Harry Cobden: Finishing the Season with a Bang

Blogs | 22^nd April 2022

Harry Cobden looks ahead to a big finale at Sandown tomorrow where he has seven rides to look forward to.

HUGE CONGRATS TO THE BOSS

Winning anything thirteen times is very hard, but being champion at your chosen profession that many times is an amazing feat. It’s a huge achievement.

It hasn’t all been plain sailing though. As was well covered at the time the yard lost form markedly between Christmas and March.

So when you factor that into it, the boss has done fantastically well to hold off the challengers. A brilliant Aintree certainly helped us get over the line and hopefully we can enjoy a winner or two tomorrow too.

MY SATURDAY RIDES

1:50 Knappers Hill

He won his qualifying race last week at Newton Abbot in very easy style – as his short odds suggested he would.

That win will have done his confidence plenty of good and will have set him up nicely for a tilt at a big prize. Looking at the field, this doesn’t appear to be the hottest renewal for a race worth nearly £100,000.

I think he’s the best horse in the race and he’ll take a fair bit of beating.

2:25 Saint Calvados

This horse is a bit of an enigma. He’s very talented but getting him to show his best side at the races hasn’t been easy.

At Aintree he was far too keen in the early stages of the race. I couldn’t get him to switch off and his run petered out in the straight as a result – we could never get very competitive.

This four runner race on paper looks a much easier test. Mister Fisher and Nuts Well have to concede a weight penalty and the other runner Erne River is still a novice – so there’s nothing in the line-up that scares me.

If this horse can settle then he’d have to have a huge chance.

3:00 Greanateen (Best Chance)

He’s fresh and ready to go after a good break and Sandown is very much his track.

His best performances have been at this track over the years – winning two Grade one races in the process – so we’re confident he’ll bounce back from his underwhelming trip to Ireland in February.

This has been the target for some time now and he’d have to rate as my best chance of a winner of the day.

3:32 Enrilo

He’s a horse that loves the springtime and he’ll love the conditions at Sandown tomorrow. I saw him this morning and his coat looks immaculate – you can just tell the horse is in great form.

I schooled him a couple of days ago and he felt as good as ever – certainly as well as he did last year when he ran so well in this race.

We’ve got him back to where we want him and he’s got to have a massive chance.

4:07 Scaramanga

I’ve plucked for Scaramanga ahead of stablemate McFabulous, but it wasn’t an easy decision.

I just felt that McFabulous had a hard race at Aintree and quite often – even when they look great at home – that can take the edge off a horse.

Scaramanga has very much been trained for this race and the good ground tomorrow will be the key to him. It’s a small field and looking at the other contenders I think my ride is the probably the one to beat.

4:40 Flic Ou Voyou

He didn’t jump particularly well on his most recent start at Ayr. The main aim tomorrow will be to get his confidence up and to try to get him jumping his fences nicely.

It looks a pretty compact handicap and there doesn’t appear to be a clear danger. Though Richard Rowe’s horse Up The Straight could be the main danger.

5:15 Samarrive

I think this horse could reignite here.

He won at Sandown really nicely earlier in the season off a handicap mark of 130 and looking back at that run, you’d have to think he’s got a good shout of repeating the trick with only a little extra weight to carry.

Stepping up to two and a half miles is an added plus, as is the expected Good ground.

Paul’s other horse in the race Halo Des Obeaux is a really nice horse too. If they go a hard gallop and it bring stamina into play then he could very easily outrun his odds.

HORSE FOR NEXT YEAR

A young horse called Matterhorn is one that I’m happy to stick my neck out and say looks a lovely prospect. He was bought last year from France as juvenile hurdler but a couple of small setbacks have kept him off the racecourse this year.

I actually think that could prove beneficial in the long run as the extended break will do him the world of good. He’ll be bigger and stronger and should make into a nice novice hurdle prospect when we kick things off in October.