A Summer's Evening Worth Staying Up For

Now, I'll be straight with you — Market Rasen is a course I have a soft spot for. Most folk think of it as a jumps track — and rightly so, it's one of the better ones in the north of England — but on a warm Thursday evening in July, with the ground riding Good to Firm and the sun still well above the treeline, it does a decent impression of a proper flat gaff too. Six races, a strong spread of jockeys, and enough intrigue in the novice contests to keep the form students busy well into Friday morning. Not bad for a mid-week summer card, I'd say.

The Market Rasen racecard tonight had something for everyone — a competitive mile-and-a-quarter handicap to kick things off, a pair of six-furlong novice affairs that could throw up some interesting future winners, a well-stocked seven-furlong handicap as the feature, and to round things off, an apprentice sprint that was pure chaos in the best possible way. Let's get into it.

The Feature Race: Seven Furlongs of Pure Madness

The BetVictor Handicap Stakes over seven furlongs at 20:00 was the race of the night, and I don't think anyone who watched it would argue with that. Fifteen runners, a tight band of ratings from 71 to 82, and a field packed with course-and-distance winners — this was always going to be a lottery with a capital L. But there were patterns worth picking out.

Huscal (Jason Watson, rated 82) and Annastarzy (Joe Leavy, rated 82) were the joint top-weights and both deserved their place at the head of the market on ratings alone. Watson is a man who knows how to ride a seven-furlong handicap — he doesn't panic, he finds a position, and he lets the horse do the talking in the final two. If Huscal had any juice left in the tank after his recent runs, he was always going to be dangerous.

But the horse that really caught my eye on paper — and the one I'd be watching the replay of very carefully — was Stratocracy (George Downing, rated 78), who carries both the course and distance form flags. A horse that's won here before and handles this kind of summer ground? On a card like this, that's not nothing. Downing is a young rider who's been knocking on the door of bigger opportunities, and a race like this is exactly where he can make a name for himself.

Melvin Udall (David Egan, rated 80) is another I'd keep an eye on. Egan is simply one of the best in the business right now — tactically intelligent, cool under pressure, and he doesn't waste rides. When he takes a booking in a race like this, you sit up and take notice.

The Novice Races: Where the Future Stars Are Hiding

Both six-furlong novice contests — the Gracelands EBF Fillies' Novice Stakes at 18:50 and the Fidelity Energy Green Future Novice Stakes at 19:25 — are the kind of races that look throwaway on first glance but are absolute gold mines for the form student willing to put the work in.

In the fillies' affair, I was particularly intrigued by Nuit d'Eclair (David Egan) and Royal Message (Kieran Shoemark). Both names have a ring of quality about them, and when you see Shoemark and Egan taking bookings in an unrated novice, you assume the connections aren't just turning up for the fresh air. Topaz (Tom Marquand) is another — Marquand is not a man who wastes his Thursday evenings on no-hopers.

Over in the colts' novice, Shakwaa (Kieran Shoemark) and Tumishi (Tom Marquand) are the two I'd be scribbling down. The Shoemark-Marquand axis is strong right now, and both lads have a habit of turning up on horses that go on to better things. Noahs Gold (David Egan) completes a trio worth noting — if any of these three show something tonight, they could be well worth following into nursery handicaps later in the season when the handicapper has had his first look at them.

Ones to Follow — The Notebook Horses

Here's where I get my notebook out properly. These are the horses from tonight's card that I'd be tracking into the second half of the summer:

  • Stratocracy — Course and distance form on Good to Firm ground in a competitive handicap. If he ran well tonight, he's a horse to follow wherever he goes next, particularly at northern tracks.
  • Melvin Udall — David Egan doesn't do charity rides. Watch for this one stepping up in distance if the seven furlongs stretches him.
  • Topaz / Tumishi / Noahs Gold — Whichever of the novice debutants showed the most tonight, follow them into their next start. First-time-out runners with top jockeys in low-key novice races are often ahead of the handicapper before he's even clapped eyes on them.
  • Drymee (Tom Marquand, 20:30 handicap) — A mile on Good to Firm for a horse rated 73 with course form? Marquand aboard? Yes please. If Drymee ran with any credit tonight, a step up to Listed company later in the summer isn't beyond imagination.
  • Merrimack (Chloe Lyons, apprentice sprint) — Course and distance form, top weight in the apprentice race, and Lyons is one of the better young riders doing the apprentice circuit right now. Don't dismiss this one just because it's the last race.

The Apprentice Sprint: Chaos, Character, and Cracking Entertainment

God love the apprentice handicap. Twenty-one furlongs — sorry, five furlongs and a sniff — of pure, unfiltered racing at 21:00, and every single runner carrying course or distance form. This is the kind of race where anything can happen, and usually does. Merrimack (Chloe Lyons) was my pick on paper as the most experienced combination, but in a race like this, the horse that breaks fastest and gets the clearest run often wins regardless of what the ratings say. Over Spiced (Ashley Lewis) and Truly Glamorous (Harry Vigors) both carry the D flag and were worth a look each-way at the prices.

Vigors, by the way, is a name to keep an eye on in the apprentice ranks. There's a bit of something about him.

Final Thoughts from the Paddock

All in all, a thoroughly enjoyable evening at Market Rasen. The ground was as advertised — Good to Firm, Good in places — and the racing was competitive throughout. This is the kind of card that doesn't make the front pages of the Racing Post, but it's exactly where the smart punter does their best work. The novice winners tonight could be running in better company by September, and at least two or three of the handicappers look like they're ahead of their marks.

Keep an eye on the Market Rasen racecard results as they filter through, and if any of the horses I've mentioned above caught your eye too, get them in the notebook sharpish. Summer racing moves fast, and the handicapper won't stay blind forever.

As always — back them if you fancy them, but for the love of all that's holy, don't blame me if they finish last. That's racing.