Let's get Lucky !

In the first at Wolverhampton on Friday Paul Greens Lucky Dan could take advantage of his stall 4 draw under Franny Norton who has ridden him to 3 of his 4 wins. The race could pan out in his favour as he probably will be able to sit off the lead set by Lucky Mellor before coming with a run up the straight. He is on a mark of 75 for this and his last win came here off 74 so he has every chance of a good show on his rating and 16/1 could be a bit of value.
Dual recent winner Prince James is drawn widest of all which is usually a burden too far here and he has also gone up 13lb for his last 3 runs so he has it all to do. Scarlet Rocks in in 12 whilst fellow last time out winner Punching is in 9 and Riflessione could be the danger from stall 3.

Numeral to continue progression ?

Numeral is 2-2 from at Kempton and has only had 9 starts to date so could be capable of a bit more improvement yet. He has only been raised 4lb for his last win which was done in comfortable style, Jim Crowley rides again and he had this to say last time “Ideally Numeral could have done with more of a lead in the race. He still had more to give and has done it nicely”. There are others in the race of note such as Iron Step, he too is progressive, New Leyf and Rossetti but Numeral looks the most progressive and 9/2 is a fair price on what we have seen of him so far.

Take Cover at Southwell !

Although Dorback only came second in a seller last time out he has run some good races against better opposition than this in his 14 race career to date and there’s every chance we havent seen the best of him yet. He’s worth a small ew bet at Southwell on Tuesday afternoon at odds of about 12/1 as its not a very inspiring field of runners that he’s up against.
Take Cover, 6/4, has only run twice to date and both of those wins came here at Southwell and there’s every chance he can make it three wins in the 2.10 6f Class 6 Handicap. He’s gone up 6lb for his last win but he wasnt stopping then and this track holds no fears for him.
Where’s Reiley probably is the best horse on this surface in the 12.10 but it all depends in what shape he turns up in as he was last on his AW dedut last season and no doubt the betting will be the best guide on that score.

Master List taking shape

I have been doing some serious work on compiling my sprint Master List for for 2012 over the last few weeks and numerous horses have caught my eye, I am now in the process of cutting this list down to about 30 horses to follow and hopefully I will have the list posted at the begining of January if not before.

I will also shortly be posting up some selections for the All Weather sprints to keep us going through the dark months ahead and hopefully to make some money for some winter cheer. Looking ahead this week we have Where's Reilly (6-14 at Southwell), Dorback (unexposed) and Take Cover (2-2 at Southwell) on Tuesday, Numeral, easy winner at Kempton last time on Thursday and Oldjoesaid on Friday at Woverhampton, if he gets the essential low draw.

Yesterday's big event for racing was Kauto Star winning at Haydock, and what a spectacle it was. The big northern crowd certainly gave him a rousing welcome and also a reception to long remember when he and his connections came back to the winners enclosure. It was truly jump racing at its heart pounding best and probably the best advert we have had for the sport for ages.

I was little dissapointed however in Alastair Down's comments in today's Racing Post in which he praised Kauto Star with his usual enthusiasm for superlatives before slagging off the local area by saying it was "A staying chase run next to a motorway in an unlovely neck of the Lancashire woods", quite why he has to put this in his article is beyond me, I personally havent been to Cheltenham Racecourse for a while but isnt that next to the M5 ? Also remembering back to the Red Marauders Grand National win a few years ago I seem to recall a certain reporter stating the following day on the front page of the Racing Post that the Grand National should be banned and maybe its reporting like that in the past which has helped to provide the anti racing fraternity with the ammunition they needed to get us to where we are today.

Total Gallery to make still life out of opposition ?

Twelve horses line up for the Listed Golden Rose Stakes at Lingfield over 6f on the All Weather.

Secret Asset is fav based on his 2nd place in the Abbaye, he’s won once here in the past off a mark of 92 and that may not be good enough in this race despite his recent run of good form.

Total Gallery has had some very good Group race form in the past, he was only 2 lengths behind Sacred Kingdom in the Group 1 Hong Kong Sprint after beating Fleeting Spirit in the Group 1 Abbaye, both when only a 3yo. He left J. S. Moore at the end of 2010 and had a couple of races in France, winning one, before coming back to England and joining up with top sprint trainer Henry Candy. If he recaptures some of his old form, on this his first try on the All Weather, then the others will have a race on. He’s still only 5 and is relatively lightly raced and his first run for Candy wasnt too bad either when he was beaten 5 1/2 lengths behind Iver Bridge Lad when 7th at Maisons Laffitte over 6f on very soft going, which he hasnt done well on in the past. That was his first run for 5 months so the chances are he will be stepping up on that and Candy has booked Eddie Ahern, a master round here, to do the steering so all in all he looks worth a bet from his stall 8 draw provided he handles the surface.

It will be interesting to see how many whip bans come out of the Paddy Power at Cheltenham today as there has been a lot of use of the whip up the straght in the past.