To walk away with no winner on Thursday feels illegal.
There's only so much I can do, and if I can find the value and tell you how the race will unfold, but the jockey isn’t good enough to steer the horse home, it’s extremely frustrating.
Jojo Rabbit should have won, but this is the risk when backing horses in apprentice races. Still, William Pyle is experienced enough to control the horse from wandering on multiple occasions. He was backed into the 11/8 and lost momentum every time he wanted to go sideways rather than straight.
Eternal Sunshine drifted to 20/1 and nearly fought back to get the win at Newmarket. Lauren Young is also an apprentice, but shows time and time again that the 5lb she can claim is a massive bonus. The horse lost by a short head, and each-way money was returned.
Prizeland 4/1 – Newmarket 1.50
The progression that Prizeland has shown this year has been very impressive, and she might not have stopped just yet.
Oisin Murphy is the stable jockey for Andrew Balding, but he has ridden both Prizeland and Inis Mor on their recent runs. Andrew isn't the type of trainer who'd make Oisin ride Prizeland if he felt that the Menuisier horse had the better chance, so clearly Oisin believes Prizeland can progress further.
I tipped up Prizeland last time out when she was going up to 14f for the first time. I thought that step up in trip was going to suit, and it still might in the future, but I think that race wasn't run to suit. That was still a very good effort against the older horses, and now she is back against lesser-quality older horses and is mainly racing against the same age group; I think she could come out on top.
Spirited Gesture 2/1 – Newmarket 2.25
The best form is with Light Of Dawn in this race, and if you were to back her at 5/2, I couldn't dissuade you. That is a decent price based on the form she has produced in Class 1 races this season, but I am a big fan of pedigrees, and Spirited Gesture has a superb pedigree and has the potential over Light Of Dawn and others.
John & Thady Gosden's runner is a Kingman daughter, who is a full sister to Calyx and Coppice. Both of those named horses were Class 1 performers, and Calyx was a very smart horse, but clearly suffered from injuries and we didn't get to see the best of him, with him just racing four times.
This filly has been impressive in two races to date, and considering she was 6/4 on debut, it leaves the impression that they've liked her for a long time. The Gosden stable don't rush their juvenile horses, so they kept her in training till August before unleashing her. This is her first real acid test, and we'll know a hell of a lot more after the race is done, but you are backing her for the potential rather than the rock-solid form.
GambleAware