Another good days racing today and my arrows have fallen on the following: Over at Deauville it will be nice to see Frankie win again on PALACE PIER 6/5, but not as confident as yesterday's. Also on the card I will follow a couple of unbeaten sorts on a 3 timer, 3.25 VARDANI 3/1 and 4.00 VALIA 15/8. At MR i think many of those at the top of the market will oblige so maybe pick 5 or 6 favs and do a few accas. At Newbury I've gone 1.50 CONFIDE who has been backed from last nights prices and in the following race, 2.25 DANYAH has a great shout. At Ripon, in the 2.40 INTERNATIONAL DREAM and in the big race at 3.15 I've gone for the likely Fav in MOTAGALLY who has the plum draw in 20 up against the rail. Also had a savour on DEPUTISE who is down the other end in stall 2. Good luck all.
Not sure what the weather has turned out like elsewhere but the forecast of blue skies here in deepest darkest East Yorkshire has turned out to be a morning of grey skies and persistent drizzle, so will it remain ‘good’ at Market Rasen (30 miles south as the crow flies) and Ripon in North Yorkshire? Clearly Newbury got the southern rain and has gone ‘soft’. Mishriff collected for Frankie on Saturday’s under card but I think he should have chosen York over Deauville with the wealth of opportunities that John Gosden has available – if Enable had been running, there would have been no decision to make. There are a lot of questions looking at the field for the Prix Jacques le Marois. Arguably the form horse is Circus Maximus, runner-up in the Sussex when kept handy and avoiding all the traffic trouble. With Soumillon taking over in the saddle, will he be instructed to make use of him, as that is not how races are usually run in France? The Ballydoyle runner beat Romanised in a photo finish to the Moulin last year and that one comes here off a win in the Minstrel Stakes and should give a good account looking for back-to-back victories in the race with his regular jockey (who I imagine does not have a fortnight of lockdown to look forward to on return to Ireland). Clearly unbeaten Palace Pier leads the Classic generation effort, although that career is ostensibly one race, his defeat of Pinatubo in the St James’s Palace at Royal Ascot. Given how moderate the three year olds generally have looked, I am disinclined to take that form at face value. Alpine Star won the Coronation Stakes looking like a potential superstar (with Frankie aboard) and was just touched off in the Prix de Diane, so I would not write her off entirely with Stephane Pasquier’s services retained. Cloak Of Spirits yet again let down the Coronation form at Deauville yesterday. Leading the home team is last year’s Poulains winner PERSIAN KING, never out of the first two in his career and winner of the Prix d’Ispahan last time. The small field will be to his advantage as his trainer has cherry-picked French prizes with him, often avoiding the better foreign raiders. Today he really has to show that he is up to the billing.
Ripon 205 This looks to be a tight cl3 with 5/6 staking claims ! I do fancy one to go well but i was refusing to back unless it hit double figures . So with a drift its hit 10s which i think is worthy of a win bet . There are reasons for my madness in win bet on drifter but long winded to explain . Oasis prince 10s win
Let's see how the 1.30 Ripon pans out, may give an indication towards the 3.15. I'm in the high draw camp and one I backed last time when at Redcar and didn't run a good race at all as drawn on the wrong side is TILTILYS ROCK 33/1. Will give him another chance today but his two other wins were over 5f. That result didn't confirm to much in the end with an even spread of high and low.
Already backed this one this morning, for very similar reasoning, Mick. Hope I don't curse your logic; but similar reasoning got me a 40/1 winner yesters, (which with uncommon/unheard-of decency, the bookies told me drifted to 50/1, before scoring at 25/1) and paid me out accordingly on BOG. Here's hoping!....
After Das Kapital winning last night , the aptly named Socialist Agenda could well defy the penalty , the trainer had a bumper horse Zharokova i think it’s called , did the same thing , was ignored in the market but won 2 , think it ran at cheltenham?
Persian Pier was 7/4 yesterday but he's no value at 6/5 now. I have been with the horse from the very start and managed to get 6/1 going into Royal Ascot for the St James Palace. He finished well that day to claim Pinatubo and Wichita but I am not sure that race is as strong as it might have seemed at the time. I have been with Persian King for a long time as well. He was a strong bet for me when he won the Autumn Stakes as a 2YO and I was on board for the French 2000 Guineas when betting eventually became available. I also had him for the French Derby at 10/1 but he didn't stay and Sottsass landed that contest. Sottsass has been a bit disappointing and Persian King was beaten first time out this season before getting back on track with a so-so performance next time. He looked better than that on his third start of the season, where he forged clear once hitting the front. Persian King always looks as if he will be vulnerable to a horse who can quicken because he does not have a real turn of foot and it is more a sustained run for the line that gets him there. Circus Maximus was second in the Sussex but probably flattered in his proximity to Mohaather, who struggled to get a clear run. Kameko also got into bother that day and something about Circus Maximus's profile concerns me, with his trainer seemingly unsure as to the horse's trip last season and I would like to have seen his Queen Anne win working out better than it has done. Romanised did not run well when he was last seen on really soft ground. The heavy going here has to be a concern, especially if taking short odds. I can't back Palace Pier for that reason. Persian King has won on the going and he is a player but I felt Alpine Star was as good as any we have seen this season when winning the Coronation. She didn't last home in the Prix Diance but three horses have won from that race since, including Fancy Blue in the Nassau. The ground is a question but I think she has a chance of going on it and I liked her last run at a mile very much indeed. I'll take the filly for the upset at 6/1 2.50 Deauville Alpine Star 6/1
I am inclined to think that PALACE PIER is about the best his generation has to offer. Might just start getting the proper credit now. Odd thinking back that Gosden started him in a handicap this season but boy the campaign is starting to look stellar!
Filly ran a great race, it seemed unfair how small she is compared to Palace Pier. The colt took time to get rolling today but conditions were not ideal for him and he toughed it out. Another good effort from Circus Maximus but Persian King was very poor. His first couple of runs this season suggested to me that he may not have come back as good as he was following the injury problem that curtailed his season early last year and maybe he just isn't quite this class. It's a thought that early season the word from Harrington's yard was that Albigna was the one but it is Alpine Star who has looked the part and the other filly is AWOL.
Valia has been well backed today. She was 15/8 early on but generally 11/8 now. I picked her as an Arc outsider at 40/1 and today she gets the chance to prove she is first of all good enough to run in the Prix Vermeille and that traditional trial race will then tell the trainer if she is good enough to contest the Arc, Alain De Royer-Dupre entered her in the Arc before she ever ran and he has never done that before. He said he didn't want to be in a position where he perhaps needed to supplement her for the race and has therefore planned her career from the Arc backwards. She debuted at 12F, so is clearly a stayer and perhaps her Arc chance is solely based on it becoming a real slog on the day. Today's conditions should provide a preview of what that might look like and she needs to win well today to keep the trial and then the Arc dream alive.
