/ Timeform / 09 July 2011 / Leave a Comment 
William Haggas could be tasting a big race success at York this afternoon.
Beachfire ... could still be progressing and it would be disappointing if he wasn’t to feature here.
Timeform's Paul Robson is going back to York to see if we can bring up the Placepot on a very competitive card.
14:05 - Borderlescott may be nine years old, but he showed he can still mix it with the best sprinters around when finishing fourth behind Sole Power in the Temple Stakes in May, when he fared best of the prominent runners. Though he reportedly suffered a bruised tendon and hasn't been seen since, it's hard to see him not being thereabouts in today's grade. Another horse who has tried higher company of late is course-and-distance winner Hamish McGonagall. His minor event win at Musselburgh in April has forced him to run against some of the best sprinters in Europe, and he's largely given a good account, so there's no reason why he won't be involved today.
14:40 - The start of the big-field competitive handicaps sees Mark Johnston running two interesting contenders at either end of the weights. His three-year-old Eternal Heart stayed on well when making all over today's distance of a mile and quarter at Musselburgh two outings ago and improved on that when third in the Queen's Vase over two miles at Ascot last time, just failing to produce a turn of foot when the pace quickened, which is understandable concerning his pedigree is all about stamina. It would not be surprising to see him jump out in front and run his rivals into the ground. At the other end of the scale is hat-trick seeking Fox Hunt , who is trying the trip for the first time but shouldn't have too many worries on that score.
15:15 - The big betting race of the day, and as you would expect it is not easy to solve. This race includes enough front-runners to suggest that it will be run at a decent gallop, therefore my selections are two horses that will be held up. One of those is Wolferton winner Beachfire, who came from last to first to win comfortably and looks like a horse who could still be progressing. The other is Green Destiny, a horse many punters nominated as their banker of Royal Ascot. Although he failed to impress behind the former selection, he can be excused that day as he didn't have a clear run when shuffled back early on.
15:55 - Twenty-runner handicap. Sound familiar? Well here we go again but this one does not feature the class or potential of the other two. David O'Meara looks to have a good grip on this event with two of the fancied runners, Mont Ras and Quite Sparky, with our preference for the latter. Ryan Moore is an interesting jockey booking on Quite Sparky, who was impressive when winning at Carlisle last time, benefitting from being stepped back up to a mile and staying on strongly all the way to the line. The back-up is a risky selection in Mirrored, who can be forgiven his run at Chester last time (a track that possibly unsuited his running style). If he can reproduce his effort at Doncaster on his first start this year, he could be in contention.
16:25 - In the event of getting this far we should look to put in our banker, and it comes in the form of Discression. He gave a well-regarded odds-on shot a good race on debut at York, going down by only a length and finishing clear of the rest. Discression has some high-profile entries including the Gimcrack, making this race a must win if he is going to be competitive in that grade.
17:00 - The two to take here are last-time-out winners Kool Henry and Last Bid. They both filled the places behind a useful Mark Johnston juvenile Es Due Love at Beverley before going on to taste success. The former won at Newcastle, using his experience to see off a Bryan Smart newcomer, whereas Tim Easterby's filly asserted impressively to see off some ordinary horses at Ripon.
Selections: 32 lines
14:05 - 2, 7
14:40 - 1, 20
15:15 - 5, 8
15:55 - 5, 16
16:25 - 3
17:00 - 4, 6
Download a Free Race Card every day in July at timeform.com. Click HERE to register or see the menu.
We will skip the second day of the July Meeting at Newmarket and go to York for today's Placepot......
The July Festival has long since beeen my favourite Flat meeting in the calendar, though pushing it to the back-end of the week this year rankles somewhat - it just doesn't feel right - but probably not as much with me as the racecourse executive at York. We won't worry about that, however, as the prospect of a Tommo interview of Census part-owners Liz Hurley and Shane Warne is something to savour this afternoon over and above the racing itself....
With Timeform's very own 'Thommo' using the super-sleuthing skills honed during his time spent with the 'Boys in Blue' (the constabulary, not Godolphin) to uncover a monster Placepot prize at Pontefract yesterday, colleague Adam Brookes is feeling the pressure to produce the goods today......
No comments:
Post a Comment