19th February - Race review

I have to admit that I got a lot of pleasure from today’s victory by Lucky Landing.

In fact, I would go so far as to say, Fiendish Flame aside, it meant more to me than any of the other TVB winners…

I guess the reasons for this are obvious – it is down to the attachment that I mentioned in my reply to yesterday’s comment from Oasisdreamer.

I latched on to Lucky Landing 4 runs ago. I felt he was one of the best bets I’ve put up, when he ran at Towcester in December;

That run was particularly disappointing but I was able to rationalise it and leave him alone until circumstances dictated that he was worth following again.

I thought that was today – and so it proved. I could have staked him higher – but that would have been a little reckless, as there was still a risk involved.

The main reason I tip – in fact the main reason I bet – is because I love to try and unravel a complex puzzle.

Lucky Landing was as complex a puzzle as you get – and to successfully figure him out gave me a great deal of satisfaction (and a few extra quid ;) ).

In the race itself, he travelled with his normal verve, jumping economically.

The acid test was always going to be what happened when he got put under pressure.

That happened after he had made his only mistake of the race, at the fifth last fence.

I thought for a moment that he maybe wasn’t going to find for pressure – but it was clear in a few strides that he was over whatever has been ailing him.

He put in a big leap at the fourth last and the race was effectively over.

It was particularly heartening to see him just lengthen away from the opposition, winning by the kind of distance you’ve come to expect from a TVB tip ;)

I have little doubt that Lucky Landing could win again off a higher mark.

It is difficult to know precisely how much higher, but I would suggest that he had at least a stone in hand today. I would have thought it unlikely that he will be raised by much more than 7lb for today’s victory, so he has to remain on the list of horses to follow.

I would also be interested to see him over a little further – he certainly wasn’t stopping today.

One interesting footnote from the race was that there was no mention of a breathing operation in the RP review of the race.

If that is the case, then Tony Coyle must be a heck of a trainer. He has managed to take a cast off from one of the countries biggest (and most progressive) stables and turn it around in the space of a month.
Definitely a name to keep an eye on, I think…