Southwell tonight, what is better than that for a Thursday night?
4:40 - Race of the night if you like course form, so much of it to go with. Gorgeous General is the one for me here, loves the course, down to a low mark that is below his last win here, Ben Curtis takes over, blinkers and tongue tie. Surely that all points to him trying at least!!
5:15 - Second heat of the handicap sprint, but unlike the first heat, it doesn't have much course form to go with. I've backed Decision Maker in this, given his good course form and importantly I think the race will be run to suit him. He likes to run prominently and he should be able to do that here with only one pace angle in Quaint who is drawn on his inside and should give him a nice lead into the straight. If he can sit one off the rail in second then I will be very happy when they turn in. The key to this race will be if they get the fractions right from the front as Global Melody and Northern Charm both rattled home late when first and second a week ago in a race that looked to be run at too fast a pace. Today that shouldn't happen and hence why I am happy to take them on with Decision Maker. He is a decent price too.
6:45 - The best race of the night in terms of handicap marks, and it is the top weight here that I like in Astro Jakk. 3 from 5 at the course, with a further placed effort, he obviously likes the surface and importantly he is drawn low and has the speedy Drakefell not too far away to chase. Worry is that he has been off for 100+ days, but that is built into his price. If he is supported then take heed!!
7:15 - had the most intriguing runner of the card in it. It no longer does.
7:45 - Xcelente was a massive eyecatcher last time out, this extra trip will suit and drawn wide should also suit as he looks a horse with a big stride and takes a bit of time to get into his full stride. I like the form of that race (see next race) and he is due to go up in the handicap after that run. The key will be trying to tuck in a bit and that might be difficult with a few others likely to be wanting to run prominently. Hopefully Fentiman doesn't bottle it, and can manage to get him 2 or 3 wide on the turns.
8:15 - Robero was very overpriced in this, again not the strongest race in terms of Southwell form, and he is the exception to that rule. He ran well enough behind Xcelente and like GG earlier he gets Ben Curtis taking over from a claimer. I expect he will go very well and anything over 4/1 looks fair.
