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Shergar Cup Day

 Undoubtedly, there are mixed opinions about the benefits of the Shergar Cup to racing. Team events within the sport are even more in the spotlight at the moment with the recent addition of the Racing League. What I will say on the matter is that we need to attract more people to have an interest in the sport. As I have a number of friends who are not interested in racing, I believe the "team aspect" can have some impact in that regard. 

While the colours may confuse regular racing followers, it certainly makes it easier for those that do not spend their Saturday's regularly watching the racing. I am reserving judgement on the racing league and am slightly disappointed by the wealth of criticism it has received. What is the alternative? To simply continue down the same road. We must be willing to change, adapt and attract new people to the sport.

Anyway, attracting new people to the sport is (probably) not going to be solved today but we might be able to find a winner at Ascot hopefully. It is important to note that the column was delayed to get a better picture of the weather outlook and the picture has changed dramatically in that respect. There is heavy rain at Ascot and the possibility of soft ground or even worse is very likely (officially good to soft at time of writing). 

With that in mind, I am willing to give Group One Power a chance to build on his two excellent course and distance efforts to date. The latest of those, in particular, was an effort that couldn't possibly be ignored (on soft ground too coincidentally). On that occasion, he led at a strong pace and did really well to battle on for second behind Louganini in a race that certainly suited those coming from off the pace. 

They came home at wide intervals with the winner and the eventual third, Calling The Wind, coming from mid-division. The finishing speed percentage of the winner at 97.22% (taken from the Sectional Tools section of the Attheraces site) easily the best in the race and further supports the initial view that the leader went too fast, too early (finishing speed of 94.19%).

Nuits St Georges, who also raced close to the pace before eventually finishing well beaten in seventh won his next two starts and the selection has been running well without winning. I think the return to Ascot and hopefully soft ground can result in a return to winning ways. He is 3lb higher for that Ascot effort but I think that is manageable considering the way that race panned out. 

Given his profile and form figures, I was tempted to take the insurance of the each-way four places but there is the potential for non-runners in the conditions and I'll take my chance win only. I certainly wouldn't put anyone off that angle if available closer to the race however, although I suspect his price may shorten.


1pt win Group One Power (9/2 General) Ascot 2.00


Current P/L since June 2020:

Total Staked: 102.5 points

Total Returned: 146.25 points

Total Profit: 43.75 points




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