WE'RE continuing to enjoy a fine season and on the whole the horses have been running very well. I was delighted to see Heredia maintain her unbeaten record when scoring in a decent Conditions race at Newbury last Friday. We expected her to go very close on debut at Windsor, and she duly obliged, so it was nice to see her follow up in a better race. We didn’t enter her in any of the early closing races but that’s not a bad thing because we still have plenty of options and because she’s such a professional filly she doesn’t necessarily need another run this season. If she does we might look at going over to Longchamp for a crack at the Prix Marcel Boussac on Arc weekend but that’s not set in stone.

Mojo Star ran a fantastic race to finish second in the St Leger and he is obviously a very exciting colt for next year. He’s entered in the Arc but would likely bump into Hurricane Lane again and to be honest he will be a much better over further anyway so I’d say he’ll probably have one more run this season which could come in the Long Distance Cup at Ascot on Champions Day.

Thunder Max made a winning debut for the same owners, AMO Racing, at Doncaster and while we’d always thought he’d be a nice horse, we weren’t entirely sure what to expect beforehand because he isn’t the most flashy horse at home so it was a very pleasant surprise to see him win so nicely on his first run. There’s races like the Autumn Stakes at Newmarket and the Horris Hill at Newbury so we have some good options.

Desert Angel was excellent yesterday at Newmarket when following up his victory at Doncaster and he seems to have hit the road running since we put the blinkers on. The Handicapper will certainly have his say but he’s clearly very progressive and I’m delighted for his owner Ziad Galadari.

NEWMARKET

3:00 G1 Middle Park

Armor (Pat Dobs)

He’s done absolutely nothing wrong in all starts to date and was unlucky not to win last time in the G2 Flying Childers at Doncaster where he showed another really good turn of foot and went to win his race but got collared on the line by a neck. He’s up against Caturra and Perfect Power (who won the Prix Morny) along with Asymmetric again so there’s very little between the lot of them but our horse in is great nick and six furlongs on good ground should be ideal so I’m hopeful of another bold show.

4:15 Maiden Fillies’

Siamsa (Pat Dobbs)

She’s put up two decent performances on the All Weather at Kempton and probably bumped into a nice horse last time in Jumbly, but she’s improving with each run and her experience should count for plenty in a race with lots of newcomers. There won’t be any excuses where the ground is concerned and she goes there with a very good chance.

HAYDOCK

1:00 Fillies’ Novice

Say Goodnight (Jack Mitchell)

She’s a half sister to Mojo Star who has shown plenty of ability at home and will hopefully develop into a very smart filly. This looks a pretty competitive novice, and she will improve for the run, but she’s quite smart so should go well.

2:05 Handicap

Nugget (PJ McDonald)

He won easily at Newbury on his penultimate run and then came from too far back when a fast finishing second in the Thirsk Hunt Cup last time, for which the Handicapper put him up another 4lbs so he’s now off a career high mark of 101; but I’d like to think there could still be a bit more improvement in him because he’s very lightly raced and can go well fresh.