Melissa Jones says: Al Kazeem dream not over

IT was a shame Chepstow bred superstar Al Kazeem could not make his comeback a winning one last weekend.

On first gaze it looked pretty disappointing he could not overhaul rivals far inferior on ratings.

You could not say he came to win his race as he didn't get close enough to the front, but what was evident is that he blew up.

In layman's terms this is when he is not at peak fitness, it is a bit like a runner finding it difficult to breathe in the latter stages of a race if not fully trained.

Roger Charlton would have done plenty of work with him but it's worth noting he was overweight compared to normal.

This is something that did not surprise me as when I last spoke to owner John Deer's stud manager Tim Lane, he said the horse had come back big and well from duties passing on his genes.

I retain faith this horse can get somewhere near his form of last year, but not matching his three Group One wins.

He will come on for this run, jockey James Doyle did not give him a hard time and John Deer's horses invariably improve with age.

In other news this week, Chepstow Racecourse had to abandon its

Caribbean Night scheduled for yesterday following an attack of nemotodes.

These micro-organisms, which you have to strain the eyes to see in a tiny nodule on the plant root, can cause areas of the track to become unstable.

Journalists might be intrigued by the issue because nemotodes are not something they encounter very often, but I am told sporting venues do often suffer with them.

In situations like these it is best to make an early call and it was necessary on health and safety grounds to call off the meeting with a week to go.

Work is in progress to ensure the problem is sorted as soon as possible.

The track's next meeting is August 6, with Ladies Evening the following week on Thursday 14 August.

Lingfield raced instead of Chepstow yesterday.

Finally I cannot end without a quick mention of fallen racehorse Galley Slave.

@Kavismaye summed it up perfectly: "Galley Slave was a stalwart of midweek racing, he was no great shakes but life will be poorer without him."

A horse limited in ability who had a remarkable 132 starts on tracks up and down the country for his small stable, never falling until Cartmel earlier this week.

Condolences to all those involved with him.