A bumper day of racing, with every code covered across eight cards. The pick of it is without doubt the Flat action though, and that is where all three bets on the day come from, with two at Musselburgh north of the border and one over the sea from Cork. All three are strong enough fancies for full 2pt bets, so let’s hope we can shake this poor run of things.
Took keen hold, towards rear, headway from over 1f out, no extra inside final 110yds
In rear, squeezed out soon after start, soon pushed along, switched right and kept on inside final furlong, never on terms (jockey said gelding suffered interference shortly after the start)
Held up in midfield, headway from 3f out, ridden and went second over 1f out, ran on well to lead inside final 110yds
Reduced visibility, midfield, challenging under 2f out, kept on inside final furlong
First up is Persuasion, who is a runner from Tracker having shown up well enough to be of interest in recent weeks when seen blowing the cobwebs away on the All-Weather. An out and out Flat performer, the nine-year-old now goes off a handy looking mark. He has been on my radar since last summer, where I just had him weighted out of things, but now he is really shouting as a well handicapped type. A C&D winner, off 1lb higher, he can put a huge run in here.
Then goes Tropical Storm, a four-year-old who I expect to outgrow handicaps well before the end of this season. He was pitched in very deep this time last year, when he was sent for the Group 3 Palace House Stakes at Newmarket as the only three-year-old in the race, where he wasn’t disgraced. He followed that up with a Listed win at York and was again pitched in deep water for the King Charles III Stakes at Royal Ascot, where he was 17th of 20 beaten 7¾ lengths. Three races since he has pitched into handicaps, but all three have been near write-offs — one due to a bad start and then two hard luck stories. Off a mark of 97 now, I genuinely think he could be one of the best handicapped horses in training, should he put it all together.
Moody is interesting on jockey bookings here, with Paddy Twomey sending two for a race they won last year. The 2fav Elana Osario, who is 0/6 under Billy Lee and 3/3 under Colin Keane, has Billy Lee jocked up — with Keane taking the ride on the yard’s new import from Andre Fabre, Moody – Preferably a choice. A maiden winner in France with form behind a Group 3 winner on her only other start, she is an interesting one without even taking into account the riders.
Talking of well handicapped horses, how Perisher has been given an opening mark of 80 is beyond me. This looks hugely lenient, with his mile form littered with Group 3, Group 2 and even Group 1 performers both in front and behind him. Making his handicap bow here, I think he could make an absolute mockery of that mark and ranks as the strongest bet of the day. Had I been more on the boil with the Irish form, I’d have been going Max Bet here.
Best of luck with your punting today,
