Green Impact managed to win at short odds at Leopardstown under a front-running ride by Shane Foley.
It didn't look likely when Shane got busy on the horse, but fair play to Green Impact as he battled hard and kept pulling out more.
Have Secret 11/1 EW (0.5pt EW, 4pl) – Epsom 3.15
The first selection of Friday is Have Secret, and this horse was a very unlucky loser at Ripon last time out.
I tipped up Padishakh in the race Have Secret contested last time out, which was the race where the winner was a runaway leader. On that day, the jockeys in behind were extremely poor, including Billy Garrity on Have Secret. In hindsight, today's selection should have won the race at Ripon and I think with a better-judged ride today he can put in a serious effort.
The handicapper has put up Have Secret by a couple of pounds, but it doesn't take effect until later on, so he is ahead of the handicapper. This mark means he has to put in a career-best to win a race of this nature, but evidently, he is in great form and I think he is worth chancing.
Hopefully, he gets a good start from the gates as he is drawn in Stall 3 – we don't want to be trapped on the inside, resulting in not getting a clear run.
Mr Professor 18/1 EW (0.5pt EW, 4pl) – Epsom 4.35
My second selection for Friday, and the more ‘risky' bet is Mr Profressor.
If you was to look at the bare facts and form of this horse, you'd give him zero chance of winning. His form numbers read 000-0 from his last four runs, but prior to that he did win the Lincoln on the opening day of last year's flat season. I could be barking up the wrong tree, or it could be a genius move, but I think today could be the right time to catch this horse.
Epsom was watered earlier in the week, and over the last 24 hours the track has received plenty of rain, with further expected to land. This should make the ground described as ‘soft', which is Mr Professor's ideal ground conditions, which should hopefully give him a solid chance of bouncing back to form.
His official rating is 94, which is still a couple of pounds higher than when he won the Lincoln at Doncaster. This means that he has a bit to prove even if he was to return to form, but a couple of pounds isn't much, especially when he recorded an RPR of 103 to win that day.
The track should also be up his street and help him return to form. He has previously won at Goodwood which shares similarities to Epsom – both tracks have a steep decline when turning for home. He hasn't been seen since a repeat bid for the Lincoln in March, so hopefully he hasn't had any setbacks and is ready to fire this time around.
GambleAware