Sed Maarib is fancied to literally ‘kick-off’ our each-way daily patent in division one of a Novice Stakes over seven furlongs of ‘good to soft’ Salisbury today, which promises to be one of the most dramatic on the English sporting scene with a sensational climax scheduled after all horse-racing is concluded; England versus Italy for the final of the European Football Championship will have more than TWENTY MILLION TViewers tuned into the action.
The furore surrounding this elongated three-weeks tournament has been colossal, especially as the realisation dawned on soccer-mad English that Harry Kane would indeed be leading out the Three Lions on the final stage which will doubtless rival concerts featuring Elvis Presley and Freddie Mercury’s Queen!
The latter played at Wembley in front of more than two-hundred thousand, Elvis never sang in Great Britain!
Such dependence on the outcome has become manic but having played in so many games as an aspiring teenager I’m aware, in the cold light of day, Italy is in a different ‘league’ and represents an outstanding betting proposition to thwart best laid plans of home manager Gareth Southgate.
These Italians are classy, they’ve won more than ‘thirty straight’ with quality, quickfire attacking and I genuinely believe the match could prove embarrassingly one-sided because ‘we’ haven’t met their like.
All that is to come, in the meantime once-raced Sed Maarib takes on ten rivals, forty days after Roger Varian’s charge had a quiet run at Leicester in what was ‘hot’ early season juvenile form; subsequent unlucky ‘Coventry’ sixth Dhabab recorded a fast time-figure when defeating Sweeping with the American Pharoah colt, only 5/1, eight lengths off the winner after being ‘slowly away!’
Several in ‘super-breds’ will be in opposition but Sed Maarib has, apparently, become ‘first division’ on the gallops and I’m looking forward to his second outing, thirty-five minutes before similarly-profiled Paul Cole-trained Tartan Chief also attempts to build on an encouraging first-up run at Haydock last month when this Dark Angel colt came from way back, following a tardy start, to grab third spot; he’ll improve.
This comment also applies to Waleyfa, an Awtaad filly which should be placed in the ‘aged’ Novice Stakes over seven furlongs, by default; now this is an intriguing race which could end with a surprise result.
Over to you England for the ‘Battle of Britain!
Selections, Salisbury, 1.45 Sed Maarib (e.w); 2.25 Tartan Chief (e.w); 3.00 Waleyfa (e.w).
Jeffrey Ross, horse-racing correspondent for WMN since 1983 when winning the most prestigious racing journalist award, Sporting Life Naps Table, before winning it a record number of six times collectively in the Racing Post, the current ‘trade’ paper, including 2019