Rizzel was left with one runner on Tuesday as One More Stroke was withdrawn for unknown reasons about 15 minutes before the race started at Bangor. His sole selection Ventara ran well, but couldn't hold on in the final stages and was beaten by the Robert Walford horse who won prior to the summer racing.
Rizzel is -11.692pts down for month
Rizzel's tips
Fast Buck 10/1 – Newton Abbot 2.30
I am actually in disbelief that Fast Buck is the outsider of the field at the time of writing, with some huge odds available. I'm trying to get this done as soon as possible so the prices are still around!
I pick horses out before looking at the odds, as I think odds can sway your opinion on a horse and put you off backing a horse or the opposite, but the odds on Fast Buck seem a tad ridiculous given he has his ground at Newton Abbot.
I thought Fast Buck would be around 3/1 for this race, vying for favourtism as he has a very good record on heavy ground and not many others in this race do. He holds Mr Grey Sky on last year's performance when the pair of them met, and the weights are pretty much identical, with a 1lb swing in favour of Fast Buck, so in theory, it should play out like that again if Fast Buck's jumping is just as good as that day. He rarely runs well on the back of a layoff, but that's been the case for Jane Williams' horses this new season, so his run over hurdles shouldn't be looked at too negatively. You've got to focus on his chase form, and when he has dropped to around this mark in the past, he has won, which has been off 122 earlier this year at Wincanton when running on heavy ground and the time before was off 119 on heavy ground again.
In my opinion, Royal Jewel doesn't look particularly well-handicapped. He was beaten by Striking A Pose over hurdles over 2m 2f, yet that horse is pretty much a 2m 7f/3m horse, so what does that tell you? The others also have to prove themselves off a layoff and I don't think the ground is what the majority would like it, so I had this between Mr Grey Sky and Fast Buck, and given Fast Buck has a notch over the Kim Bailey horse, I thought this was a n0-brainer.
I'm happy enough to go on the nose with this selection, he is an EW price and there are extra places on offer but I think the extra returns for the same stake is worth the risk on this one.
Minella Blueway 14/1 EW – Newton Abbot 4.00
It's probably going to come back and bite me in the behind for going with an Evan Williams horse with Adam Wedge doing the steering, as I don't have a great track record when backing their horses, as they do tend to plan horses out with certain targets, if you get what I mean then you'll know. However, I do think Minella Blueway has a good chance, as long as connections fancy their chances.
This horse should like the ground after showing a good attitude on this surface last year over hurdles when winning a maiden hurdle on soft ground by 11L, which has since seen the runner-up be rated in the low 130s. This horse has since run some okay races in defeat over the shorter obstacles and made a low-key chase debut at Ffos Las, but he was never in contention and I don't think they ever intended of winning that race anyway. It was his first start in 180 days on ground which is too quick for him and over a trip which is too short, plus he was anchored in last place and never put in the race. Despite all of that, he jumped well enough on chase debut to suggest he has a future over fences, and now over further and on a slower surface, I think he is worth a shot in this race.
This is a tough little handicap, but the price available on my selection is generous, but if the market speaks negatively, then you might as well chuck your betting slip in the bin.
15:38 Collusion 2/1