strongly on the heels of the placed horses. But he hadn't done anything like it previously at Goodwood, so we'll kick on and get him ready for Longchamp.
Switcher ran really well at York last time and we're going for some black type in the Sceptre Stakes on Thursday but she's probably biting off more than she can chew looking at the ratings of those that she's up against.
She's in good form at the moment but needs a best-ever performance to go close. Rain will suit her.
We've three in the Weatherbys Hamilton Insurance sales race and as there's prize money down to 10th place, they will all be trying to pick up a payout for their owners even if they aren't quite good enough.
Khalice is a filly in form and although I don't think she's quite up to beating some of these rivals, you never know where they might go when a filly like her gets on a roll. I think she's probably our best chance.
I had quite high hopes for Regiment but he ran no race at all at Goodwood. We were scratching our heads until four days after the race we identified some muscles that he had pulled and he's had treatment since. He's fine again now but could just need the run more than some others.
Foxy Clarets was eighth in another of these races at York, picking up seven grand, and the hope is that he can do something similar here. He's a likeable sort of horse, although he was a bit disappointing at Sandown most recently.
Come On Sunshine makes his debut in the one-mile maiden but I can't offer much encouragement. His dam was Tagula Sunrise, one of our favourites, but he doesn't seem to have inherited much of his mum's speed. In fact, he's shown us very little. Let's hope he can surprise us.
I'm a bit annoyed about Arctic Feeling being drawn in stall one in the Download Ladbrokes Handicap because I thought he had a bit of a chance, but I'd be surprised if he can win from the one box because they have tended to come stands' side all season.
Maybe he'll go winging down the far rail and prove me wrong, but I was definitely hoping for a double-figure draw as he has been showing me positive signs recently.