Very rarely will I call out Charlie Deutsch for giving a horse a poor ride, but he got it awfully wrong on Animal.
He knew the horse had plenty left to give inside the final circuit, but he decided to sit second last and kept waiting until it was too late.
He was motionless, turning the final bend, but then the horse made a bad mistake and was instantly on the backfoot. He stayed on strongly, but at that point, the winner had many lengths in hand. If he were positioned five lengths close to the leader before turning for home, he wins.
Thankfully, Mr Griffiths ensured it wasn't a losing day, despite not looking like a winner turning the final bend.
Jonjo looked confident, but then had to get down in the saddle and ask for a lot of effort from his mount. The horse battled on strongly and looks like a real staying chaser in the making. I can see him lining up in the regional national races in a couple years time.
I Ain't Your Mate 4/1 (1pt) – Hereford 2.30
A couple of months ago, I said that I wasn't going to touch a Christian Williams horse unless it was at a big meeting/in a big race. I've decided to relieve that and give a chance to his runner, I Ain't Your Mate.
Christian Williams, like a lot of the jump trainers, plans out what he is going to do with his runners well in advance. He is one of the best at fudging the handicapping system, so it's always a risk backing his horses the night before, as normally the application of money is when you jump on.
His runner, I Ain't Your Mate, is making his handicap and chasing debut at the same time. He was very poor in his hurdle races, but his odds suggested he wasn't going to get close. His PTP form is what sold me that he could be well-handicapped off an opening mark of 100.
He was runner-up to El Cairos on his second start in PTPs, losing by a neck. El Cairos is the Supreme favourite since moving to Gordon Elliott's yard, and has a huge reputation. The fact that I Ain't Your Mate pushed him to a neck win is a huge positive.
I'm not daft, and I understand that El Cairos would have improved since then, but he has always had a huge reputation since his PTPs, so a mark of 100 on my selection must be low.
My fancy has been off the track for over 300 days, but has been entered in races in October and December (didn't run), so I don't think fitness will be a problem.
Three horses turn up for the race with recent wins, but the form of their wins is fantastic. It looks like a race where an unexposed horse could come in and win comfortably, and I think that's I Ain't Your Mate.
GambleAware
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TURF PARADISE – Race 5…Athens Moon 17/2 Bet365
Been running well in better company and auld boy may have it in him here at a track trip and distance he clearly likes
Well done yesterday Rizzle