Racing Nerd

As regular readers probably know by now, jumps racing is my first love and tomorrow's date is a real sign that the jumps season is upon us. While I must admit to enjoying the flat season immensely (possibly enhanced by the lack of racing in April and May), I cannot wait to catch a glimpse of Chacun Pour Soi, Shishkin, Envoi Allen, Monkfish et. al.  While there is none of the above appearing tomorrow at Warwick, there is a horse that ran in one of the hottest Novice races of last year at Cheltenham, albeit Trials Day rather than the March showpiece. Court Master ran quite a good race behind two subsequent Festival Winners in Simply The Betts and Imperial Aura on that occasion and was right there in contention before fading late on. On The Slopes who was well beaten in third that day won on his next outing so the race has been working out extremely well. He was beaten a long way in the end but this race represents a major drop in class. He has gone well fresh in the past, in fact his

There is something for everyone today with a brilliant renewal of the Cambridgeshire handicap as well as two Group 1 races for the two-year olds for those looking to see future stars. On the jumps front, there is some decent fare at Market Rasen and Goshen makes his return to the track, albeit on the Flat. It certainky whets the appetite for the months ahead. From a betting oint of view, I must admit to finding the Cambridgeshire ridiculously difficult, changing my mind a number of times. I feel the profile of a potential Group horse is the right one, but there may be a few in here and they are well found in the market at this stage. Tempus or Sinjaari could both fit that profile, while Derevo has looked a winner in waiting on a couple of occasions this season. Of those at bigger prices, Good Birthday is well handicapped on his third in the race last year (off an 8lb higher mark) and Anythingtoday is a great eachway bet with conditions to suit, although the silly prices around yesterda

When it comes to big-field sprint handicaps, there are many imponderables to consider. Obviously, if a track bias becomes apparent then that is out of your control when analysing a race the night before but the hope is that Ayr continues to give a fair playing field on that front. I struggled to have a strong opinion on where the pace will be although I was slightly leaning towards middle-low. Anyway, it wasn't enough to eliminate some runners so I went through the majority of the field in good detail.  David Barron knows a thing or two about training sprinters and it might be worth giving Kynren a chance to prove he can be as good (or better) over 6 furlongs as he is over 7 furlongs and a mile. In fact, while he has good form over a mile, I believe his best form is over 7 furlongs which gives hope that he will be fine over this shorter trip. His form figures over 7 furlongs read 31210 and the most recent effort was in a very hot Listed race at Haydock in June won by Space Blues.

There is a good card at Sandown tomorrow and it will be interesting to see if Montatham can take the step up to Listed company in his stride. However, for the selection I'm going to try a course specialist at Beverley. Ginger Jam is 5 from 5 at the course and while the first four occasions he was an extremely well handicapped horse, his win here on his penultimate start proved that he is ideally suited to Beverley. He is just 4 pound higher tomorrow (although due to come down 1) and I thought he was value for more than the winning margin on that occasion. He is not just a one course hero though and he ran a particularly eye-catching race at Newmarket before the latest win. His effort in the Portland last weekend can easily be excused as he was hampered early in the race. This race is probably tougher than those he has won here but the forecast strong pace will suit and I think he can continue his unbeaten record over course and distance.  1pt win Ginger Jam  (7/1 Bet365, 6/1 Genera

I must say that I am really looking forward to this weekend's racing. There is quality fare in England, Ireland and France with a whole host of top class horses on show. The Leger itself promises to be a wonderful contest and in my opinion the winner will come from the top of the market. The fairytale story would of course be Pyledriver and I'm sure the neutrals will be cheering him home but I'm not sure they will get the chance to. If the race was over a mile and a half, he would be an odds on shot, but it's not and the extra two furlongs could be his downfall against quality opposition. I actually think if he settles he has a good chance of staying but he tends to be keen in his races and the slower tempo could really set him alight. If that happens then the fuel light could be on with a couple of furlongs to go and he faces two strong stayers in Santiago and Hukum . Santiago was really impressive at Ascot before winning the Irish Derby the following weekend but I thi

As we get closer to the weekend, the racing at Doncaster is heating up and tomorrow's card looks by far the strongest of the week so far in terms of quality. In the Mallard handicap at 1.40, I like the look of Sleeping Lion who is bidding to repeat his win in the race last year off a 3 pound higher mark. His return to action at Newbury this season was adequate but he really improved for it and was unlucky at Newcastle over 2 miles next time. On that occasion he made his run earlier than ideal and being reunited with Spencer for the first time since his win here last year is a major positive. He is probably more suited by this extended 14 furlong trip than 2 miles in any case and he didn't appear to get home last time at Ascot. He isn't extremely well handicapped but this may not take a lot of winning and he is handicapped to go very close with conditions to suit. The obvious danger is Alfaatik who could improve again for the step up in trip and was value for more than his

Tomorrow is the first day of the Leger meeting at Doncaster but it can only described as an average card in terms of quality. The bet of the day goes at Kempton instead, where Omnivega returns to the all weather having been a major eye-catcher at Ascot last time. He has already won twice over the course and has looked really progressive this year with the Ascot run bringing to an end a winning sequence which saw him rise from 79 to his current mark of 90. I believe he hasn't finished his progress yet though and is of the same mark as he was in Ascot. The Ascot race was a strong contest and the only danger here will be Win O Clock who was seriously impressive last time. That race may have fallen apart though and unlike Omnivega, he is unproven on the surface. 2pts win Omnivega  (13/8 General) K empton  1.55

It has been a quiet time from me on the racing front but the next few weeks leading up to the Arc are stacked in quality. With the Arc in mind, a lot of eyes will be on Enable today at Kempton as we get to watch what will be almost certainly her final run on UK soil. Aside from today and leaving opinions on the Arc aside for a moment, Enable has been fantastic for racing and great credit must go to connections for keeping her in training. The fact that it is something we rarely see from the top horses on the flat is part of the reason I feel the general racing fan relate more to National Hunt racing. The truly great horses draw people to the sport, just like the stars of any sport and the longer they can perform at the highest level, the better it is for the sport.  Moving onto today's selections and Alan King has been the first port of call in most of the staying flat handicaps this season. With that in mind, I quickly landed on Just In Time in the Old Borough Cup at Haydock (2.5