Tag: Yarmouth

Doncaster Thursday Preview

Posted on by Online Betting Pro

All of the leading competitors have so far stood their ground for the King George on Saturday. If the weather down south is anything like it is up here in Scotland it will be very quick ground for the weekend.

There is a decent card at Doncaster on Thursday and there are a couple of horses that interest me. The first is Richard Hannon’s Basateen in the maiden race at 6.15.

The Teofilo colt ran an encouraging first race to finish third at Newmarket on soft ground. He was not too cleanly away under Paul Hanagan and ended up having to weave his way into contention behind stablemate Lexington Times.

Both colts are highly regarded by the trainer and have some ambitious entries. Basateen has been given an entry in the 2015 Epsom Derby so you’d have to think he was capable of winning this modest maiden. The going will not have helped him on his debut and he should provide Sheikh Hamdan with another winner in a big week for the famous blue and white colours.

The same colours could make a quick return to the winner’s enclosure at 7.55 courtesy of hat-trick seeking Etaab. William Haggas has taken this filly out of a couple of valuable races because of the soft ground but that should not be a problem on Thursday. Dorraar is 7lbs better off with Etaab for just over two lengths on earlier form but the winner has improved again since.

Leaderene looks nicely weighted to follow up her eight-length Lingfield victory in the 3.15 at Yarmouth. She only has a 6lbs penalty and Joe Fanning should be able to kick for home some way from the finish on the bottom weight. The danger is probably the course specialist The Ducking Stool who must concede over a stone to Mark Johnston’s runner.

The best race of the day is the Silver Flash Stakes at Leopardstown. The Aga Khan’s Raydara looked very impressive last time out but so too did Marsali. With three O’Brien runners also in the field, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the winner going for the top two-year-old prizes later in the season. Raydara’s debut run when second to Words looks like proving to have been a very smart maiden and victory here would complement the winner enormously.

Leaderene 3.15 Yarmouth at 8-11 Bet365

Basateen 6.15 Doncaster

Etaab 7.55 Doncaster at 11-10 Bet365

Yarmouth Tuesday Preview

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All three race meetings in the UK were abandoned on Monday after Sunday night’s storms left the tracks waterlogged. Hopefully normal service will be resumed at Yarmouth on Tuesday where the going is currently reported soft and there are some competitive fields.

Blinkers used to be regarded as “the rogue’s badge” but these days it is just another aid that is rarely even commented upon outside of classic races. They can certainly transform an animal and that has never been better illustrated than by the astonishing performance of Firecruise at Pontefract last time out.

After two moderate runs he was pitched into a nursery handicap and first time blinkers were applied. The field went off like scalded cats despite the heavy ground and Robert Winston was content to sit towards the rear on Firecruise until the wide turn into the home straight. At this point Winston made a concerted effort to take the inside and his mount responded by charging through to lead with over two furlongs to travel.

I am sure that Winston could hardly believe it when he looked round for dangers only to see daylight. A second look inside the final furlong confirmed that he had the race sewn up and he came home six lengths clear. He turns out under a 6lbs penalty tomorrow. The obvious concern is that the blinkers are not so effective second time but he won with so much in hand it is worth taking that risk.

My second selection also sports blinkers having done so in both of his recent victories. Saigon City looked a bit of an awkward ride when winning here in July but then defied a 3lbs hike in the weights when winning at Nottingham. The in-form Andrea Atzeni was aboard on that occasion and things did not exactly go to plan. He missed the break and was denied a clear run up the straight but still managed to get back up on the line.

Experience tells me that we shouldn’t take a lot of notice of horses seemingly bolting after the winning line but he took off as if chasing the last bus home! There are some decent sorts in opposition, notably the lightly-raced Martian who could certainly be a big threat. I’ll stick with Saigon City to win again despite another 5lbs weights rise and hope that Luca Cumani can work his magic yet again with an improving handicapper.

Firecruise 2.40 Yarmouth 5-2 Ladbrokes

Saigon City 3.40 Yarmouth 11-2 Coral

Yarmouth 19th September Preview

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I was considering previewing the opening day of the Western meeting at Ayr but a quick glance at the card suggests winners are going to be hard to come by. There are no less than six fiendishly difficult handicaps on Thursday’s card and that may be the pattern for the rest of the week. There are no less than 200 horses left in the Ayr Gold Cup on Saturday, admittedly many of them hoping to get into the Silver or Bronze Cup.

The race that interests me is the two-year-old maiden at 2.50 at Yarmouth. Luca Cumani is not exactly well-known for his precocious youngsters and Mount Logan is certainly not that. He has had just one outing to date, finishing fourth in the maiden at Newbury won by John Gosden’s Muwaary. The form of the race has not exactly churned out winner after winner but Tuesday’s winner Ghaawy was well behind him that day.

He was ridden by Kirsty Milczarek and sent off at 25-1, suggesting that not a lot was expected of him on his debut. The chestnut settled nicely in rear and made eye-catching late progress to snatch fourth on the line. That race was over seven furlongs and there’s every reason to believe that the mile at Yarmouth will bring about further improvement.

The twin dangers carry the all blue of Godolphin. Istikshaf also showed promise on his debut when staying on into fifth place at Newmarket. That race was won by 33-1 shot Learaig and the form is no more inspiring than the Newbury race. I just prefer the effort of the Cumani horse who should also benefit from the stronger handling of Ryan Moore.

The unknown quantity is Charlie Appleby’s Deadly Approach for whom Kieren Fallon has been booked. As his name suggests, he is by New Approach but I note that he is fitted with a hood for his taste of racecourse action. I cannot say that I have noticed that very often with any two-year-olds, let alone Godolphin. Grand Meister and Latin Charm are also unraced but come from stables not particularly noted for first-time-out winners.

Mount Logan

Yarmouth Tuesday 17th September Preview

Posted on by Online Betting Pro

After a hugely successful Doncaster St Leger meeting (winning on all four days) and some excellent Arc Trials on Sunday, the racing is definitely of a lower key this week. Even so, there are still some nice horses in action at Yarmouth this week and it is well worth taking a look at the opening day.

The Nursery at 3.00 features three interesting contenders with the proven Dancealot meeting some promising types in Ghaawy and Solidarity. Sir Michael Stoute’s Ghaawy won his maiden without the jockey having to get too serious and is preferred to the Godolphin horse but Dancealot has done nothing wrong and could be a tough nut to crack. With the soft going throwing another unknown into the equation I shall pass this one over.

Master Of War should have the 5.00 in the bag after getting within a length and a quarter of Tropics last time. The other three runners all have plenty of ability but cannot boast a great deal in the way of recent form. I doubt that the bookies will be giving much away with the favourite so I’m investing my “hard-earned” cash on the five-runner Boodles Diamond Handicap at 4.00.

At first glance this looked as though it would be a clash between hat-trick seeking Thomas Hobson and easy last time out winner Battalion but I’m passing them both over in favour of Shrewd. The going at Yarmouth is officially soft and is unlikely to change a great deal before racing and this horse has won on soft and heavy.

It was his last run that alerted me to his chances here. Sent off at 20-1 under young Thomas Brown, he contested a valuable Heritage Handicap at Ascot. The son of Street Sense was settled in rear and that is seldom a good place to be in a large field at the Berkshire course. His rider seemed to be hoping for a parting of the waves on the inside up the home straight but it never materialised. He ended up finishing around four lengths behind Excellent Result without coming off the bridle.

Jamie Spencer takes over tomorrow and I’m hoping that he can follow up the armchair ride that he enjoyed on The Lark at Doncaster. With Thomas Hobson an obvious threat and Battalion also winning with his head in his chest last time it won’t be straight forward but I think 4-1 is great value.

Shrewd 4-1 William Hill