Chris Dixon's Notes And Angles: Stone Soldier could be last of a kind

There were some noteworthy performances on the track this week, not least the demolition job dished out by Chatham Street Lad in the Caspian Caviar Gold Cup at Cheltenham on Saturday and on the same card the frustrating yet talented Sky Pirate finally clicking as the combination of a shorter trip and strong gallop helped him end a losing sequence stretching back to June 2018.

The novice performance that stood out for me was away from the big tracks at the weekend, though, as I was really impressed by Boothill at Taunton on Thursday.

The winner on a Kempton bumper in February, he beat some useful horses well that day, and could hardly have been more impressive in making a winning hurdles debut on his first start since. Always travelling well, he quickened smartly to win a time over three seconds faster than the first division and looks like a horse who can make his mark at a higher level.

If those performances, along with the success of Big Country at Chelmsford on Thursday provided the highlights of the past week, the low point was the news that Southwell will be switching from their fibresand surface to Tapeta next year.

I understand that racing at Southwell isn’t for everyone and many leading trainers wouldn’t entertain the idea of running their horses there, but it does serve a purpose in providing a different sort of test to any other track in Britian.

In a country where the diversity of tracks and conditions horses can run under makes things interesting, it’s a shame to lose one of those unique tests so although I think Southwell will be a tremendous track once the new surface is down, it’s still a disappointment.

So, the days of the fibresand specialist are coming to an end, but there’s a chance this winter for another horse to build up a tremendous record at the track and I think Archie Watson’s Stone Soldier could be that horse, so for this week’s racingtv.com tracker horses, we’ll start with him.

The progeny of Mayson have a good record on the fibresand and the latest of his stock to win at the track was Stone Soldier who bolted up in a good time last Tuesday.

Making his first start for Archie Watson, he tanked through the race, looking a natural on the surface and proved well ahead of his mark to produce a career-best performance. He’s entered under a penalty on Friday and will be very hard to beat if in the same form, while there’s a good programme of races for a horse with his rating at the track early in the new year and he looks the type who could run up a sequence on the fibresand.

A 28-1 shot at the off, it seems little was expected from Stormy Flight at Taunton on Thursday but he knocked the eye out with the way he shaped and looks a well handicapped horse.

Dropped out early at a track where it’s often difficult to make ground, he made east and eye-catching progress out wide around the turn for home but still had plenty to do as they levelled up. Not asked for maximum effort until after the last, he charged home to take third, crossing the line with plenty in the tank and is well up to winning race soon.

A small field novice on a Thursday night at Chelmsford isn’t sure to be filled with interesting horses for the future among those beaten but the race won by Sabousi there last week did appear to be.

A messy race in which they went a steady pace with the odds-on winner dictating, you couldn’t get carried away with the bare form, but I think both the horses in second and third are of interest.

Runner-up Glide Down appears to lack a bit of tactical pace and was held up here so the run of the race was against him, but once in full flight he ran on well and will benefit from a step up in trip as he moves into handicaps.

The third, Coldstream, also looks a handicap project and won’t be of obvious interest on his qualifying run next time, but he looks the type to do well as a 3yo when he goes up in trip given his pedigree and the way he shaped here.

Although the yard haven’t had too many runners Caroline Bailey’s horses have been quiet since the jumps season kicked into gear but there’s signs that could change soon and Boldmere could be one to find his way into the winners enclosure soon.

A steady improver last term, he’s yet to find his best in three starts this season but he’s dropped 5lbs in the handicap as a result and went well for a long way (appeared to be going best as they turned into the straight) at Doncaster on Saturday.

The race probably turned into a bit more of a stamina test than he ideally wants and a tired mistake at the second last meant he was beaten further than might have been the case and I suspect he’s in better form than the bare result implies.

Carey Street has only managed to get his head in front once so far and that was well over two years ago so he’s not a horse to be getting carried away with but he’s looked in good form in two starts since joining Linda Stubbs and was better than the bare result at Wolverhampton on Saturday.

Only collared late on having forced a good gallop, he did too much in front but that won’t always be the case and he may benefit from a drop back to the 8.5f trip at the same track where after a 1lb rise he’s still eligible for some weak races.

Bushypark has taken of in handicaps this winter and gained a fourth win on the spin at Doncaster last Friday in a race that looks strong form for the grade. The front two pulled clear in a novices handicap that featured a number of unexposed horses with the potential do better. The time of the race was good for the grade and the first five home are all worth a second-look at a similar level in the near future.

### Every excuse

I usually go for a horse who’s been turned over at a short price in this section but I’m going for one who was solid but not short in the market on her latest start.

Annie Rose only beat one home in the nursery at Newcastle on Saturday but had looked on a fair mark going into the race based on her previous all-weather form.

Drawn on the wing in stall 1, she dived left away from the field as the gates opened before racing too freely on her return from a break. Still not disgraced, she’s dropped a pound in the handicap for that run and will be of interest in a low grade handicap over 6f in the next few months, especially at Wolverhampton where she’s shown her best form.

### Angle to note

There’s a few trainers the punters associate with doing very well during the all-weather season with multiple Champion All-Weather Trainer Mick Appleby the obvious one and Tony Carroll being another that often has an excellent winter.

That pair have both been knocking in the winners of late and will continue do so in the months ahead, but a trainer I rarely hear mentioned in relation to a good record on the artificial surfaces in Marco Botti, despite the Newmarket handler having a significantly better record on the synthetics than on the turf.

Since the start of 2018 he’s sent out 21 winners on the turf in the UK from a total of 275 runners at a strike rate on 7.6% yet in the same period on the All-Weather his record reads 90 winners from 802 runners at an improved strike rate of 11.2%.

Backing these runners blind won’t yield a profit but it’s worth noting when horses from the yard are targeted at a winter campaign, as has been the case with new recruit Count Of Amazonia who was very impressive at Chelmsford last week and is now unbeaten in two starts for the yard.