Raceday LIVE – Aspire To Glory
Chelmsford,
Thu 19 Dec 2024 18:40
Related horse(s):
Aspire To Glory
Aspire To Glory returns to action this evening for trainer Alice Haynes at Chelmsford in the Class 6 Handicap (18:40) over a mile.
Read our Raceday LIVE Preview below and join us ahead of the race for all the build-up and live updates from the track with the team and Aspire To Glory's lucky owners for the day across our social channels on X (@coral) and Instagram (@coralofficial).
Raceday LIVE Preview
It's been a short while since we last saw Aspire To Glory in action after finishing 4th at Chelmsford over seven furlongs under apprentice jockey, Anna Gibson. Since then he's been ticking over nicely at home, and it's only because of races being oversubscribed that we haven't seen him sooner, as he's had several entries over the past few weeks at the likes of Lingfield, Southwell and Wolverhampton.
Aspire To Glory became the Club's first ever flat winner close to this time last year when getting his head in front at Kempton off a similar handicap mark as to what he'll run off today, so we're hopeful that lightning might be able to strike twice. He's been unfortunate a few times recently in terms of his draw, as he's had to leave the stalls from gates 9, 10 and 11 in three of his last four starts, but today he's been given a much kinder position in gate 4, so that should give jockey Darragh Keenan a good chance of getting a nice early position.
WATCH: Aspire To Glory becomes the Coral Racing Club's first flat winner
Darragh has plenty of experience riding Aspire To Glory, including a 2nd place finish at Ripon in June, so he'll have a good idea of how best to position and ride our three-year-old to try get the best out of him. We know he has a tendency to run a little keenly at times, so it'll be important to try get him to switch off and relax, especially as he's stepping back up in trip to a mile.
Aspire To Glory is yet to win over that distance, with both of his victories coming over seven furlongs, but he has ran several promising races over it and his latest effort at Chelmsford was his best yet at the track, so hopefully he can build on that and go close in what looks a fairly open contest.
Raceday update from trainer Alice Haynes
"Good luck with Aspire To Glory heading to Chelmsford today having finally got into a race!
We have a professional back on him for the first time in a while with Darragh Keenan taking over from Anna who’s unfortunately been stood down for a while after suffering an injury. Darragh has a sound record on him having been 2nd at Ripon and 3rd at Chepstow, and he does seem to get something out of him.
With us stepping Aspire To Glory up in trip we’ll be taking our time with him to some extent, but ultimately we’ll be leave it to Darragh to have him where he thinks is best as the race unfolds."
Chris Dixon, Racing TV Analyst, provides an exclusive preview of today's 18:40 Chelmsford
Aspire To Glory returns from a short 40-day break at Chelmsford with the hope he can build on a few sound enough efforts in defeat. Difficult draws have got in the way on a couple of his recent runs and though the level of form is only modest and his quirks which include occasional slow starts and a propensity to run too freely at times are holding him back, he has run enough good races since gaining back-to-back wins at Kempton and Lingfield last winter to suggest he can win again during this AW campaign.
His best recent runs since those wins came on his first couple of runs following a break, so the short pause in his racing programme may help, while the reapplication on a hood, which has been on for all his best runs including those victories, is taken as a plus. The hood is combined with the usual tongue tie plus some blinkers for the first time and there’s a chance that sparks him back to his very best from what looks a good draw. If it does then he’s handicapped to go well in a low-level race.
Recent winners Dubai Harbour and Rising Force looks two of the main players on form given the manner of those recent victories and decent draws, while both still maintain some handicapping scope following a rise in the weights. Bo Taifan pulled clear with a well-handicapped one at Lingfield last time and is another with a sound chance, alongside Starshot who is yet to win but has form that gives him a chance including his second here last time - he could be well-placed under a forward ride from the inside draw.
Overall there’s enough in-form horses for this not to be an especially weak race for the grade so on that front confidence of making the frame or better can’t be high for Aspire To Glory here but it remains a low-level handicap that he’s capable of making an impact in if on his A-game.
Trainer and Jockey Statistics
Alice Haynes has sent out just the one winner in the past two weeks which was at Southwell last Friday. The Newmarket based trainer has had 28 winners on the all-weather so far this year, with three of them coming at Chelmsford.
Darragh Keenan will be hoping he can get back in the winners enclosure this evening with four rides, and the 24-year-old doesn't have a bad record when riding for Alice with two wins and two placed efforts from just 16 rides. With 60 rides already under his belt at Chelmsford so far this year, his experience should definitely stand him in good stead later on which is a big positive going into the race.
Aspire To Glory's Owners for the Day
As winners of the recent Owner for the Day competition, 10 lucky Coral Racing Club members have been given the chance to enjoy an exclusive owners experience for Aspire To Glory's run at Chelmsford this evening.
Each winner, along with a guest of their choosing, will receive free entry to Chelmsford Racecourse, including exclusive access to Owners & Trainers areas. They'll have the opportunity to meet Aspire To Glory and the Alice Haynes team, plus get to head into the parade ring before the race begins to be amongst all the other owners, trainers and jockeys. And last but by no means least, each winner will get to take home an equal 10% split of any prize money won by Aspire To Glory.
Prize Money
Today's Class 6 contest is worth £7,000 in total, with the winner set to scoop £3,663 for their lucky owners.
2nd: £1,719 | 3rd: £858 | 4th: £429 | 5th: £214
KEMPTON 18:40 – LATEST ODDS
We hope you enjoyed reading today's Raceday LIVE Preview. Don't forget to tune in just before 18:40 to watch Aspire To Glory's next run for the club live on the Coral Sports app.
Read our Raceday LIVE Preview below and join us ahead of the race for all the build-up and live updates from the track with the team and Aspire To Glory's lucky owners for the day across our social channels on X (@coral) and Instagram (@coralofficial).
Raceday LIVE Preview
It's been a short while since we last saw Aspire To Glory in action after finishing 4th at Chelmsford over seven furlongs under apprentice jockey, Anna Gibson. Since then he's been ticking over nicely at home, and it's only because of races being oversubscribed that we haven't seen him sooner, as he's had several entries over the past few weeks at the likes of Lingfield, Southwell and Wolverhampton.
Aspire To Glory became the Club's first ever flat winner close to this time last year when getting his head in front at Kempton off a similar handicap mark as to what he'll run off today, so we're hopeful that lightning might be able to strike twice. He's been unfortunate a few times recently in terms of his draw, as he's had to leave the stalls from gates 9, 10 and 11 in three of his last four starts, but today he's been given a much kinder position in gate 4, so that should give jockey Darragh Keenan a good chance of getting a nice early position.
WATCH: Aspire To Glory becomes the Coral Racing Club's first flat winner
Darragh has plenty of experience riding Aspire To Glory, including a 2nd place finish at Ripon in June, so he'll have a good idea of how best to position and ride our three-year-old to try get the best out of him. We know he has a tendency to run a little keenly at times, so it'll be important to try get him to switch off and relax, especially as he's stepping back up in trip to a mile.
Aspire To Glory is yet to win over that distance, with both of his victories coming over seven furlongs, but he has ran several promising races over it and his latest effort at Chelmsford was his best yet at the track, so hopefully he can build on that and go close in what looks a fairly open contest.
Raceday update from trainer Alice Haynes
"Good luck with Aspire To Glory heading to Chelmsford today having finally got into a race!
We have a professional back on him for the first time in a while with Darragh Keenan taking over from Anna who’s unfortunately been stood down for a while after suffering an injury. Darragh has a sound record on him having been 2nd at Ripon and 3rd at Chepstow, and he does seem to get something out of him.
With us stepping Aspire To Glory up in trip we’ll be taking our time with him to some extent, but ultimately we’ll be leave it to Darragh to have him where he thinks is best as the race unfolds."
Chris Dixon, Racing TV Analyst, provides an exclusive preview of today's 18:40 Chelmsford
Aspire To Glory returns from a short 40-day break at Chelmsford with the hope he can build on a few sound enough efforts in defeat. Difficult draws have got in the way on a couple of his recent runs and though the level of form is only modest and his quirks which include occasional slow starts and a propensity to run too freely at times are holding him back, he has run enough good races since gaining back-to-back wins at Kempton and Lingfield last winter to suggest he can win again during this AW campaign.
His best recent runs since those wins came on his first couple of runs following a break, so the short pause in his racing programme may help, while the reapplication on a hood, which has been on for all his best runs including those victories, is taken as a plus. The hood is combined with the usual tongue tie plus some blinkers for the first time and there’s a chance that sparks him back to his very best from what looks a good draw. If it does then he’s handicapped to go well in a low-level race.
Recent winners Dubai Harbour and Rising Force looks two of the main players on form given the manner of those recent victories and decent draws, while both still maintain some handicapping scope following a rise in the weights. Bo Taifan pulled clear with a well-handicapped one at Lingfield last time and is another with a sound chance, alongside Starshot who is yet to win but has form that gives him a chance including his second here last time - he could be well-placed under a forward ride from the inside draw.
Overall there’s enough in-form horses for this not to be an especially weak race for the grade so on that front confidence of making the frame or better can’t be high for Aspire To Glory here but it remains a low-level handicap that he’s capable of making an impact in if on his A-game.
Trainer and Jockey Statistics
Alice Haynes has sent out just the one winner in the past two weeks which was at Southwell last Friday. The Newmarket based trainer has had 28 winners on the all-weather so far this year, with three of them coming at Chelmsford.
Darragh Keenan will be hoping he can get back in the winners enclosure this evening with four rides, and the 24-year-old doesn't have a bad record when riding for Alice with two wins and two placed efforts from just 16 rides. With 60 rides already under his belt at Chelmsford so far this year, his experience should definitely stand him in good stead later on which is a big positive going into the race.
Aspire To Glory's Owners for the Day
As winners of the recent Owner for the Day competition, 10 lucky Coral Racing Club members have been given the chance to enjoy an exclusive owners experience for Aspire To Glory's run at Chelmsford this evening.
Each winner, along with a guest of their choosing, will receive free entry to Chelmsford Racecourse, including exclusive access to Owners & Trainers areas. They'll have the opportunity to meet Aspire To Glory and the Alice Haynes team, plus get to head into the parade ring before the race begins to be amongst all the other owners, trainers and jockeys. And last but by no means least, each winner will get to take home an equal 10% split of any prize money won by Aspire To Glory.
Prize Money
Today's Class 6 contest is worth £7,000 in total, with the winner set to scoop £3,663 for their lucky owners.
2nd: £1,719 | 3rd: £858 | 4th: £429 | 5th: £214
KEMPTON 18:40 – LATEST ODDS
We hope you enjoyed reading today's Raceday LIVE Preview. Don't forget to tune in just before 18:40 to watch Aspire To Glory's next run for the club live on the Coral Sports app.
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