Marten Julian’s Weekly Roundup 27 January 2025

The stewards were busy on Saturday, looking into the running of Iroko and Delta Work at Cheltenham and, of more interest to me, the victory of Owl Of Athens in the 2m 4f 0-100 handicap hurdle at Uttoxeter.

As you are aware I try to keep on the lookout for potential plots but I could never have seen this coming.

Backed from 66/1 in the morning to a starting price of 85/40, Evan Williams’s six-year-old had run seven times and been beaten a total of 277 lengths, notably by 64 lengths when last of 10 on his most recent outing at Ffos Las in late November.

After reading about the touch I did what I always do in such circumstances and looked back at video footage of his previous races to see if there had been any sign of ability.

The answer to that is yes … on his racing debut at Taunton in a 2m 3f novices’ hurdle in December, 2023, when he made late headway to finish a never-nearer seventh, beaten just over 11 lengths, and then again two outings later, when he moved up into a challenging position two hurdles from home before finishing fifth in a 2m novices’ hurdle at Chepstow.

Connections invariably opt for the horse’s handicap debut to step in, but in this case they must have taken the view that his opening mark of 90 was beyond him and he never looked a threat, finishing sixth of seven, beaten almost 43 lengths, in an extended 2m 3f 0-110 handicap at Hereford.

He was then beaten off 87, 82 and 79 … the last occasion being his widest margin of defeat.

As a consequence he was able to run from a mark of 75 on Saturday, 15lbs lower than his opening figure almost a year ago.

Ridden more prominently than in the past, he was niggled along from some way out but was contesting the lead three from home and stayed on for pressure, despite looking green, to win by eight lengths.

Let’s reflect on a few aspects of this.

The first thing to address is the explanation offered by the trainer or their representative for the improvement. Apparently Williams was questioned and his comments forwarded to the

BHA Head Office but I cannot find them anywhere. He did, though, say afterwards that the horse handled the conditions and jumped for the first time in his life, adding that he hoped the ground would be hard work. The official description of the ground on Saturday was good to soft but it had been soft the time before at Ffos Las.

It’s true that the horse had not jumped very cleanly in his previous races and, indeed, he was far from fluent on this occasion.

The second concerns an earlier tv interview the trainer gave to Andrew Thornton, who asked him about the support for the horse. The trainer dismissed his chance but said his mare Polli Pi, in the same race, had ability. She finished a long way last, beaten over 84 lengths.

The third point of interest is the nature of the ride. The six-year-old was ridden more prominently from flag-fall than in the past, when he was usually well in arrears.

Of course the trainer is working for his owners, but in cases of this sort they are usually prepared to pass on a few words of encouragement once the money is on. At the time of the interview I believe the horse was still around 14/1, from 66/1, so given his eventual SP the trainer may have known there was still more to follow.

There is no record of these owners landing a touch with other horses … there were links to a horse named Balkardy … while we must accept that it takes very little money at 66/1 overnight to lead to a contraction, perhaps even as little as the £20 EW the trainer alluded to afterwards.

The on-course support, from 14/1 to 85/40 in the half-hour before the race, is of greater significance.

My main concern is the improvement the horse showed between his last run on 20^th November to his appearance on Saturday, just over two months later. The ground was officially better at Uttoxeter than at Ffos Las and I would be more inclined to attribute his improvement to the more positive ride.

Bye for now

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