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Since that race actually happened about a month and a half ago, he will likely have come on a bit and grown some - which could intimidate his opponents as his last effort was a solid one and there remains the potential for him to show even more here.
Though it was a comfortable victory on the day at Haydock he actually started a bit slowly, which was also on display in his debut victory at York when he started poorly and had to make a late run. That day, he was sent off at a 16/1 price tag and paid a nice dividend for his backers as he toppled that field of 13...
Elm Park is in sharp contrast to Aidan O’Brien’s Royal Navy Ship, who has only had a solitary run - though it came against a tough field of 22 during a good run at the Curragh in a very prominent and prestigious maiden race. He triumphed over his stablemate Jacobean, who was the 10/3 betting favourite in his effort along with another O’Brien charge The Happy Prince who was a 12/1 shot that more or less outran his odds to finish fifth.
The last really big Group 1 flat race of the season is set to unfold this weekend as the Racing Post Trophy gets underway at Doncaster. There is plenty to like about this race - which usually draws a relatively slim, but very select, field of entrants looking to prove their mettle ahead of next year’s Classic Season. The race often has significant repercussions for the ante post markets related to the 2000 Guineas and, occasionally, the Epsom Derby as well.
David Simcock will be saddling Ray Ward - a four-year-old son of Galileo for this race and, while he hasn’t really won in quite a while (since May of 2014), he appears to be popular for this one and still represents a decent each-way selection as he is currently trading at a competitive 11/1 price tag.
He has an advantage here because he often handles different types of trips as he can be forwardly placed or is also content to simply lope along at the back and make one big run at the finish. Watch out for him but be sure to keep your eyes on the betting markets to see if the money is moving towards him or away as he...
There are still a whopping 52 horses in the mix for the 2014 Betfred Cesarewitch at Newmarket - one of the last big handicaps of the current flat season. While we will see the field clipped down significantly as we get closer to the final declaration stage later on this week, there have still been plenty of interesting swings in the odds during the build-up throughout the past week or so.
Despite so many contenders remaining on the form sheet right now, there are still plenty of interesting options available and the amount of runners who represent solid each-way bets is very numerous.
The other really interesting contenders in the mix include the likes of Lea, Bayern and Toast of New York. Lea has been out of sight for quite a while but connections have said that they will be back for the Classic. Most major bookmakers have priced Lea at a 7/1 margin but that is simply far too short and he is very likely to be a double-digit price on the day unless he makes a genuinely amazing pre-race appearance.
Much was made of Espinoza’s move - which was very obviously done to take Shared Belief not just out of this race but the Classic as a whole. By being forced to track wide it would have been likely that he could have been a spent force in the big race just a month away.
The simple fact is that Espinoza was likely doing more to improve his chances with California Chrome in that race and that it factored heavily into his decision to race-ride Smith so prominently. Espinoza was very quickly handed a seven-day ban by the Santa Anita stewards and you had to feel for anybody who had money on Sky Kingdom as the horse was...
It was another eventful and exciting weekend for America thoroughbred racing as the major Breeders’ Cup preps unfolded at both Belmont Park in Elmont, New York and Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. With both Tonalist and Shared Belief winning their respective races they now both appear to be gaining serious momentum for their Breeders’ Cup Classic bids as their connections seek out the lion’s share of the whopping $5,000,000 that will be up for grabs on November 1st.
Prior to that run, she took the Yushen Kimba - the equivalent of the Japanese Oaks - by a quarter length despite being sent off as the prohibitive 30/100 favourite. The margin for that one was probably a bit more nip and tuck than some would prefer to see, but the job was completed nonetheless.
Look out for Harp Star at an interesting 8/1 margin.
That now brings us to Treve, who captured this race last year, but has really gone off the boil in her attempts during her four-year-old season. She returned only to be slightly beaten by Cirrus Des Aigles at Longchamp in late April - beaten by just a neck...
The really interesting variable here is that he will be piloted by Naosuke Sugai - and it will be their first overall pairing despite Just A Way having eighteen different races under his belt. If you look at his record - he has had a wide variety of different jockeys and has been able to win with a number of different jocks in the irons.
Each year for the Arc it seems as though we have an undefeated contender attracting plenty of outside bets and this time around it’s going to be Avenir Certain - a 3yo filly by Le Havre out of a Mark of Esteem mare. She...
