Review of the day

You always need a bit of luck in this game - and whilst it could be argued that we have had some in the first few weeks of the season - we certainly didn’t get any today !

I issued 6 tips on the day - and 3 of them ran really well.
However, running really well is no good, unless you are backing EW - and as you know, TVB has a strong ‘win only’ ethos !

The first tip to run was Neachells Bridge - and despite a big price, he ran a huge race.
In fact, approaching the second last, it looked as if he might get the day off to a perfect start.
However, he couldn’t find any extra from that point - and Pym and Highest Sun, moved away from him.
He lost little in defeat - apart from the stake money !

The next tip to run was Rosy World - but she didn’t run anywhere near as well.
That was a little surprising, as she was very well backed (went off 7/2 co fav).
There were no apparent excuses for her - she just didn’t look good enough.

What was irritating, is that Coilite Eile and Drinks Interval fought out the finish - and they were the 2 that I’d nominated as the main dangers !

Fin and Game was the third tip to run - and a bit like Neachells Bridge, he put in an effort, much better than his price suggested - but not quite good enough to win.

He travelled strongly through the race - but just couldn’t get to Whoshotthesherrif.
That wasn’t the case for the well backed Bold Plan, who produced a strong run from the last to snatch victory from the game runner up.

The next tip to run was Acey Milan - and he looked particularly unlucky not to win.

Up with the pace throughout he just kept finding and finding -  and when he got the better of Ask Ben after jumping the last, he looked sure to win.

However, it was not to be.
He then began to tire - and inside the final 100 yards, Stoney Mountain ran him down.

I’ve had tips collared a few times on the run on at Haydock - and it doesn’t get any easy to take !

By comparison, the final 2 tips of the day performed disappointingly.

Speredek was the first of them to run.
He sat in behind a very strong early pace, set by Imperial Presence and Knocknanuss.
In truth, the pace looked too strong (the 3 of them were about 20 lengths clear of the field, after 3 fences) - and sure enough, they were all starting to struggle as the end of the back straight approached.

In a repeat of the race from earlier in the month, Diego du Charmil and Capeland cruised by them - and this time, it was the latter who proved strongest.
I could have been very interested in him at a price - but 7/2 this morning just felt too short in such a strong race.

Zerachiel was the final tip to run - and his race lasted precisely 2 fences !
That’s a fence more than his seasonal debut run 12 months ago, when he fell at the first - so I guess you could say that he’s improving !

With him out of the race, it seemed inevitable that Moving in Style would win (as I had thought long and hard about tipping him).

However, he couldn’t quite get to the veteran Perfect Candidate, who stayed on well, to take advantage of his much reduced mark.

It was a similar story of near misses with the day Mentions:
Both Call me Lord and Midnight Shadow, traded long odds on in running - but came out second best in tight finishes.

Frodon didn’t trade odds on - in fact, he was totally outclassed by Bristol de Mai and Lostintranslation, in an enthralling Betfair chase.
The younger horse came out on top and it will take a very good one to beat him this season.

And Cyrname could just be that horse !
He became the first horse to beat Altior over obstacles - and there was no fluke about it.

There is the possibility that Altior isn’t as good as he used to be - but there is also the possibility that Cyrname is an exceptional animal.

Doubtless all will be revealed over the next few months…!

TVB.