Review of the day

It was always going to be hard to follow yesterday - when I got the borderline calls right and we twice found ourselves on the right side of fine lines.

So maybe it wasn’t surprising that things didn’t go so well today (as that’s the nature of the beast !).

I was maybe a touch guilty of being overly aggressive with the tips - but I felt I’d found some horse to go to war with and was therefore inclined to roll the dice.

However, the bravery (win only: relatively big odds) didn’t pay off - and non of the tips came home in front.

I’m not for one minute suggesting that it made any difference - but I couldn’t believe how much slower the ground looked to be riding today (unless that’s how it looks, when you are backing losers !).

So far as I was aware, there had been minimal rain in the past 24 hours - but the races looked real slogs.

One horse that slower ground should have suited, was Eamon an Cnoic.
He was the first tip to run today and not only has he previously won in the soft - he also has plenty of stamina.

Therefore when he came there, seemingly full of running, between the final 2 fences, I thought we were going to start today, as we had ended yesterday.

However, as I said this morning, he’s an enigmatic horse.
He’d also made a few mistakes on the way round - so I wasn’t totally surprised, when he was disinclined to pass a very game mare, up the Cheltenham hill.

I guess we were due one that traded odds on in-running - but lost….

Good Man Pat was the next tip to run - and I was keen on him.
And to be honest, I don’t rally know where it went wrong.
I didn’t see him make any significant mistakes - it just appeared that he wasn’t good enough.
Maybe he struggled in the ground - as it did look pretty gruelling.

Warthog didn’t struggle - and he battled back tenaciously, having been passed on the run in.
As I said this morning, he was my second choice in the race - but I decided to go just with the main fancy.
With hindsight, that was a mistake…

Gumball was the third tip to run - and he wouldn’t have been suited by the relatively soft ground.
Despite that he was still very strong in the market - though that was probably because people woke up to the fact that it was a relatively open race.

Call me Lord was the best horse in the race based on official ratings - and the soft ground played into his hands, big time.
He managed to get the better of Ballyandy (another mud-lark) in a rousing finish - with Gumball a few lengths back in sixth.
It was a fair run - but nothing more than that.

That was also the case with the final tip of the day - Mega Yeats.
She was another one who I was pretty keen on - and her chance was enhanced by the soft ground.

However, whilst she ran OK - she was absolutely no match for Dame de Campagnie or Indefatigable.
The winner looked to have at least a stone in hand - and it will be interesting to see where she ends up.

As for the Mentions:

Then Tremwedge was a non runner in the opener - leaving odds on favourite Botox Has, to win relatively easily (if not overly impressively).
Mister Fisher coped with the ground and was a good winner of the novice chase.
That was a little irritating, as I had it in my mind to tip him, if he reached 3/1.
He did reach that price - but tipping late, at this time of year, is very hard - as it delays my issuing of the write-up.
The first race was off at 12:10 - and I couldn’t have tipped late and got the write-up out an hour before the first race (which is my target).
Maybe I need to look at options there…
The soft ground should also have suited Saint Xavier in the novice hurdle - but it looked as if he did need the race.
He’ll be more fairly judge after his next run.

Over at Doncaster, Sam Spinners hesitant jumping seemed to cause Aye Right to fall - which is an interesting way of dealing with the opposition !
Sam Spinner might have won (again) - but he’s simply never going to reach the top over fences… (famous last words ?!)
Finally Cloth Cap looked set to win the handicap chase - but he was run down in the shadow of the post, by My Old Gold.
I’m sure he will win races this season - but it was a quite a battle, and I hope it doesn’t leave a mark…

Just a quick reminder that I’m taking tomorrow off (there is very little decent racing).
I’ll be back next weekend - and will confirm details of ‘what and when’, at some point during the forthcoming week.

TVB.