Friday
I may have missed something here but I don't understand why OCEAN REACH is 16/1 at Chepstow today.
Ok, so perhaps I do understand why he is, but on the balance on his form this
year, he looks to have a cracking chance here. He ran in a maiden here at
Chepstow behind the well regarded Damage Control and despite a 40lbs odd difference
between the pair, he finished a close enough second, in front of some nice
types. He proved that run was no fluke by finishing second again here the last
day, only finding the well handicapped Tronada too good.
The drop in trip should suit
today and although there are plenty of runners in with a chance, my selection
runs off the same mark as he did the last time and I can't see any Damage
Control/Tronada in here today.
There are a few horses running
today which I have tipped previously in this column most notably Cloud Drift at
Leicester who is a bit short for me. POT
OF PAINT is another and he just failed to see out the 1m 4f on soft ground
last time at Haydock but did travel well. With that in mind the drop to 1m 2f
looks a good idea but the wide draw will mean Richard Kingscote will have to
work his magic. The drop in trip does mean he can ride him with confidence and
aggression which might be what he needs from this wide draw and at around 9/1,
I think he is worth some each way support.
Chepstow 3.20 – Ocean Reach – 1pt e/w
Haydock 4.25 – Pot Of Paint – 0.5pts e/w
Sat
A big Saturday of action where punters will have to be smart
with their stakes if they want to get involved at all the meetings. There are
some really tough races to pick apart and it will be hard to be confident about
anything in all honesty.
I've
got three selections which I am confident about however and first up is MOLL DAVIS. I've followed her off the
cliff already but I'm hoping to find myself a soft landing as she lines up in a
listed event at Newbury. Everyone knows she was the best horse in her last run
here at Newbury when conceding a huge amount of distance to the eventual winner
who tracked a runaway leader closely. The bare form of that race puts her in
with a chance tomorrow but I'm sure she is much better than that. I'm hoping it
won't get so messy here today and she can get a sensible lead into the race
before being delivered late in the piece.
Just 15
minutes later at York, I hope WHERE'S
JEFF will be asking ‘where is the champagne?' because I think he has a good
chance now stepping up in trip. He faced an impossible task last time when
conceding weight to a blot on the handicap who won again next time out. Mick
Easterby is a shrewd old man though and I expect my selection to step forward
for that again and also improve for the step back up 12f. He's a tough stayer
and I do think he has plenty of mileage left in his current mark. He gets a
strong each way selection.
The
Irish Oaks is the feature at the Curragh tonight and I am very keen on the
chances of ENNISTYMON who was second
to Love in the English version. She reversed the Ascot form with Frankly
Darling comfortably, as I expected her to do, and she showed herself to be a
classy filly in her own right. I think Love is just out of this world so you
can't compare the two nor can you mark her down for the 9 length defeat in my
view. I'd rather look at the Ascot form and take Love out of the Epsom form and
if you do that, I think you come to the conclusion Ennistymon is a very
talented filly. Cayenne Pepper was the best of a bad bunch up against Magical
last time and I would be looking to take her on here given Jessie Harrington
stated she hasn't really grown over the winter. The biggest threat is likely to
come from within the selection's own team but I think they will have to pull
out all the stops if they are to beat her.
Newbury 3.25 – Moll Davis – 1pt e/w
York 3.40 – Where's Jeff – 1pt e/w
Curragh 7.15 – Ennistymon – 2pt win
