Month: May 2006

There is just the one runner from our list to follow on Friday and that is Majestic Times in the listed sprint at Cork at 5.50.  Liam McAteer’s sprinter tasted his first success in listed class over 5 furlongs here last season.  He is equally effective over this trip of 6 furlongs and the ground should suit well enough. He is the type of horse that will always give of his best but he has a bit to do at these weights.  The price of 8/1 in the Racing Post seems to fairly reflect his chances.

  Not much to say about the UK racing.  Otelcaliforni seems a likely winner in the 4.50 at Musselburgh but not worth it at the likely short price.  See you tomorrow evening for a look at what promises to be an exciting weekend with the first 2 English classics at Newmarket.

Continue reading “Diary: May 5 2006” →

Well Mr Sandicliffe finally broke his duck after a remarkable string of 2nds.  It will be interesting to see if he can go on from there.

  

The flat list to follow continues its stuttering start to the season.  Stronghold surprised me by winning, while Tungsten Strike was a close 2^nd.

  

I am going to start with Redcar tonight.  There is an interesting 2 year old in the maiden at 2.20.  Silly Gilly is a half sister to 5 winners and is certainly one to keep an eye on.

  

Compromiznotension was certainly not disgraced when 2^nd of 14 at Folkestone and can gain compensation in the 3.50.

  

4.20 Pearly King won for me last time out and stands a good chance of following up in the 4 runner handicap.

  Musselburgh  7.00 Fullandby and Grigorovitch represent the list to follow. They are both well drawn and there is not much between them Grigoravitch is a course and distance winner and seems to go on any ground.  Fullandby though has the best recent form. Bye for now.

Continue reading “Diary: May 4 2006” →

We had a disappointing haul from the 5 runners from the list to follow on Tuesday, with only 1 winner, Mannikko at evens.  I think that some of the others will come good eventually though and I will be sticking with them.

  

Apart from the listers, I was pleased that a couple of other horses that I mentioned, Clear Impression and Sierra Vista ran well in the sprint at Bath.  They were 3^rd and 4^th at 18/1 and 9/1 respectively.

  

Regular readers may remember a horse called Mr Sandicliffe.  His career form figures now read 222242.  He has turned finishing 2^nd into a positive art form.  Can he break his duck in the Nottingham 2.10?  I wouldn’t bet on it!

  

Woolly Bully, from our list to follow seems bent on emulating Mr Sandicliffe as he has finished runner up on both his starts this season.  He was only beaten a short head last time out at Leicester and tries to go one better in the 4.10.  He has not gone up in the weights since his last run and now has a good 3 lbs claimer on board in Adam Kirby.  Woolly Bully deserves to win a race.

  

Miss Thailand represents our list in the maiden at 4.40.  Geoff Wragg’s filly made an encouraging start to her career when a close up third at Yarmouth last September.  She is related to the classy Asian Heights and looks one to follow.

  

Cool Customer is probably nothing special but he has won for us this season already in a weak maiden at Leicester.  He runs in the 8.52 at Kempton, another ordinary looking race and he must have a fair chance.

  

Lingfield 2.00 Fairfield Princess won nicely at Kempton last time.  The 2^nd that day was Crystal Gazer, who reopposes here.  Should be close between these two.

  

3.00 Mostashaar and Stronghold represent out list to follow. Mostashaar was an easy winner of the Britannia Handicap at York last season and if fully would up on his first run of the season looks the likely winner.

  

3.30 River Thames is a horse that I featured a few times last season and he did win a couple.  I didn’t include him in the list to follow this season as he looks the type that could be a bit difficult to place as a 3 year old.  I will continue to monitor his progress though.

  

4.00 Tungsten Strike is a course and distance winner but may need the run after being off the track for 200 Days.

  

5.00 Imperial Gain went into my notebook last season after he had run 2^nd to Signor Peltro at Haydock.  He has had 3 runs and now makes his handicap debut.

  

Pontefract 2.20 Jack Rackham and Seriously Lucky are interesting runners here.  Jack Rackham finished well when 3^rd on his debut at Musselburg and one of the horses behind him has since won.  He gets the selection on the basis that his experience will stand him in good stead.  Seriously Lucky is bred to win as a 2 year old and is one to watch on his debut here for a stable that have a good hit rate with juveniles.

  

4.20 Chess Board runs for Sir Mark Prescott.  On Tuesday I had high hopes for another horse from this stable, Phone In, but he could only finish 4^th at Kempton.  He was allowed to start at 6/1 which was surprising and I am wondering if the Prescott 3 year olds are in need of a run to put them right.  I will be watching Chess Board with interest.

  That is about it for now.  Plenty of interesting runners on Wednesday.  I will be back tomorrow night to review the day and preview Thursday.

 

Continue reading “Diary: May 3 2006” →

After the successes of Saturday it was back to earth with a bump with only 1 winner from 3 on Monday, and that at 1/3.

  

There are a few runners from the list to follow in action on Tuesday.  Our first runner is Neverletme go in the listed sprint at Bath 4.30.  She won over the minimum trip at Doncaster and Nottingham last season and seems suited by fast ground. May not have ground conditions to suit here though. A couple of old friends are also in the line up.  My regulars will know that I have given Sierra Vista plenty of write ups in the past.  She is a remarkable horse in that she has won 8 times and always at a big price.  33/1, 25/1, 16/1, 11/1 (twice), 8/1, 11/2 and 4/1, and she only cost 500 gns as a yearling.  She is best with a little give in the ground but has never won above handicap class.  The lightly raced Clear Impression had classic entries at one time but has probably had injury problems and has changed stables.  Interesting that she is dropped back to the minimum trip here.

  

The 4.30 is probably not a race to get too heavily involved in but the handicap at 5.00 has distinct possibilities. We have two from our list to follow in Ceredig and Mannikko.  Ceredig had just 3 runs last season and looks the type that could do well in handicaps off a modest rating.  Slight preference on this occasion is for Mannikko who plugged on to be 2^nd at Nottingham racing down the centre of the track 3 weeks ago.

  

We also have a couple of runners in the 7.56 at Kempton.  Julie Camacho is an underrated trainer who places her horses astutely.  Entranced was a 20/1 winner at Wolverhampton in a maiden.  She is bred on stamina lines and looks the type to improve. Phone In represents Sir Mark Prescott who excels with his 3 year old handicappers. This is a departure from Prescott’s usual modus operandi as we don’t normally see his runners until well into the summer.  He ran three times last season over inadequate trips but should be seen to much better effect over middle distances.  He might just be thrown in here off a mark of just 65.

  

4.10 Southwell – Zorn has won 5 times in his career and they all came at Southwell, 4 of them at this distance.  At 10/1 he seems a value each way selection.

  Good luck and hope to see you again tomorrow.

Continue reading “Diary: May 2 2006” →