Charm School

Charm School has already been mentioned here several times as a leading contender for the Cambridgeshire, and hopefully people are already on at 33/1 or 25/1, but he is worth another mention after his run to finish sixth in the John Smith’s Stakes at Newbury on Saturday. Settled well back in the field in the early stages, he made nice progress all the way up the home straight, despite not enjoying the clearest of passages, to finish fifth, beaten a head and the same for third. He was weak in the market beforehand, he was not given a punishing ride, and he was nearest at the finish, all of which suggests that trainer John Gosden has something big in mind for him later in the season. Chances are, it is the Cambridgeshire. Gosden has won the last two renewals of the Cambridgeshire, and he only has two horses left in the race at this stage, Charm School and Invisible Man, who is not a definite runner. Also the John Smith’s Stakes has provided four of the last five winners, so the stats are in Charm School’s favour. On top of that, he could be really leniently handicapped now, he has had a nice break during the summer and he looked very good in landing an 11-furlong handicap at Kempton on his comeback run a couple of weeks ago. He should get the cut in the ground that he appreciates in the Cambridgeshire, and the fact that he stays further than the nine-furlong trip is always an asset in the Cambridgeshire. He has a big chance in an admittedly hugely competitive handicapped. He has been popular in recent days, he has been backed in to 12/1 joint favourite, but even that is too big.

19th September 2009