Hugo Palmer Blog | Saturday Runners
09 May 2025
Hugo Palmer previews his five runners across the cards this Saturday, including Fitzella in the opening race at Ascot.
13:30 Ascot – Fitzella
A busy day with runners around the country, and we start with a filly who is so exciting she keeps me awake at night. When I saw her at the sales she was a must have, and fortunately I had an owner who was persuaded to dig deep to get her.
She’s not let me down in anything that she’s done at home, but despite all this excitement I don’t necessarily expect her to win on debut, against colts and over five furlongs, as I think she’ll have a better winning chance over six furlongs against her own sex. However, in the hope that we can get her to the Albany at Royal Ascot, and I want to get a couple of runs into her before that, this fits in perfectly ahead of a race at Haydock in two weeks.
14:45 Haydock – Boston Run
Boston Run has been a frustrating horse as he could almost have won each of his five starts to date, but somehow has managed to get beaten in all of them. Rossa Ryan rode him last time and felt he wasn’t done many favours by the size of the field, the horse was almost a bit claustrophobic, so a field of eight here will hopefully suit better.
Unfortunately we’re drawn eight of eight, and if they go slow, the race might unfold in front of him and he won’t get involved. He should improve for his seasonal reappearance, but until he finds his way into the winners’ enclosure, I’m not sure I entirely trust him to do his best.
15:20 Haydock – How Impressive
How Impressive was just that last year, winning five times, which was remarkable for a horse of moderate ability, and he took a lot racing so well. He’s probably a better horse on the all-weather, but I’ll keep running him on turf until he gets a split turf/all-weather handicap rating.
15:40 Nottingham – Triple Double A
Triple Double A has won three in a short space of time, I would love to claim it was some sort of Sir Mark Prescott-style stroke of genius, but it’s really not, it’s just happened like that. I do think he’s still got more to come and is ahead of the handicapper, Brandon Wilkie can claim three pounds, and he did win well at Windsor on Monday, but we have to hope we are not being greedy by running him again so quickly.
17:25 Leicester – Oh West Virginia
This horse might need nurseries to have his chance of getting off the mark, but I do think he’s come on for his debut run at Goodwood last week. The penny needs to drop with him, but that will come with racing experience, and although handicaps might be his thing, we’ll still be trying hard in maiden company.
Hugo Palmer, Coral Racing Ambassador
13:30 Ascot – Fitzella
A busy day with runners around the country, and we start with a filly who is so exciting she keeps me awake at night. When I saw her at the sales she was a must have, and fortunately I had an owner who was persuaded to dig deep to get her.
She’s not let me down in anything that she’s done at home, but despite all this excitement I don’t necessarily expect her to win on debut, against colts and over five furlongs, as I think she’ll have a better winning chance over six furlongs against her own sex. However, in the hope that we can get her to the Albany at Royal Ascot, and I want to get a couple of runs into her before that, this fits in perfectly ahead of a race at Haydock in two weeks.
14:45 Haydock – Boston Run
Boston Run has been a frustrating horse as he could almost have won each of his five starts to date, but somehow has managed to get beaten in all of them. Rossa Ryan rode him last time and felt he wasn’t done many favours by the size of the field, the horse was almost a bit claustrophobic, so a field of eight here will hopefully suit better.
Unfortunately we’re drawn eight of eight, and if they go slow, the race might unfold in front of him and he won’t get involved. He should improve for his seasonal reappearance, but until he finds his way into the winners’ enclosure, I’m not sure I entirely trust him to do his best.
15:20 Haydock – How Impressive
How Impressive was just that last year, winning five times, which was remarkable for a horse of moderate ability, and he took a lot racing so well. He’s probably a better horse on the all-weather, but I’ll keep running him on turf until he gets a split turf/all-weather handicap rating.
15:40 Nottingham – Triple Double A
Triple Double A has won three in a short space of time, I would love to claim it was some sort of Sir Mark Prescott-style stroke of genius, but it’s really not, it’s just happened like that. I do think he’s still got more to come and is ahead of the handicapper, Brandon Wilkie can claim three pounds, and he did win well at Windsor on Monday, but we have to hope we are not being greedy by running him again so quickly.
17:25 Leicester – Oh West Virginia
This horse might need nurseries to have his chance of getting off the mark, but I do think he’s come on for his debut run at Goodwood last week. The penny needs to drop with him, but that will come with racing experience, and although handicaps might be his thing, we’ll still be trying hard in maiden company.
Hugo Palmer, Coral Racing Ambassador
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