Alston duo at York

The 6.30 York Class 4 Handicap over 6f can go to the improving King of Eden who has won 4 of his last 5 and been raised 27lb in the process. His last win came at Haydock were he came through the field with little fuss after a poor start and his improvement doesnt appear to have come to an end. Alston hopes that there is more to come and being a big horse he is capable of carrying weight, he thinks he's best at 6f and will cope with most going. The race itself doesnt seem to have much depth to it and Green Park, Tyfos and Brierty look to be the three who will give him the most to do. Tyfos was only 2 lengths behind him at Haydock and he is now 6lb better off at the weights but he never looked like containing him there.
King Of Eden is a fast improving horse and in the hands of Eric Alston a renowned sprint specialist there is no knowing when his improvement will stop and 3/1 would be a great price if you can get it.

Later on at 8.30 York stage a Class 4 Handicap over 5f and Alston's Diman Waters is top weight. He was 2nd at Chester last time and being a big horse that track would not have played to his strengths. Alston feels there is a lot more improvement to come from him and that 5f is his best trip, he handles Good to Soft but is better on a firmer surface. There are only 8 other opponents agin him and Boragh Jamal for Brian Meehan who won last time out has his 5lb rise in the weights offset by the talented James Sullivan and he will push the selection close. Melody in the Mist is the paper fav but I'm not sure she will be good enough and I am going to stick with Diman Waters to make it a double for the Alston yard.

On a different note Paul Hanagan in his Thursday column in a Liverpool newspaper said that he thinks Cotton Spirit is his best chance of a winner on the night. He says he has improved further since his last run when he came 2nd at Carlisle.

There's plenty of good racing on tomorrow but dont get too bogged down with it all and try and be selective, also remember that the weather is very unpredicatable at the moment.

Be sure to look in for the weekend's sprint action.

Up a bit, down a bit

The weeks just fly by lately and here we are again doing the "Up a bit, down a bit" post for this week.

First up its the The Scottish Stewards Cup at Hamilton last Fiday won by Lowdown. The handicapper was well impressed as he has raised him 11lb to a mark of 104 and anyone who watched the race could see that he powered away up the hill there and is worth every pound of that. The stands side was very much favoured though but all the same he won very well. Of the others, the nearest on the unfavoured far side was Kevin Ryan's Esprit De Midas and he was dropped 1lb to 87, the same stables Captain Ramius was dropped 3lb to 90 and he had run a race full of promise the time before this so he may be worth keeping an eye on wherever he goes next. Oldjoesaid was dropped another 2lb to 87 and considering his trainer was full of hope for him at the begining of the season he has not yet repaid the faith(last win came off 102, albeit 2 years ago). Bonnie Charlie was over on the far side, he was also lumbered with 10 stone, which is a lot for a 4yo in a competitive sprint and his finishing position is best ignored, as a result he drops 3lb to 99.

On the same day at Haydock Avertor was expected to win as he had been carefully placed in this race from a number of options, however he could only finish 3rd although he seemed to be eased near the finish and he's been left on 80. The winner was Evelyn May for Hills who does very well with his northern runners and she went up 5lb to 74. Hazelrigg often flatters but on this occasion he was very slowly away, came up the stands side at a fair old rattle before fading late on. On this showing he could be capable of winning off 73 if placed with some thought by the in form Easterby camp.

At Pontefract being drawn near the rail was favoured and Kingdom of Light was able to win the 5f Class 3 by 1 3/4 lengths from Lucky Numbers (who has won today) with the consistent Green Park in 3rd. Haajes ran on towards the end and remains on 83 and a couple who were not so well drawn and have benfitted from the handicappers cuts are Go Go Green dropped 2lb to 81 (won at Pontefract 3 times previously off 75, 74 and 79) and Rowayton dropped 3lb to 75 (ran well off 82 on good to firm first time out this season over 6f).
Later on the Class 5 over 6f was won by Orpsie Boy (up 6lb to 80) from Fadhb Ar Bith. The latter came from stall 10 so did well to get within 3/4 length of the winner particularly as Spencer did one of his famed hold up rides and he is now on a mark of 73, he remains capable of better and is one to take out of the race, as this was only his 4th start for this trainer.

Softly Softly !

The chances are its going to end up soft tomorrow at Catterick and the Class 4 5f Handicap looks between Equuleus Pictor, Lucky Numbers, Le Toreardor and Mullglen who all look capable of going well on their day. Equuleus Pictor may get the going that he thrives on and if he does he is potentially well handicapped, so a watching brief on the going report is recommended. Likewise Lucky Numbers thrives on soft and he has been running well of late and is reunited with top apprentice James Sullivan who takes off a valuable 5lb. Mullglen has also been consistent of late and his stable remains in good form.

On a completely different note an interesting stat I noticed last night when going through Jockey form was the record of Adrian Nicholls this season in Sellers and Claimers.
He's ridden 32 winners in total in 2010 as follows :-
Sellers and Claimers 20-41
All other races 12-126
That makes him potentially very interesting in that type of race. I dont know whether he's set about doing that or its just by chance but its a good stat to know.

Tomintoul Singer to win for Cecil.

I have been trying to keep away from the 3yo sprint handicaps, however they're proving to be a good set of horses so the 8.50 6f Class 3 Handicap tomorrow at Kempton looks a good opportunity for Henry Cecil's Tomintoul Singer. He led the field at a very good clip in the Reg Griffin at York which is proving to be a good race to follow and he basically set it up for those coming from behind. He has been dropped 3lb since then and this is nowhere near as competitive as that, the fav Qudwah won easily last time out but you would have to ask what did it beat and had the selection been in that same race he would have won just as easily. He should be able to act on the surface and we probably wont see him go off as fast this time.
If you can get 5/1 about Tomintoul Singer as per RP betting forecast then it will be good value.

Old Favs Cheveton and River Falcon to come good ?

Ayr stages a couple of good handicaps tomorrow afternoon, and although I havent given them a great deal of study you should keep an eye out for Cheveton and River Falcon who have both been dropped steadily down the weights this season. First Cheveton has been waiting for some ease in the going and hopefully he gets it now and the talented Andrew Heffernan takes off a further 3lb, he should go off at a decent price. Next up is River Falcon who has finally been dropped into a lower grade handicap, Class 4 and Paul Hanagan was booked a few days ago. He probably has been dropped far more than Cheveton and he should also be capable of going well at a big price. Im not saying both will win but they are lively outsiders that are capable of better than they have shown to date this season and both are worthy of ew support.

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This afternoon at The Curragh (4.45pm) sees Captain Carey try to continue his good run in The Rockingham Handicap over 5f but it wont all be plain sailing. We saw a few weeks ago here that the place to be was up the rail and Airspace who won against 16 opponents then is once again drawn in the Coffin Box and should be able to dominate if he can get out fast enough. He is 9lb higher now and worse off at the weights with those who finished behind him there but he looks to be an improving sort and Johnny Murtagh rides. What you have to remember is he recorded a good time there and although he is rated higher he physically has to carry 12lb less, so should in theory be able to better that run if he has an easy lead up the rail again.
Captain Carey is closely weighted with Bajan Tryst on their recent all weather meeting so it will once again be close between those two. Masta Plasta could emulate Regal Parade yesterday and put up an improved show for the Nicholls camp, however he is in stall 8 and may have it to do from there although he does finish his races well. All in all though it might be Airspace that comes out on top.

Dont rain on my Parade !

If anyone new is looking in for the first time today you will be glad to know that I am continuing in good form. I was against Hawkeyethenoo as the winner last night and I came up with 25/1 3rd Dancing Red Devil earlier in the day.

Today there isnt a great deal of good sprint races about and we have to go to Newbury for are only preview in the Hackwood. Laddies Poker Two is a suprise absentee and the other runners must be wiping their brow at their good fortune as she would have been the most likely winner.

One who may be a good price is former Group 1 winner Regal Parade who is available at 7/1, he is capable of tip top from on his day and after a couple of dissapointing efforts this year this could be the confidence booster he needs.

Markab and High Standing look to be his 2 biggest threats and the latter needs to put an uncharacteristic performance behind him to figure here.

However I will go with Regal Parade to come back to form.

Reg Griffin Form begins to stack up !

Following Victoire De Lyphars win in the Reg Griffin Memorial Trophy several of those that finished behind have come out and franked the form since by running well in other handicaps. The 6th placed Astrophysical Jet won the Class 3 5f Handicap at Newmarket off a mark of 93 from Five Star Junior in the style of a future Group class sprinter, whilst the 5th Side Glance won a Class 2 Handicap at Ascot over 7f by 2 1/4 lengths off a mark of 90 and Lowdown who finished back in 14th was the only 3yo in the Class 2 Scottish Stewards Cup tonight at Hamilton and won the race convincingly by 3 1/4 lengths from Damika off a mark of 93 to boost the form even further.
Clearly as I have said before this years crop of 3yo sprinters are doing very well and we should keep a close eye on them over the coming months as they improve even further.

Up a bit, down a bit

This weeks look at the weekly jottings of the sprint handicapper starts with Class 4 Handicap at Windsor on 5th July which was won by Desert Poppy quite convincingly despite an awkward head carriage, as a result she is raised 3lb to 79 which is fair in my view and leaves room for further improvement. Equuleus Pictor needs the word soft in the going so was never going to be in contention and as a result he is generously dropped 2lb to 78.

Next up is an interesting 3yo Class 2 6f Handicap at Newmarkets July Meeting which saw Fireback beat Bagamayo by 3/4 of a length with Gene Autry and Take Ten close behind. This race has been won by some good sprinting sorts in the past and it is form that we can rely on as the season progresses.
1st Fireback up 7lb to 91
2nd Bagamayo up 4lb to 100
3rd Gene Autry up 3lb to 95
4th Take Ten up 2lb to 87
The latter off 87 can surely make amends and will be placed to effect by Mark Johnston. There were several top performers that make this form solid.

The Class 3 3yo Handicap at Chester last Friday was good in that it was run in a time only slightly slower than the following days Listed Stakes won by Blue Jack. It was won by Diamond Johnny by a neck from Diman Waters with Tawabb 3rd and the unlucky Dancing Red Devil in 4th. The second Diman Waters is probably the one to take out of the race as he wasnt best suited by the course and off a mark of 80 is capable of winning for Eric Alston.

Palace Moon ran 3rd in the Wokingham and escaped a penalty however he wasnt so lucky here as he got 5lb for coming 2nd in the Bunbury Cup which puts him up to 110. Signor Peltro should be kept in the notebook despite finishing 6th here as he comes with a flourish at the end and the leaders were not coming back to them for the whole meeting.

Two 3yo's dominated the Group 3 fillies and mares Stakes at York on Friday and they continued to show what a fine bunch of sprinters they are. Rose Blossom was the worthy winner after leading from start to finish in a fast time and as a result she is up 8lb 103 with the 2nd Tropical Treat up 8lb as well to 102.

On Saturday at Ascot the Class 2 Handicap wnet the way of Rowe Park by a neck from Monsieur Joe with Prohibit 3rd. Present Alchemy dissapointed in last but it was Sonny Red who showed as though a step up could be near, he is now down to a mark of 95 and he was 5th in the Ayr Gold Cup off 100.

The final race to look at is the Class 3 Handicap at York on Saturday over 6f won by Hotham by a short head from Discanti with Gap Princess in 3rd. The winner was raised 4lb to 95 whilst the 2nd and 3rd were raised 3lb to 84 and 2lb to 82. Internationaldebut has been mentioned in this article previously and he was running on here and maybe coming back into form. Several behind were dropped as follows :-
Atlantic Story 2lb to 83 - was running well off 90 last summer
Saucy Brown 2lb to 87 - 2nd in Class 2 off 90 on Good to Soft in March.
River Falcon 3lb to 73 - Needs to be put in a Class 4 now.
Harlech Castle 3lb to 79 - sure to run better next time with this under his belt.

Its Friday already !

Avertor has a choice of two engagements on Friday and it will be interesting to see which one he takes up as the last 2 times he's been entered he hasnt run. He is certainly low enough on official ratings on 80 to show improvement and Roger Charltons horses are continuing to run well. Being by Oasis Dream you would think he was likely to avoid any cut in the ground, however the stable say he is completely the opposite and they are positively looking for it. He is believed to have improved since his last run and he could be ew value judging by the betting forecasts in the Racing Press.

Hawkeyethenoo has to win at Hamilton to have any hope of getting into the Stewards Cup but it doesnt look an easy task with several top performers lining up against him for their own bit of glory. Bonnie Charlie was a new addition to the Haggas yard this season and he has been in two Group 3's so far, so this drop in grade over a stiff 6f could bring out the best in him. Silvestre De Sousa is an interesting jockey booking for Captain Ramius who put in an eyecatching effort last time out. De Sousa does very well on sprinters and Captain Ramius is dropping down the weights. In the same race that Captain Ramius ran in Baby Strange won from Johnny Mudball who has since won at Newcastle and been raised 9lb and that was Baby Strange's first run on turf for a year so there may be more room for improvement. Oldjoesaid has also dropped to a feasible handicap mark and is capable of producing the goods at the business end, so there are a few in there to make Hawkeyethenoo work for his corn.

Dancing Red Devil ran well at Chester last weekend and may have finished 2nd but for being interfered with turning into the straight and the time of the race worked out well in comparison with the Pattern race the next day in which Blue Jack won and Borderlescott was 3rd.

Over at Newmarket it should be a penalty kick for Elnawin the fav but he's too short a price to get involved.