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Friday 31 December 2010

What will 2011 bring us ?

Well we are nearly at the end of 2010 and as we look back over the year we can gain confidence from the results that we have achieved in pursuing our goals in life, whether it be racing related or not.

Please keep in touch with the blog whether you are a new or old readers as I am looking forward to the 2011 flat season with renewed enthusiasm and I will be endeavouring to seek out some big handicap winners.

As always comments are welcomed from whoever is reading, I am not afraid of critiscm and I love praise, so please let me from you.

Finally I hope all the readers of my blog, young and old, have a Happy New Year and a prosperous 2011.

Thursday 30 December 2010

John Balding duo to double up ?

John Balding sends both Cheery Cat and You'relikemefrank to Lingfield tomorrow and both look capable of running well and continuing their trainers recent good spell of form.

Cheery Cat contests the 2.00pm over 6f and he may not have done his best last time out at Southwell so we will go with him again to regain his polytrack form and get placed in waht looks a weak race on paper.

You'relikemefrank has been realatively progressive of late and he could well throw in a better run now back at Lingfield in the 3.00pm over 5f, he won well there the time before last and a speculative small ew double could be the best bet on the two of them, although its not likely to make us rich.

Some more Kiev Sir ?

At kempton tonight in the 6.40 Anne of Kiev gets the chance to extend her winning run to three and make it 4 wins for the year. Given that we have backed her for her 3 wins so far we have to stick with her today and she showed no signs of stopping her winning sequence at Lingfield last time out and of course she has race fitness in the bag. She has no trouble with the distance and she ran ok here on her first run back after a break behind Piscean who has gone on to win since. She has gone up 6lb for her latest win to 90 so it is getting harder and harder for her each time and although she faces some good opponents today they are beatable.
She will probably sit off the pace once again and come with a late run, however Ray of Joy will also have that as his game plan and he won over course and distance last time out when defeating subsequent winner Breathless Kiss by a neck for which he was raised 1lb to 85, he also ran well on his previous run at the track and he can pose the selection most problems in my view.
Of the others Diriculous has dropped down the weights but it remains to be seen if he is back to his best. Perfect Act probably runs best when fresh and the rest dont look up to it unless someone poaches an early lead and is able to hold on in the straight.

Looking back at yesterday John Balding's sprinters continue to be in good form, as I have previously stated, and his Garstang was having his first run back at Woverhampton after having had 2 wind operations and ran a very respectable fourth place. He looks sure to be a winner soon and we should continue to follow all of the yards runners until their run of good form stops.

Sunday 26 December 2010

The Secret is out at Lingfield !

I hope you have all had an enjoyable Christmas holiday and that you are ready once again to do battle with the bookies  and or exchanges.

The Class 2 Dry Hill Handicap at Lingfield over 6f on Tuesday see's Jane Chapple Hyam's grey gelding Secret Asset bid to extend his winning run to two (AW Form 2161)
Last time out over this same course and distance he recorded a decent time of 1m 10.88s which is about the fastest we have seen over the course and distance this AW season, he sat off the pace there before coming through smoothly to win going away by 1 3/4 lengths from Sioux Rising.

Piscean(Drawn 9) has shown progressive form on the AW to date winning off marks of 78, 82, 89 and 93 and in the last of those he beat Sutton Veny(10) who now meets him on 4lb better terms for a 1 1/4 length beating but his limitations look to have been exposed, also in that race where Edinburgh Knight(4), Sioux Rising, Secret Asset(5)(winner since) and Cape Vale(winner since).
If we take Sioux Rising as a bench mark for Secret Asset we see that in the "Piscean race" Sioux Rising was receiving 6lb from Secret Asset and finished 1/2 a length in front, but in their next race Sioux Rising was receiving 12lb but on this occasion Secret Asset beat him by 1 3/4 lengths in what was a faster run race. Secret Asset obviously improved on the first of those runs and he may be capable of improving further given another fast run race which he could well get at Lingfield, but whether he has improved enough to beat Piscean is the big question ?

Of the others in the race Arganil(11) had shown progressive form on the AW up to March of this year and won his last race over 5f here off 105 and runs off 96 now but for some reason he has not shown the same sparkle since and something must be niggling him which is preventing him from giving his all.
Love Delta(6) has shown his best form at Southwell and Five Star Junior(1) who is 2-6 here has been off for 92 days so will probably need the run.
In any event I cant see anything else in the race being good enough to beat Secret Asset and Piscean and I expect to see them both dominating the finish, who will be good enough is open to opinion but I feel that Secret Asset may just prevail with George Baker in the saddle as he has a healthy 22% strike rate at this track.

Tuesday 21 December 2010

Kiev to be served late !

Lingfield is subject to an early morning inspection tomorrow and I hope it gets the go ahead as Anne of Kiev can get the chance to extend her winning sequence.
The race in my view looks to be between Anne of Kiev, Perfect Act, Methaaly and Billy Red, the latter set off at a decent clip last time and it remains to be seen whether he does so again as he folded up the straight then with those tactic's, albeit it was a better race than this. Perfect Act has her second race for Andrew Balding since moving from Clive Cox and she clocked a decent time over this 6f last time out when winning after a several month break, however she is best fresh so whether she will be as keen this time up we dont know, however the stable have been in good form of late and she was only raised 3lbs for that win and she looks to be the one to give the selection most to do. Methaaly has been a stalwart of the track but he is still capable of decent form on his day and although he may not win I would expect him to be thereabouts.
Anne of Kiev however looks capable of better and provided the stable have been able to get an edge on her fitness with the current conditions then she should take the beating. She was forced wide on the home turn for her win last time and although the time was slower than most for the track it seems to have speeded up since then according to race times and she picked up well once she commenced her run to win going away despite a little stumble near the finish. She got upset in the stalls prior to being a non runner here last time, when her stalls blanket fell off as she went in and it is hoped that incident hasnt left it's mark.
The race looks set to be run in a decent time and I would expect it to be set up for a late run from Anne of Kiev and the early price of 7/2 looks more than fair.

Winter Wonderland ???

With the weather showing no signs of letting up we continue to be treated to the AW racing as our only avenue of racing action.

Today we have a whole meeting of bumpers with strange entry conditions to cover all sorts at Kempton, whilst at Southwell there is a low class flat meeting to conjure with.

At Southwell in the first Alpha Tauri should be able to build on his last run for his new trainer as he looks to have improved since moving to new surroundings.

In the second race I mentioned Charles Bear the other week but he hasnt really shown anything in his 2 races since and it remains to be seen if he runs any better in this handicap for his inexperienced rider, still he could be some ew value at small stakes only.

Monday 13 December 2010

Balding continues good run !

John Balding sent out another winner today to continue his good recent run which was flagged up on this blog after the first of his wins in November with Cheery Cat, he has added another 4 wins since at good odds. He is a top trainer of sprinters and with the likes of Garstang and Turn on the Style shortly to come back from injury setbacks he can continue his good form into the New Year.
He has This Ones for Eddy entered in the 3.25 at Southwell on Tuesday who has won at the track before and he looks to be on a favourable mark at present.

Thursday 2 December 2010

Ballodair to show his true colours ?

A bumper 10 race card at Wolverhampton today, the track where all the trainers love to go !

In the 6.15 Ballodair's recent form figures dont look too convincing but when you have a look at the races he's been in you wonder whether we have seen the best of him yet and his recent pipe opener here could have brought him on a bit. He has been up against some better one's than he will see in this and having dropped in the handicap and been given a stall 3 draw he should have an ew chance for the Fahey stable at the value odds of 11/1.

In the next race at Wolverhampton Charles Bear is also better than we have seen to date, but whether he obliges in this maiden or waits for a handicap is a problem we have to work out.

So much for "All Weather" racing with Lingfield being abandoned today and another inspection planned for tomorrow!!

Wednesday 1 December 2010

Don't be putting your feet up just yet, there is the All Weather !!

With limited jump racing taking place over the next week and beyond the All Weather racing will be coming to the fore as the Racing papers and betting Shops strive to find something to write and bet about.

Unfortunately the All Weather racing on offer doesnt make the blood race and you could well get frostbite whilst trying to find a winner !

The sprint races tomorrow consist of Class 5 5f 20y Handicap at Wolverhampton and a Class 6 6f Handicap at Lingfield.

At Wolverhampton the field consists of 8 runners and the race should be between Grand Stitch, Sloop Johnb and Angelo Poliziano, although Raimond Ridge could be capable of further improvement now he has switched stables as he seems to perform well on the polytrack and 22/1 is a good price if he gets the strong pace he needs.

I dont know anything about the runners at Lingfield and it looks a dire race that you should avoid if of course racing gets the go ahead with an inspection planned at 6.00am.

We have a Class 2 Handicap over 6f on Saturday at Southwell as well a Class 4 over 5f at Wolverhampton and lets hope those in high places put on some decent races whilst the cold snap continues. Hopefully they will be quicker off the mark this year with extra bumpers on the All Weather if we are in for a continued cold spell.