Mandana ran a solid enough race, but wasn't good enough to land a blow on the handicap debutante.
William Buick decided to go from the front, and he got an easy time with the lead. The filly was a little keen, but not over the top keen. She got headed a couple of furlongs from home, looked like she was going to get swamped, but she battled back. The winner did it easily and was evidently well ahead of the handicapper on her handicap debut.
Physique also ran a good race, but he looks awfully awkward. Her head carriage has put me off backing him for the future. He has the ability, but he doesn't look like a horse who wants to put it all together and win. He placed for us, reducing the loss on the day to under a point.
Culligran 5/2 (1pt) – Cartmel 4.55
With the flat racing not being too kind to me in recent weeks, I've decided to have a look at the Cartmel jumps card.
John O'Shea's runner in the Class 4 handicap chase looked like a solid bet. This horse is still very unexposed as a chaser, and has managed to be placed as runner-up and win from her two starts over fences.
She has some solid form for this level of race. The runner-up from last time out has since won, and given that the front two were twelve lengths clear of the third, it looks good. The time before, Culligran bumped into obsessedwithyou from the Jamie Snowden yard. That mare has won off a 7lb higher handicap mark, and won by 8L. In hindsight, it was always going to be a tough task to beat that horse on chasing debut, given how well handicapped she was. Nevertheless, it was a solid first round of jumping over fences, and she was only beaten by the winner by 4.5L. To boost that form even further, the third-placed horse won on her next start by 4.25L.
Novello Lad 2/1 (1pt)- Doncaster 3.55
Oisin Murphy has been in the news for the wrong reasons, again. Despite that, he is still one of the best jockeys in the country and he proved that at Royal Ascot by getting five winners. He is booked by Paul Midgley on his runner, Novello Lad, and that caught my attention.
I've already managed to get a winner from backing Oisin when riding for Paul this season, and his strike rate for the yard makes it worth a second look. Novello Lad is in good form based on his last two starts, but having the Champion Jockey on board gives me extra optimism that today will be the day.
Novello Lad was a close runner-up over today's course and distance last time out in a slightly better race. Last time out was a 0-75, whereas today's race is a 0-68. He was bad from the gates, so I think you can mark up his run from last time out. His handicap mark hasn't been changed, so he must be coming close in this race with a better jockey on board.
Oisin is 3/8 for Paul in the last five years.
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