Rolf Johnson: A winter round-up

Ranjaan winning at Taunton January 2012. Photo by Sportography

Starts are all important. Usain Bolt got off on the wrong foot when he was disqualified for a false one in the World Championships: Downton Abbey could hardly fail after the first episode engaged over 10 million viewers.

Highclere have enjoyed a silver spoon beginning to 2012 with Penny Max, Ranjaan and Boudoir straight into the winners’ enclosure.

Can it last? We’re in the hands of the handicapper so far as Boudoir goes: with Penny Max the handicapper’s assessment, for the moment, is secondary; while Ranjaan’s rating is of no great consequence; I will elaborate.

Boudoir squeaked home at Kempton on her third outing. The mere fact that she was on a racecourse represented a triumph for everyone concerned. Originally Boudoir had no intention of becoming a racehorse: Richard Fahey and Kevin Ryan are to be commended for not blowing her mind when she proved too recalcitrant to be trained by them. Then Gary Witheford deserved a medal for his lengthy ministrations – which allowed Richard Hannon to get her to the track and almost defy nature.

And let’s not forget the members of the Leonie Syndicate who suffered in silence while Boudoir’s antics took her to the abyss of rejection.

That third victorious run has gained Boudoir a rating of 70. I considered that she had run a pound less than that on her last two outings but she is consistent and qualifies (albeit with top weight) for the 0-70 handicaps that will see her running against her peers. If there is improvement to be eked then it will be over a mile plus, which her breeding suggests will suit. She has packed her bags and is currently on holiday at Highclere. Let’s hope Boudoir continues to appreciate the care and attention lavished on her.

Penny Max’s career has so far been back to front. Novice chasers start off in novice chases and when they are officially rated, if they aren’t quite top class, handicaps are the way forward. Penny Max started his chase career in a handicap, went back to a novices’ and Emma Lavelle’s next objective is another novice chase, with a penalty, at Newbury.

Emma has a grand plan in which Newbury figures large; it’s where Penny Max was so impressive on his second start over fences. Not one to over-face her horses she may only give Penny Max a couple more runs this season, and then aim straight at next season’s Hennessy: yes that’s the target, after the Gold Cup and King George the third most prestigious chase in the calendar.

A beeline for Cheltenham could have derailed these plans – Penny Max may not be quite ready/good enough for the RSA Chase and the Jewson Novices’ Handicap isn’t far enough. His current rating of 139 doesn’t flatter him – the third horse from his Newbury run has since been touched off in a photo and the horse he beat at Exeter, Mic’s Delight, subsequently trotted up at Market Rasen. A mark around 150 would see Penny Max nicely in among the lower rungs of the Hennessy weights.

Which brings us to Ranjaan: the handicapper rated him 141 for his victory over older, more experienced handicappers at Taunton. On the big day at Cheltenham in the four-year-old championship, the Triumph Hurdle, the winner needs to put up a performance between 145 – 150. Ranjaan hasn’t got far to go to attain that kind of figure – and he wasn’t stopping at Taunton.

Cheltenham has been alerted for a Highclere invasion. Ranjaan is among the favourites for the Triumph and Paul Nicholls is sending him straight there, March 16.

Taunton is a bucolic Somerset track but don’t let that hide the quality of Ranjaan’s performance there. Remember, two other Cheltenham fancies, Grumeti and Darlan, have both won down in cider country this year and neither had such a formidable task on paper as Ranjaan.

Paul Nicholls was exultant: he had every right to be.

What we need is the penny to drop for Tuscan Gold. His best performances on the flat were on fast ground. He has yet to savour that over hurdles and ok he is unlikely to in the very near future. But when I spoke to Alan King he was adamant that on better ground, when Tuscan Gold is handicapped, we’d see a different animal from the one who has laboured home at Huntingdon and Leicester.

I reminded Alan that Tuscan Gold is already handicapped – for the Chester Cup, the Northumberland Plate and the Cesarewitch – on the flat, where he’s twice a winner.

Alan simply smiled.