Two I'm keen on tomorrow. 3.55 Yarmouth Hamble 11/2 e/w Hamble is from my alerts. This has come over from Italy to run for Marco. He ran well enough on debut for his trainer finishing a decent enough 4th. Tomorrow he goes to Yarmouth which is one of Botti's job tracks. My tracker comment essentially says 'very capable of winning off this mark. Get stuck in.' Towcester 5.55 Numen 5/1 each way We all know AP has eased his way back into things and he's been very successful doing so thus far. Tomorrow he rides more horses with Numen his first on the card in the opener. The last 2 times AP rode this horse he was rated 117 and he won both of the races. He runs off 100 tomorrow. There's no way they've reached for the Champion jockey on a whim. I expect a winning performance.
Tistory due to make his hurdles debut in the 6.55 at Towcester - surprised he's out so early doubt we'll see him at the festival
A banker bet tomorrow at 9/4. What a price. Only 2½L behind Steeler on 2yo début, "Held up in touch in midfield, shuffled back and behind over 2f out, switched left and not clear run 2f out, still plenty to do and headway just over 1f out, kept on well inside final furlong, never troubled leaders" All the form has worked out very strong. By the sire of Harbour Watch, Equiano and Dark Angel out of a Mark Of Esteem mare, this colt has more class than any of these. Surprised he isn't odds on. If he's anywhere near 100% this will be a cakewalk. I guess the market will tell us that but I would take the risk at 9/4 Wentworth - Goodwood 16.20
2:35 Goodwood - Magic City 16/1 7:10 Cork - Jamesie Hall 7/1 4:20 Goodwood - Miss Lahar 14/1 2:45 Yarmouth - Relentless Harry 8/1 These lot in a lucky 15 EW
I am a big fan of that Wentworth Ron but I am very surprised that he is running over 6f tomorrow. Thought he looked better the further he went even over 1m lto
BRAVO ECHO 2.35 Good 8-1 yard in form and were unlucky not to land a punt today. This boy has dropped to a tasty mark and is a previous winner over this Course and Distance. Strongly fancied tomorrow and sure to go really well although this is a very competitive heat. PRIME CONTENDER 5.55 Towc 10-1 has a long absence to overcome but I am confident that Jennie Candlish will have him straight for his return. He was previously racing off 122 and tomorrow races off a paltry 100. If anything like fit enough to do himself justice he should bolt up. Two miles on good ground at this testing track should be just about perfect. Smash into this one with confidence.
Yes it is interesting RV that he goes back in distance. From what I remember Goodwood is not an easy 6f. His début was 7f over this course and with a trouble free run may well have beaten Steeler who went on to go under to Kingsbarns by only 1¾L. He then improved on that performance over 7f at York. That looks close to classic form to me. Plenty of speed in the pedigree. He is a 3yo against older horses so perhaps a stiff 6f whilst carrying 6lb less than he did on his 2yo début here will be enough to see him coast home. I see Lads are still going 9/4.
Yeah why not. They'll both go off half their current prices though I bet so we'll not get paid enough if it comes in
Yes mate. Mikey has his string in rude health and several of them are well handicapped now. They like a punt to pay the bills and the money is down!
I think this looks a decent bet Ron, A Trixie would return your stake and a little more even if you only got two. Centered beat the Hannon horse that got second in the big race at Goodwood today, I was gutted at that result as I had the Hannon horse to a nice bet and centred was struggling at half way but stayed on well, if he gets a good test tomorrow once again he will be hard to beat. Auction was hugely impressive last time and wentworth has the form in the book if has trained on and the trip is not too short as Rainbow has pointed out. I may place this trixi though come tomorrow morning.
Totally agree RV. I watched him run without looking at his breeding and on first impressions I wanted a price for the Derby! I thought he and Toronado would end up Guineas bound. Im concerned about the step back in trip and the fact he totally misses the classics. Maybe a sign of him not training on. Then again, maybe he has just shown them proper speed at home and he turns out a Royal Ascot Group sprinter. I have doubts though.
2.45 Yarmouth Decent Fella 5/1 I'm having a decent bet on Decent Fella as he could prove miles too good for these off a mark of 67 having shaped extremely well over an inadequate 5f at Chepstow on his first start on turf for his current trainer and is extremely well handicapped on his old form. Rated 92 as recent as September of last year for Andrew Balding, this 7 year old joined Violet Jordan in December last year and after running 11 times on the all weather in recent months his mark has plummeted to 67 on a surface that doesn't suit anywhere near as much as turf. His latest start came at Chepstow earlier this month over an inadequate 5f off this mark of 67 (a full 25lb below the mark his previous turf start came on) and he very much looked like a horse who was very close to winning with an extremely eye catching run. On a day where Chepstow was very much suiting those who were on the pace, Decent Fella was ridden by Cathy Gannon and it very much seemed as if his jockey was taking a tug in the early stages as he was a full 10L+ off the pace. Heading towards the final furlong, he was still absolutely miles behind the principles and when Gannon released a bit of rein he made up a huge amount of ground without ever being asked much of a question and he was never nearer than at the finish as he was beaten 3L in the end. He really seemed to appreciate the return to turf despite the trip being too short and I expect him to go very close off the same mark now over his best distance of 7f. In her reasonably short career, Violet Jordan has made a name for herself for getting horses very well handicapped in a short period of time and this one looks to fit that pattern perfectly and he is undoubtedly ridiculously well handicapped. Neil Callan takes the ride and was beaten a head on his only start for the stable and Decent Fella is well drawn in stall 11. There seems to be a lot of potential pace angles in the race which should suit this hold up performer and if building on his latest effort now back over his optimum trip then this well handicapped individual could prove miles too good off a mark of 67.
4.30 Yarmouth Eshtiaal 4/1 Brian Meehan's Eshtiaal makes his handicap debut here off a mark of 85 having scored at the 3rd time of asking and this pretty nicely well bred 3 year old seems held in high regard by his trainer with a favourable mention in a recent stable tour being backed up by his entry in the King Edward VIII Stakes next month. Eshtiaal made a highly promising debut on his sole 2 year old outing over 1m at Newmarket last October when a staying on 2nd and he was put away for the winter after that start. He seems to have developed into a nice 3 year old and he put in another highly promising effort when a staying on 4th over the straight 10f last month when never nearer than at the finish and that race has worked out well with the 2nd and 5th scoring on their only subsequent starts. Eshtiaal deservedly shed his maiden tag at the 3rd time of asking 2 weeks ago when winning by a short head despite not looking the finished product in a Maiden that I think will turn out to be very strong form. Upped to 12f at Goodwood, Eshtiaal was posted wide for most of the journey and just about got up late on to score by a narrow margin under today's jockey Dane O'Neill. Going into that race, several of the horses in behind had some very useful form in Maidens and given that the 3rd and 4th also hold King Edward VIII Stakes entries I am sure it will turn out to be very useful form in time and I think a mark of 85 certainly looks a winnable one. Since that victory a couple of weeks ago, At The Races have visited the Meehan yard and Eshtiaal received a favourable mention by his trainer who stated "he's come on again for his Goodwood win and he's really going the right way" and that he thinks he "has the potential to make it at pattern level" which certainly buoys optimism for todays race. A horse who is sure to appreciate a strong gallop, front runners Salutation and Debdebdeb should hopefully set a good tempo and I think Eshtiaal looks primed for a big challenge in this 7 runner contest. Dane O'Neill, who has been on board the last twice, takes the ride and is riding out of his skin at present whilst Brian Meehan has his horses in really good order at the moment. The only horse in the field with any big race entries, I think 4/1 looks a more than fair price about Eshtiaal and hopefully he can land this before going on to bigger and better things.
Stick with regards to Bravo Echo, heavy rain is forecast at Goodwood tomorrow which I think will wash away his chances.
7.10 Cork Mister Benedictine 14/1 I'm very surprised to see 14/1 available about Brendan Duke's 10 year old who was in the form of his life last summer when winning 3 on the bounce without coming off the bridle before being injured on his final start and although he's got a 274 day absence to overcome he's won on the back of a break before and despite getting on a bit in years I think he's still got a bit of progression left in him. Trained by Duke when he was operating in the UK where he won 4 races, Mister Benedictine then joined Paul Nolan in 2011 where he was wayward in 3 starts before rejoining Duke who has since relocated to Ireland. Mister Benedictine made his 2nd 'debut' for Duke at Balinrobe where he sauntered in off a career low mark of 93 on the back of 332 day absence before turning out 5 days later at Kilbeggan under a 6lb penalty where he won even easier. Raised a further 15lb for that run to a mark of 114, Mister Benedictine continued to make the handicapper look foolish as he again won easily when eased down to complete his hat trick in fine style which saw the handicapper raise Mister Benedictine a further 15lb to a mark of 129. I remember after that race last year that Mister Benedictine was being aimed at the Galway Hurdle but he unfortunately didn't get in and he was also pulled from a valuable race at Galway due to the ground going soft which doesn't suit him. Mister Benedictine had one final start last year where he reportedly cut his right fore cannon which you've got to put a line through (dropped 1lb to 128) and if ignoring that effort you find a horse who couldn't have won each of his last 3 starts any easier and who looked on the upgrade despite his age. He's had plenty of time to get over that injury last August and I have absolutely no concern about his fitness as he clearly goes very well fresh. Mister Benedictine was actually due to make his seasonal reappearance in the Irish Champion Hurdle (scoped wrong) and although he clearly would have been outclassed I think it says an awful lot about how he is at home and how highly he is rated. He also missed an engagement earlier this month at Kilbeggan as he was pulled due to the ground going soft and I think both those occurrences could be a strong indication that he is ready to run first time up. Another interesting thing to note is that British based David Crosse, who was on board for all his 3 wins last summer, comes across for this one ride and again that looks another strong pointer that he's fancied to run a big race by connections. He definitely faces a difficult task attempting to shoulder top weight in this competitive looking handicap but if returning in the same form he showed last summer before his injury then 14/1 could look absolutely huge after the race tomorrow as he gets his required good ground.