The going could play a significant part in the racing tomorrow with a fair amount of rain about in some parts of the country.
Starting at Beverley Mark Johnston has an interesting runner in the 2.25 in Guest Book. He won his maiden at Chepstow before finishing 2nd in an Ascot nursery. A handicap mark of 83 looks reasonable and he should have scope for improvement. The fact that he has not starting his 2010 campaign until now is a slight worry but hopefully he will be in tip top shape and raring to go tomorrow.
The 3.00 looks competitive and I have rather a lengthy short list. Spoken is going for a hat trick after wins at Bath and Nottingham but has gone up 10 lbs since his last success. Up until now he has shown his best form on fast ground. The lightly raced Lucky Windmill won on his seasonal reappearance at Pontefract and should be open to further improvement as he tackles a longer trip here. Bonfire Knight comes into this on the back of 2nds at York and Doncaster and is weighted to be in contention. Medicinal Compound won a Redcar maiden last October and had his first run this season at Ripon last week where he was only beaten a neck after finishing strongly. Layla’s Dancer has been running consistently and comes here on the back of a decent 3rd at Haydock. Some ease in the ground would help his chance.
This is a wide open contest and there are some interesting prices on offer. Medicinal Compound at around 10/1 would be my suggestion.
The Beverley Bullet at 3.30 could suit the Dandy Nicholls runner Masta Plastawho is ridden by son David. At a bigger price Anglezarke would be interesting if recapturing last season’s form.
Goodwood next and there is always the chance that Mata Keranjang could go on to better things now that he has finally won a race but in the opener at 2.00 I slightly prefer the course and distance winner Suruor. I always like course form at the unusual Sussex course.
Drunken Sailor deserves to get his head in front and the 2.30 looks a reasonable opportunity for him. My only selection at Redcar is Tim Easterby’s Escape Artist in the 7.20.
At Newmarket I am quite keen on the chances of Codemaster in the 1.45. He was runner up at Salisbury on his debut and the winner has since gone in again.
San Cassiano has done really well for me already with 2 wins at big prices but he has gone up in the weights and think I will pass him by in the 2.15. Leviathan should be all the better for a recent run on the all weather and given his largely progressive form last season he looks to have an each way chance.
In the 3.20 Rodrigo De Torres drops back to 6 furlongs for the first time since his 2 year old campaign and could be interesting. It is however possible that a race over course and distance earlier this month may prove the key to this contest. Dafeef won on that occasion with Bated Breath a close up third. Given the way that race was run Bated Breath may be able to turn the tables here and he gets the selection. Cheverton will appreciate the ground and from his current handicap mark will be hard to beat in the 4.30.
At Windsor in the 6.10 it is hard to choose between Traffic Guard, Bullet Train and Kingdom of Fife. Course and distance winner Traffic Guard will handle the ground and looks the percentage call.
I am going to give Distant Memories another chance in the 6.40. He has not really lived up to expectations this season but he will like the soft ground and at 11/2 could be value.
Today’s picture is courtesy of the artist Sue Malkin. Follow the link below for further information about this artist.
Bye for now
ahorse 