4.10 Wolves
Titus Gent 16/1
Quite like the look of Jeremy Gask's 7 year old whose 99 days off the track will have done him a world of good. Looking through his form, its a bit surprising that he has yet to win over 5f with all 10 of his career wins coming over 6f but I certainly think he has the speed to land his first victory at the minimum distance. Titus Gent was last seen in January over 6f in Kempton which was on the back of a busy campaign and given Gask has given him a little break would tend to validate this opinion. Two starts back over 5f at Kempton in January Titus Gent ran a very nice race to be touched off by just 1.5L off a mark of 81. He broke a fraction slowly and had to come from near last but was eating up the ground with every stride, emphasising that he's probably best over 6f. However, if things fall right, I have no doubt he's good enough for 5f. The form of that race looks solid with the winner coming out subsequently to win off a 4lb higher mark and the 2nd has put in some solid form off the same mark. The 5th Desert Strike, who re-opposes today and who is as short as 7/2, is 2lb worse off at the weights with Titus Gent today. Moreover, Raul Da Silva's claim means Desert Strike has 7lb to find with this selection and on the basis of this run its hard to see the vast difference in prices.
Titus Gent's last win came under todays jockey back in October at the track over 6f off a mark of 78, and today he is only 1lb higher than this success. That day, I thought it was a very impressive performance by this 7 year old and Da Silva seemed to have a fair bit of horse left under him as he was pushed out to win by 0.75L. The form of that race is consistent, but not brilliant, but it was the attitude I really latched on to. As I said earlier, I think the break will have sharpened him up quite a bit and he's proven in the past that an absence is no problem when finishing only a very narrowly beaten 2nd after a 6 month break. Trainer Jeremey Gask comes here in good form registering a couple of winners in the past few days which is a definite bonus. Racing here today off a mark of 79, he is only 1lb above his last win and I certainly think he's well enough handicapped on the basis of that and his running off a higher mark 2 starts ago. From the draw in stall 6, I hope he breaks out well and is able to grab a sit just in behind on the rail which should hopefully lead to his first 5f victory at what is a price that vastly overstates his chances in my opinion.