Towcester talkback

There was plenty of mud flying at Towcester yesterday; BBC Ceefax reported before racing that the course had taken 16 mm of rain overnight. The car park was on the soft side of heavy.

The tannoy wasn't fully operational during the first but they went pretty steady. I overheard one of the jockeys say the horses were going through it but you wouldn't want to try going any faster!

The Outlier gave the day's most impressive performance by leading from the front and carrying top weight to an easy victory. This horse jumped superbly and will surely get three miles. I backed What'sonyourmind but he was struggling to go the pace down the back straight, even though he was benefitting from his rider's 7lbs claim.

In the novice chase Flintoff took a walk in the market from 7/2 to 6/1. This may have been on account of the performace of England's cricketers or perhaps, more likely, on account of the comment in the Racing Post that the horse had weakened alarmingly when last seen on heavy ground. Whatever the reason, nobody had told the horse as he looked the winner coming to the last but was caught by Henry Daly's Principe Azzurro on the climb to the line. I backed Tom George's Good Citizen in this race. The horse didn't look the most natural of jumpers, losing ground at some flights and jumping left at others. Twiston-Davies' Billyandi showed a bit of temperment going to post, raced off the main group for a way and was then pulled up before the last.

The horse to take from the concluding bumper was 9/1 shot What A Buzz. Having his first run in public, this 'giant' of a horse, to use the course commentator's description, made a bold bid for victory on the turn for home. He was caught by Henrietta Knight's Bally Conn but there is surely a race in him. Favourite Mole's Chamber was easy to back and the market vibes proved correct.