The Kings Stand

Well its finally here, Royal Ascot, I'm not convinced about the Aussie horse Nicconi, I wathched its gallop on RP TV and presumably the visor has been put on because it was spooking as it came up the track. Also looking at the times of the previous Aussie winners of that race in Flemington his was the slowest of them all and he only won by a head, still he's a good horse who may put us in our place.

After reading that the course is faster on the far rail than the centre its difficult to know whats going to happen even though there's only 12 runners in the field.

Total Gallery is a very fast horse who is useful on his day and he has been burdened with his Group 1 penalty so far this season, but tomorrow he will be free of that and 8/1 represents good ew value for him.

I'm going to side though with Kingsgate Native who has a good record at the meeting, he has been a bit inconsistent in the past, but now he is with Sir Michael Stoute hopefully he will be a bit more consistent and we will see the best of him.

Sir Gerry for Ascot ?

Sir Gerry was a convincing winner of the 6f Listed race at Salisbury on Sunday coming with his usual late rattle to just get up near the line. He is in the Golden Jubilee at Ascot next Saturday and if you fancy him ew you can still get 100/1 with Victor Chandler which isnt as crazy as it sounds as he was 3rd in the race in 2008.

In the Class 3 handicap at Doncaster Baby Strange was another to finish well and take the spoils and he could well win again on this showing as he hadnt run on turf for nearly a year prior to this and the race was run in a decent time. I didnt see the race myself so wasnt able to see if he played up beforehand which is usually a sign that he is going to run well. My selection Cheveton was beaten early on and finished 10th but he may be dropped further in the ratings as a result and his turn cant be too far away. Two eyecatchers were Captain Ramius and One way or Another who both suffered interference at different stages in the race and it will be interesting to see if the handicapper takes a dim view of their runs, both are entered in the Wokingham but are unlikely to get a run.

Next week is Royal Ascot and at this stage for the Kings Stand on tuesday I would be sticking with Kingsgate Native who has the beating of the home team.

Cheveton to put up improved show ?

Sunday sees a Class 3 handicap at Doncaster over 6f and the going at the time of writing is good. The field is headed by recent winner Tajneed who is stiil feasibly handicapped on his best form, however 10-1 for a C3 is a big weight to carry to victory again. Invincible Force is probably too high in the handicap right now and although he has the assistance of Fallon, who is an interesting booking, he needs to dominate up front for you to see his best. Cheveton has not hit top form this year but he was 2nd in the Coral Sprint to Kaldoun Kingdom in October off 95 giving that rival 7lb and gets in here on 92 with William Carson taking off a further 3lb and it wouldnt be hard to imagine him being there at the business end although he has never won over 6f, however this is slight drop in class for him. Johnny Mudball is another contender and he put in a performance last time more in keeping with what has been expected of him in coming 2nd to Parisian Pyramid off 89 and only having had 6 runs is open to further improvement. Excuzes Moi and Baby Strange ara both horses that show better form when they are full of themselves pre race, so its a wait and see with them. Northern Dare would be another well handicapped horse on his best form and he ran better last time for his new stable behind Tajneed and if he did return to his Goodwood Stewards Cup Consolation race form when he came 2nd then he could go close.
All in all its another wide open sprint handicap but one that could go well at a decent price is Cheveton.

Sprint action at York

After yesterdays success at Haydock we move on to York and and a Class 3 handicap over 5f. Its pretty moderate stuff though and really anything in the field could have its day and win, however the two I would have the most interest in are the fav Captain Carey and Feelin Foxy who ran a good race here last time in finishing 4th to Hamish McGonagall in a Class 2 handicap on Good to Firm and she could be some value ew if you fancied taking a chance as it was roundabout this time last year she struck form.

Up a bit, down a bit

Ive not been looking at the ratings to much recently but there were some decent sprints last weekend and we need to have a look at the handicappers reactions.

First up was The Dash at Epsom over 5f on Derby Day, Bertoliver was raised 6lb as a result of his neck win putting him up too 89, whereas the very fast finishing Hawkeyethenoo who would have been the winner in about 2 strides went up 3lb to 91. Although he is favourite for the Wokingham it is highly unlikely that he will even get in the race. Rocket Bob stays on 85 for his 3rd place, whilst Judge 'n Jury who ran very well and maybe put up his best performance this season was put up 1lb to 100. Two others who finished with a rare old rattle up the rails were Masta Plasta and City Dancer who both stayed on their same marks of 101 and 88, the latter you would have to say is well handicapped and looks sure to win before long and maybe he'll be out again this weekend. Several behind were dropped as follows Indian Trail 1lb to 84, Moorhouse Lad 2lb to 95, Oldjoesaid 1lb to 92, Strike up the Band 3lb to 94 and Hoh Hoh Hoh 5lb to 85 amongst others.
The 6f handicap at the end of the card was won by Flipando who goes up 4lb to 98, Fol Hollow was 2nd and goes up a further 2lb to 98, Run For the Hills finished to great effect down the outside in 6th and the handicapper has raised him 2lb for that to 100, which seems a bit harsh considering the winner only went up 4lb and in my view he should have stayed on 98. Further down the field Abraham Lincoln has been raised 3lb to 90, he had finished 2nd to Tajneed on his previous run and didnt seem to get a run here.
Over at Musselburgh for their big sprint and it was Hamish Mcgonagall who came out on top by a neck from Striking Spirit and as a result was raised 6lb to 105 and this will make it much tougher for him in handicaps now, the 2nd went up 4lb to 98 hwilst the next 3 home all stayed on their same marks (Ingleby Lady 97, Masamah 97 and Ziggy Lee 86). Lenny Bee was left untouched as the form of his previous race had worked out very well and I dont think he got much of a run here. Behind Hogmaneigh and Roker Park were dropped 3lb a piece to 94 and 90.

Is there anybody out there ?

As the line to the famous Pink Floyd song goes and to be honest sometimes I feel as though I'm writing this blog to myself as there seems to be no response or feedback to any of the selections posted even though my strike rate is reasonably high and I am reducing big handicaps down to a manageable few horses to concentrate on.

So come on readers lets have some feedback to keep me interested in providing the winners free of charge !

Is there anybody out there ???

Anyone for Haggas ?

The Sprint handicapper has his eye on William Haggas's 2 sprinters High Standing and Triple Aspect for Royal Ascot on his blog.

http://www.britishhorseracing.com/goracing/blogs/handicappers.asp

Ziggy Lee to go one better ?

Ziggy Lee looks as though he can go one better in the big sprint at Musselburgh on Saturday, drawn 3 he can hopefully gain a good position early on so that he can take full advantage of his speed come the end. He will need to reverse form with the winner at York but on the revised terms he should have little problem. Of course these are not the only 2 in with a chance as this as competitive a sprint as you will get and Lenny Bee gets his cahnce to uphold the form of that Beverley race that weve seen so many winners come from, he had the best of the draw that day but it may have been that he runs well after a break that was the telling point for him. Its interesting that Adrian Nicholls doesnt go to Epsom and partners Striking Spirit in this and he is only a pound over his last winning mark and the stable had a good winner in Tajneed during the week. However Ziggy Lee is picked on the basis that he is an improving sprinter.

In the consolation race Rasaman can go well after his latest run were he suffered interference at a crucial moment, he probably wouldnt have won there but this is an easier race.

The Epsom Dash

The Epsom Dash at the weekend looks a really competitive sprint, however in the past the draw has played a major part as has course form and Dandy Nicholls runners. This year sees a lot of the pace in the middle of the course with the likes of Jaconet drawn 5 and Glamorous Spirit drawn 1 likely to go off like scalded cats ! These 2 are very fast horses who have plied their trade on the all weather but are no mugs on turf. Another to force the pace will be Captain Dunne from the in form Tim Easterby yard who gets the assistance of Jimmy Fortune. With a gaurenteed blistering pace it could play into the hold up horse hands and one who has shown his liking for this course is veteran and last years winner Indian Trail who in April was running all over the back of the others in his prep run here off 86, he is now on 85 and Billy Cray takes off a valuable 5lb. If he finds the gaps he must surely be thereabouts once again. Oldjoesaid was drawn 1 last year and he hasnt fared much better this time in stall 7, however he was 6lb higher last year and although in the worst draw of the lot managed to finish 4th. Kevin Ryan would appear to have been targeting this race for him and he had booked Jamie Spencer at the 5 day stage. Moorhouse Lad finished 2nd in 2008 and he looks like he's coming back to form but he too is not well drawn in stall 4. Fathom Five won the race her in April, however it wasnt a very fast time compared to previous races here and he has been raised 3lb as a result and may not improve for the run, although he has a good draw in 18.
Of those drawn high City Dancer has Franny Norton to assist from stall 17 and it wouldnt be hard to imagine this one showing his best form here since joining Dandy Nicholls. Finally Hawkeyethenoo looked on the upgrade when he won at Newmarket where he had the likes of Enact, Angus Newz, Genki and Parisian Pyramid behind, he came with a storming run there and his trainer believes he has the speed for this and has booked Kieran Fallon to do the steering from stall 14. He is still feasibly weighted on a mark of 88, will relish the fast pace and will have a jockey on the top of his game and for those reasons I would put him forward as the best chance in an open race.

Ryan Moore teams up with Kevin Ryan

The booking of Ryan Moore for Esprit de Midas in the 8.10 at Ripon tomorrow is eyecatching. Only lightly raced he finished 2nd to Bond city at Ripon last time out were he was only beaten 1/2 length. He doesnt often race on turf but showed a return to form on it at Ripon and 8/1 would be a reasonable price for ew purposes if you can get it. Its not a race to go overboard in because as in all these sprints each has their day.
Of the others Excusez Moi could go well for the first time visor as this horse is pretty quirky and can either be good or awful. P. J. McDonald who has won on him before takes the ride and if you are able to see any of the pre race then you need to see how he is behaving as he runs better when he's being awkward.
Tajneed is well handicapped on his best form and ran well at Beverley behind Lenny Bee, which was a race that saw Hamish McGonagall finish 3rd, Fol Hollow 4th, Parsisan Pyramid 6th and Medicean Man 8th and all have won since, the first 3 of those in Class 2 handicaps, so you need to be very wary of him.
However the booking of Ryan Moore could just swing it for Esprit de Midas, but do it as an ew.