Betting news and tips: Trackman is back with the latest paddock talk as he reflects on the last week in racing
IT’S time to sort out your French fancies.
We have been living off bread and dripping since Cheltenham but there will be a proper feast of racing behind closed doors over at Longchamp on Monday.
Our Parisian pals are serving up a ten-race menu, which includes four Group events and a Guineas trial in the Prix de Fontainebleau.
Ladbrokes flew out of the blocks to price that event up and reckon Andre Fabre’s unbeaten Victor Ludorum is odds-on to nick the prize.
By the way, fabulous Fabre had intended to unleash his red-hot 2000 Guineas hope Earthlight in this race.
But Andre reports his flyer sprained a fetlock on Tuesday morning and needs a couple of days on the `easy’ list before jumping back on the treadmill.
Meanwhile, there is still a strong word that we will get the green light to kick on with our own `behind closed doors’ racing programme by mid-May.
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That will be music to the ears of hard-working former champion jockey Jim Crowley.
You see, jolly Jim has spent most of the lockdown dreaming about riding his boss Hamdan Al Maktoum’s streak of lightening sprinter Battaash at Royal Ascot in June.
And he’s adamant the John Gosden-trained mare Enbihaar could go right to the top this year, saying: “I think she’s a real star.
“She’s a five-year-old and Sheikh Hamdan normally retires his fillies at three, so to have kept her in training for the last two seasons shows what we think of her.”
If talent shows float your boat, then tune into Racing Welfare’s social media sites to watch `The Furlong Factor’ on Saturday afternoon.
This is a singing competition for anyone in the racing game and our eight finalists include rookie Newmarket trainer James Ferguson and useful amateur jockey Fred Tett.
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Mind you, there is a whisper that we could have a few star-studded late entries.
Apparently, Ryan Moore does a side-splitting version of `When You’re Smiling’, Ralph Beckett is keen to give us `If I Ruled The World’ and Aidan O’Brien wants to warble `Listen…Do You Want Know A Secret'.
A pal of mine tells me that that Mick Channon is getting excited about his two-year-old team.
Mighty Mick doesn’t miss a trick with his youngsters and is super-keen on a chunky colt called Arcadian Nights.
That one should be winning by mid-summer, while a filly called Janie Jones is Channon’s cracker for the second half of the season.
Talking of nippy two-year-olds, Newmarket-based Richard Spencer has passed on a good word for Wings Of A Dove.
She cost a few quid, is “very sharp” according to rockin’ Richard and will pinch a race or two over 5f.
We could all do with a bit of good news and Middleham-trainer Jedd O’Keefe was chuffed to give us an upbeat bulletin on his stable star Sam Spinner.
The north’s most popular jumper had to swerve Cheltenham after suffering a pelvis injury, but is on the road to recovery according to top man Jedd, who said: "His pelvis was scanned on Friday and the vet was thrilled with it. He said it looked better on the scan than he expected, so all is good.
"If we have no setbacks and it's all straightforward it would take about 12 weeks to get him fit. That would take us into October, when we hope the jumps season will get going properly.”
Meanwhile, larger than life owner Dr Marwan Koukash has decided to move his top-class stayer Magic Circle from Ian Williams to Richard Fahey.
The horse hasn’t been sighted since folding like a cheap suit in the Gold Cup last summer and needed a change of scenery according to connections.
Finally, a well-known newly-wed jockey was in bed with his missus studying the weeks runners.
He glanced up at the couple’s baby who was mucking around in her cot by the window and said: “Baby’s nose is running again.”
His wife snorted: “That’s all you ever think about…..racing!”