All-Weather Champion Jockey Luke Morris has “a nice book of rides” this Saturday
It’s going to be a long day for me on Saturday as I start off in the first race of the day at Haydock and finish in the final race of the day at Wolverhampton but to be honest I’m delighted to be back riding. It’s been a frustrating couple of weeks on the sidelines after I had a fall at Lingfield the Saturday before last but I’m raring to go and looking to grab at least a winner or two.
My day will actually start a good way before I head off to Haydock as I’d have been up riding work in the morning for James Tate at 6.25am and I probably won’t get home until just before midnight. If I do manage to get a winner or two then that will make all of the difference I can tell you, and I think I’ve got a really nice book of rides to look forward to.
1.40 Haydock – Daphne
It’s nice to get a ride for William Haggas. I’ve only ridden for him once or twice in the past and as an added bonus this filly is owned by the Queen, so I hope I can provide her with a belated birthday present! The filly ran well first time in a decent maiden at Newbury and looks the sort that will benefit from the step up in trip for this. She gets a good weight allowance from the other horses too and William’s horses tend to benefit for their debuts so I think she can do better this time around.
3.20 Haydock – Complicit
He seems to have lost his form a little bit this year but as a result he’s dropped to a nice handicap mark. Realistically he needs to show a bit more than he has done recently to take a hand in this. His grass form last year was very good – he wasn’t beaten far in a Group 3 at Epsom – so we know he’s more than capable but we just need to see some more sparkle from him. He’s back to a mile today having raced over further on the all-weather, but around Lingfield we just felt he needed that little extra distance. This trip is fine for him on turf.
4.30 Haydock – Baltic Prince
He’s drawn in stall 12 of the 13 runners and that’s not very good for him as he’s a horse who likes to roll forward and be on the front end. As such he’s going to need a drop of luck to take a hand in this race. He does like the course though and the owners like to have runners at Haydock so he’ll be primed to run his best, it’s just whether he can overcome the big inconvenience of the draw.
5.40 Haydock – Queen’s Novel
I’m looking forward to riding this filly. She won first time out but she looked good when winning. She’s a nice filly this one and progressed from two to three and I think she will again from three to four. The other horses have an experience edge on her but I’d like to think she’s still improving and she looks my best ride of the entire day. The draw in 15 is not ideal but over the mile and a quarter trip they switch from one rail to the other so it’s not such a disadvantage as it is over a shorter trip.
7.50 Wolverhampton – Street Outlaw
He looks the sort of horse who is going to find his level once he’s running in handicaps. Hopefully he can put in a good run in this but his future will be in handicaps after this outing.
I’ve ridden this horse a few times before in the past, and he ran very well for me the last day he was on the all-weather at Chelmsford when he was second. The horse that beat him that day was the very well handicapped Barsanti so it was a good performance. He’s a very honest straightforward horse and he has a good solid chance in this race.
8.50 Wolverhampton – Motivate
He’s been very slow to come to hand and probably still a little weak. He’s the sort of horse that will improve as the year goes on.
9.20 Wolverhampton – John Potts
He’s an OAP and knows his way around Wolverhampton better than most jockeys do. It’s the first time I’ve sat on him and he’s the sort who’s capable of winning this race if things drop right for him.
All the best,
Luke
