It often pays to take note of a Dandy Nicholls punt and it looks like he is having a play on SNOW BAY 3.40 Ripon 7-1 tomorrow. The horse is perfectly suited by the going and distance. Never been race ridden by the seven pound claimer before but she takes even more off his back. Dropped to a mark several pounds lower than what he has won off before. If this is a serious punt by the yard it could be very well worth following. In the evening at Huntingdon I am tempted by one at very tasty odds in the form of SEA CADET 8.25 Huntingdon 16-1. This lovely grey gelding has a 575 day absence to overcome but in the interim period he has been dropped 6lb by the handicapper. When this fella first got to the Laura Mongan yard they landed a fairly hefty gamble with it. Richard Johnson takes the ride tonight and I wouldnt be at all surprised if they were not going to try another little touch to reward their patience. I wouldnt play on him tonight but would advocate watching the market.
2.30 Chepstow Bermondsey Bob 7/1 NAP Really like the look of John Spearing's 6 year old who absolutely loves it at Chepstow. With 5 runs over C+D to date, Bermondsey Bob has won 3 times and he has never finished beaten by more than 1.75L and a return to the track where he does so well should definitely bring out the best in him. Although winless since July last year, he now looks very well handicapped as he is 4lb below his last winning mark. Moreover, he's only 2lb above he is only 2lb below his last win over C+D. He appeared to be getting back to somewhere near to his best when finishing beaten by just over 2L on his latest start 4 days ago and he showed be a little sharper for that effort. The excellent Cathy Gannon takes the ride and she clearly gets on well with fella and was on board for his last C+D success. This represents trainer John Spearing's only runner of the day and he has a 24% strike rate at the track. Moreover, he had a winner the other day so his string look to be coming back to form. With an excellent draw in stall 16, Bermondsey Bob should be able to dictate from the front like he loves to do is a massive bonus considering its such a massive field. Looking well handicapped and back to the track that he loves, I expect a really strong showing from Bermondsey Bob and I'll be having a big e/w bet as I really can't see him not making the frame.
5.30 Chepstow Micquus 5/1 Andrew Badling's 4 start race maiden showed huge improvement upped in trip on making his handicap debut LTO and I think he lookes primed to strike. After 2 fairly awful starts in his juvenile career over 1m, Micquus showed a bit more when upped to 10f on his seasonal reappearance in April. He was switched to the AW and upped to 12f at the beginning of the month as he made his handicap debut off a mark of 50 where he was a bit of an eye catcher as he was staying on strongly close home. He had to come from a long way back and he was catching the leaders with every stride as he eventually finished a 2.75L beaten 4th. He returns to the turf tomorrow and his handicap mark has been unchanged and I think this could bring out some improvement for him. He remains at 1m4f and he looked as if he needed every yard of it the last day so it will take a canny ride from Richard Hughes to time his run perfectly, who boast a tremendous 3-6 record when riding for Balding. Micquus represents Andrew Balding's only engagement at the track and he's 2-2 with his runners here this year and boasts a 29% strike rate at the track for the past 5 years. Moreover, Balding is in red hot form at present and has already saddled 14 winners this month. With Micquus looking a horse who is improving with every run, Hughes looking an eye catching booking and with the trainers current form and record at the track, I expect a big run from this 3 year old tomorrow and 5/1 seems a good price.
Coral Sands 4/1 5:10 Ripon Ran free over a mile last time out and just ran outta steam for that fact and never made much impression in the finish going on to finish 3rd for the 3rd time in a row and today he runs off the same mark of 58 which i think he can make light of with the step up in trip from 1m to 1m4f today playing right to the horses strength. If he manages to settle early i expect this horse to have a big say in the finish of this race over what connections feel is his ideal trip. PJ McDonald is back in the saddle after returning from injury and is more than capable of steering this lad home for the Swinbank yard.
I was also looking at Sea Cadet for a little bet today and whilst the dead 8 remain i'm happy to back him at 16/1 each way. By my reckoning Richard Johnson does not need to make the journey for one ride if it's a no hoper although he could easily just be keeping himself ticking over in this fairly quiet spell. The trainer does well with her limited chasers. I'm a little worried that the horse has never won off a mark this high but he's always run perfectly respectably when around this rating and today I wouldn't be surprised to see some kind of return at a big price. Great minds must think alike Stick.
4.20 Lingfield Light Burst 22/1 I think Ismail Mohammed's recently acquired 3 year old looks very interesting contender and I think he could prove to be very well handicapped. He was with Godolphin and the Al Zarooni stable until his last start and although a tad disappointing I think it said a lot about this colt that they kept hold of him even though he was a 63 rated animal. Mohammed was formerly a top trainer in the UAE and he has recently set up shop in Newmarket earlier this month. He's only had 8 runners to date (no winners) which is a concern but he definitely is a very good trainer and I'm hopeful he can get off the mark with his sole representative today . In his 3 starts as a 2 year old, Light Burst has pulled very hard and raced with an abundance of inexperience but he definitely showed some talent. On debut over 5f, he ran absolutely all over the shop but only was beaten 3L and last of 4 in the field. That said, the form of that race has worked out very nicely with the winner Sixx now rated 92, the 2nd Right Result now rated 89 and the 3rd Verse of Love rated 71. He couldn't even run in a straight line that day and it was a good performance to get as close as he did. On his 2nd and 3rd starts it was a very similar story as he pulled very hard in the early stages of the race stepped up to 7f and he probably didn't last home in either effort. He did show a fair bit of potential both times and a mark of 62 certainly doesn't look beyond him. On his final start he made his handicap debut on the back of 6 month break and I certainly thought it was a pretty good effort. At Folkestone over 6f, torrential rain hit and there was basically puddles on the track. After occupying a prominent position, Light Burst looked to hold every chance until about 1f as he travelled into the race very nicely before I think the ground just killed him and once he was beaten De Sousa took it very easy on him as he finished a distant 4th. The 2nd Mayo Lad won on his next start off a 3lb higher mark and has performed very admirably off a 10lb higher mark since so it looked a decent enough contest. He's been dropped for that effort another lb and I think he looks potentially very well handicapped off just 62. Mohammed has wasted no time in switching him to the AW and he's back up in trip to 7f. I think its worth noting that he didn't pull much at all LTO so I think that problem has been eradicated. Royston French takes the ride and it represents his only action of the day and although there are obvious concerns and I wouldn't recommend a big bet he certainly looks very overpriced at 22/1
Found one for rv... Has a chance as well... but dont know if its rv in the pub or the horse Indepub winning... 3.10 @ Ripon - Indepub, 5/1...
Red wish I was in the pub today - not feeling very well at all. I shouldn't have called stick a **** last week. Stotting headache and being sick. Just a quick log in for me. Going to back ROTO'S Light Burst as I have backed it a few times and he has put up a very good write up. Will back INDEPBUB and Windforpower. Stick has passed this on to me - runs in 6 mins but first time I have been at the comp today WINDFORPOWER 2.00 Catterick This fella was clueless on his debut and completely missed the break. Just as he was picking up from the rear his saddle slipped and his margin of defeat became rather big. He has a lovely pedigree though and is probably capable of much better. He didnât seem to like the kickback either on his debut so turf should suit him much better. The yard do quite nicely with their juveniles at this venue. He is attracting support so a big run is obviously expected. I cant get on Not606 but feel free to paste this on there!
Well the notes for Lady Bayside said that if she took to fast ground a big player... First run on fast ground, a winner... I think Bob got caught up fighting with the runner at the side of him...
The horse taking on Bemondsey Bob for the lead significantly hampered his chances and to make matters worse I put up Sole Danser LTO who got up for 3rd close home.
