The Turf | 23 May 2009

Mother of Parliaments? More like the Ugly Sister of Parliaments these days. But without an expenses system like a roulette wheel permanently fixed to pay up, how can the rest of us find the money to have our moats cleared and our helipad hedges trimmed? As usual the Twelve to Follow relies on a scientific mix of racecourse bar gossip, blind hope and Timeform’s Racehorses of 2008 (£75 from Portway Press, Halifax, West Yorkshire WF2 9LP).

Sir Michael Stoute’s yard is stuffed with distinguished animals like Conduit and Patkai. We might get better prices though on Confront, a one-time Classic hope who made an impressive seasonal debut winning a Newmarket handicap under 9st 10lb. He’ll be weighted out of handicaps now but should still win races. Ask delivered the goods at Newbury last weekend so I will add his brother Kensington Oval, who disappointed last year after suffering on firm ground.

The most improved horse this year is Luca Cumani’s Presvis. Although beaten by the extraordinary Gladiatorus on Dubai World Cup night he went on to beat local hero Viva Pataca in Hong Kong. We won’t see much of him in Britain — Luca enjoys his international campaigning — but he should collect more foreign prizes.

South Africa’s Mike de Kock, who wins so many races in Dubai, plans to campaign more in Britain this year. Eagle Mountain will win more big middle-distance races for him, but there might be better value from JJ the Jet Plane over shorter.

It is nice to have a few good sprinters in the hand. William Haggas’s King’s Apostle made a pleasing seasonal debut under a big weight then ran second at York. He should pay his way. So will the canny Henry Candy’s Amour Propre who won at Newmarket and will go for the sprint classics. John Gosden reckons he has a speedy customer too in Run For The Hills.

There is nobody better at handling an improving horse than Barry Hills, whose biography I am writing and who is having such a scintillating season. His Infiraad comes into that category and should prove worth following.

Aidan O’Brien has a strong hand again, but it was John Oxx who took the 2000 Guineas with Sea The Stars and I feel it could be his year. The Sadler’s Wells filly Roses for the Lady looks good for the Oaks and the Kalanisi colt Alaivan should win races for the Aga Khan.

Marcus Tregoning does not oversell his team so when he talks of winning races in the plural with the $500,000 Ghaneema before campaigning her in America that should be noted.

Finally, for me it is still early days with the two-year-olds but Dubai-based Dr James Hay has been buying some interesting horses and Paul Cole has already brought out No Hubris to win. He should certainly score again.

How did we do though with the jumpers last season? Not the best of years, I am sorry to say. Diamond Harry won three, Money Trix recovered from a bad fall first time out to win later in the season and Petit Robin picked up a race too. Best moments came when Stan won a handicap chase at Cheltenham at 14–1 and with the Cheltenham Festival success of Forpadydeplasterer at 8–1 after he had been second in his previous three races. Unfortunately, though, I managed the rare achievement of choosing two of Alan King’s which didn’t win a race and we suffered from the over-ambition of some connections. Whiteoak, for example, was supplemented for the Champion Hurdle rather than running in the Festival mares race she had won the year before and finished the season without a victory.

In all, the Twelve ran on 44 occasions and they finished in the frame on 20 occasions of those. But nine were second places and the return to a £10 win stake, I fear, left us with a deficit of around £115. Parliamentary readers will no doubt find a way of claiming that back too…