IT’S that time of year again. The Flat turf season kicks off next week. Ryedale stables, big and small, are teeming with horses in readiness for, hopefully, another memorable campaign. Fingers are firmly crossed that the following Ten to Follow will prove successful and profitable right through until the autumn.

 

AETNA (Mick Easterby)

UNDERFOOT conditions are paramount to Aetna. The Sheriff Hutton mare won three of her six races in 2014, on soft ground in April and May at Newcastle and York, where she had the measure of subsequent Royal Ascot winner Baccarat, and at Doncaster in November when the going was officially heavy.

Team Easterby will be hoping for plenty of rain at various times through this season to enable this talented sprinter to further add to her tally. She is now rated 104, which will make life fairly difficult in handicaps this year. She does, though, possess the ability to shine in Pattern race company - provided the mud is flying.

 

CLEVER COOKIE (Peter Niven)

A HORSE who proved something of a revelation last season when switching from hurdling, Clever Cookie won three from six on the Flat and produced his best performance in defeat on his final start when finishing fourth in the Group 2 Doncaster Cup to the Queen’s Estimate, beaten only two lengths.

Peter Niven resisted the temptation to send him hurdling again this winter and the seven-year-old is currently waiting in the wings to resume his career on the level. Due to return at Nottingham next month, he could well bag a major prize in the months ahead.

 

G FORCE (David O’Meara)

THE star of last year’s chosen ten, when he came into the season as a once-raced maiden and dramatically scaled the sprinting ladder to clinch Group 1 glory. It was some journey for G Force who, having opened his winning account in a lowly maiden at Newcastle in April, feasted at the top table at Haydock in September when landing the Betfred Sprint.

The Nawton speed merchant will again be campaigned in many of the top sprints this season. It is not inconceivable to think that, with the benefit of strength and maturity, physically as well as mentally, he could be even better this time around. He is an exciting talent.

 

NO LEAF CLOVER (Ollie Pears)

A SMART juvenile in 2013, when he was narrowly beaten in Listed company at York and was far from disgraced in a Group 2 race in France, this good-looking individual found it tough going last season as a three-year-old. Although he ran some creditable races, he failed to get his head in front. He should not be written off by any means. Now down to a workable handicap mark and gelded, he is expected to bounce back this season.

 

NORTHGATE LAD (Brian Ellison)

ON his first outing last season, at Beverley in May, Northgate Lad made a winning debut at the main expense of Mattmu, who went on to Pattern race success for Tim Easterby in the autumn.

Brian Ellison’s juvenile, on the other hand, had only one more outing, being far from disgraced in a winners’ race at Beverley at the end of May. Although not seen out again, he is ready to resume this season. The son of Dark Angel is an interesting horse.

 

ORIENT CLASS (Paul Midgley)

THREE outings as a juvenile failed to yield a win for Orient Class, but the sprinter came to the fore last season when gaining a trio of victories, including a fluent success at Ayr’s September meeting. Paul Midgley does extra well with speedsters – Line Of Reason, Monsieur Joe, Silvanus and Another Wise Kid being among his chief advertisers – and Orient Class surely has more to offer this term as a four-year-old from a mark in the low-70s.

 

PACNGO (Tim Easterby)

ALTHOUGH she failed to get her head in front as a two-year-old, this daughter of Paco’s Boy finished in the frame in three of her four outings over sprint distances, which included a third-placed effort from a poor draw at Ripon in August.

All in all, her form does not amount to an awful lot, but that is obviously reflected in her handicap mark. She starts this season with a rating of 59 and it will be disappointing if, as a more mature filly, she cannot capitalise and start paying her way.

 

SPRING OFFENSIVE (Richard Fahey)

GIVEN time and confined to only three outings last season as a two-year-old, Spring Offensive won the second of them, a maiden race at Redcar, and was narrowly beaten on his final start, a nursery at York in September.

Gelded at the end of the campaign, Spring Offensive is now ready to go again. He is a good-looking individual with plenty of scope. A nice prize or two is fancied to come his way in 2015.

 

THE WOW SIGNAL (John Quinn)

WHEN The Wow Signal won a five-runner maiden at Ayr in May by nine lengths, it caused something of a stir, but was considered by some sceptics as shakily unreliable form, given the small field and soft ground. Such a view could hardly have been further from the truth.

The Norton juvenile went to Royal Ascot and clinched the fiercely competitive Coventry Stakes under Frankie Dettori and raised his profile even further when travelling to France and capturing the Group 1 Prix Morny at Deauville, again with Dettori in the saddle. He is now being prepared for a crack at the Qipco 2,000 Guineas over a mile.

Will he stay? It’s a question that not even John Quinn can answer at this stage about a horse whose lofty successes were achieved over six furlongs. Perhaps he and the rest of us will have a better idea when The Wow Signal precedes his Classic bid by running in the seven-furlong Greenham Stakes at Newbury next month.

 

WILDE INSPIRATION (Julie Camacho)

A NEWCOMER to the Julie Camacho yard last season, Wilde Inspiration proved a useful addition to the Star Cottage yard. He won at Newcastle in May and at Thirsk in August and also ran well in defeat on several occasions.

Seven furlongs or a mile with juice in the ground seem the ideal conditions for the four-year-old. He has had only 10 career starts. There is more to come from him this season.

 

AND... Malton-born Andrew Tinkler got his name on the Cheltenham Festival scoresheet last week when winning the Pertemps Hurdle Final on Call The Cops for his long-time boss, Lambourn trainer Nicky Henderson.

“It was great. To have a winner at Cheltenham is what every jockey wants,” said Tinkler, whose only previous success was on Greenhope in the 2006 Grand Annual Chase. “It’s been a long time between drinks, but it’s been worth it,” he added.