Monday’s Racing Tips – Bottom weight Innisfree Pearl can relish the bottomless ground at Brighton

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Sunday was a disappointing day as none of the three selections on offer were up to getting the job done.

Sergeant in particular was very disappointing and looked like a shadow of the horse we saw in his previous outing where he won easily by 7L. He was ridden cold out the back by Sean Bowen but quickly came under pressure and it was curtains a long way from home.

Azure Blue might have run her last race based on that performance at York. Either she really disliked the ground or she is gone at the game, maybe they'll chance it one more time on better ground, but I'm not so sure. Rizzel's other runner on the day refused to enter the stalls and looked to have been getting warm from the preliminaries, based on the sweat on his neck. There was some very strong money for the horse overnight, being backed into 4/1 from 14/1, but was weak in the market before the off, probably due to his antics in the parade ring etc.

September profit/loss stands at -0.83pts.

Cairnzy's Tips

Call Blue 5/2 – Newton Abbot 4.25

For my first selection of the day I decided to have another shot at the jumps at Newton Abbot. While the overall quality of the meet is underwhelming, the turnout for some races is particularly disappointing, with three of the six events featuring only three runners.

I had a glance over the races at Newton Abbot and liked a few, but I finally decided on Call Blue for the Twinston-Davies team in the 4.25, who should come on for her recent outing.

My selection has yet to win a race in her career, but she's still lightly raced at 7 years old, having run only 12 times since her debut in 2021. After a long layoff, Call Blue returned to finish second in her seasonal reappearance at Stratford last month, finishing just over 2 lengths behind Mary, the winner from the Ian Williams yard. Priced at 22/1, Call Blue was never fancied in the betting that day, but her encouraging return suggested the Twinston-Davies team can successfully get their horses firing after long breaks, as evidenced by their win yesterday with Stream Of Stars, who won after nearly 3 years off the track.

My selection is up 3lb for that recent second, which could be a tad harsh but she remains well-treated on her previous form, so be it back in 2022. She hit the frame on three occasions of a mark of 89 in 2022 so there's every reason to believe she could improve for the recent outing and progress further this year.

Chalk Mountain 2/1 – Wolverhampton 7.00

For my final selection on Monday I've gone to the evening meeting at Wolverhampton on the AW. As expected, the quality on offer at Wolverhampton on Monday is bottom of the barrel stuff, but the horse that caught my eye as being potentially a good bet was Chalk Mountain for trainer Stuart Kittow and jockey Rob Hornby.

My selection has been tried on both turf and AW and the difference in form between the two is chalk and cheese, pardon the pun! Chalk Mountain is 0-8 in on the turf but does post a decent strike rate on the artificial surface with three wins and four placed efforts from ten runs. He was in good form during the winter period of 2023 and returned after a 240 day break this term to finish a disappointing 8/12 at Chester after seemingly needing the run. Chalk Mountain did come on for the run on his following outing on the turf which saw him beat on the line by a short head at Newbury. The form of that runner-up effort reads well with the winner coming out and finishing second next time out while the third-placed horse has since won and also finished second. My selection was unable to build on his runner-up effort and disappointed at Sandown when finishing last of twelve.

I was impressed with Chalk Mountains' most recent outing, which saw him return to winning ways at Southwell. He traveled powerfully through his race that day and looked like the winner from a long way out. He picked up the pieces in the final furlong and saw off the challenge from the runner-up to win comfortably by just under 2L. He's been hit with a 5lb rise for that recent success, but given how easily he did that day, I think he's worth sticking with in his current mood. Chalk Mountain is also unbeaten at Wolverhampton and has every chance of making it three from three at the track.

Rizzel's Tips

Window Of Time 14/1 EW – Newton Abbot 3.50

At this time of year, we get the 3-year-old juvenile hurdle races which can be tough to dissect the form, and with unraced horses over obstacles it's a risk, but I am going to take a risk on Window Of Time from the Alex Hales yard.

In races like this, especially with the debutantes, the market tends to be accurate to how the horse will run, so it's going to be interesting to see if Window Of Time gets supported or takes a huge drift. For me, at the time of writing, the odds available make her worth the risk on hurdling debut as the horses who have raced and do have form over hurdles don't exactly have outstanding form claims and can be surpassed. Like 2-year-old runners, having the experience is a big advantage, especially over hurdles, but Window Of Time has had runs on the flat so and will have had plenty of training over hurdles at home, so she won't be completely blind to this task.

The going is going to be soft at Newton Abbot, so for starters, having a horse who handles conditions is a must. Window Of Time has raced on soft ground from the flat when trained by Joseph O'Brien and did seem to handle it relatively well. She finished 4th/7, not finishing miles behind the winner, but it was encouraging enough after a 171-day break from the track, and it hinted that a stiffer stamina test would be better for her as she was held up but was staying on slightly towards the finish, which gives optimism for today's trip of 2m 1f. The pedigree isn't amazing of Window Of Time with the Dam not doing much, but the Dam's Sire and Window Of Time's Sire have produced some decent jumps horses, so it's not a total shock that this filly has ended up over hurdles.

It's an interesting runner at Newton Abbot for Alex Hales as it's not a track he's been having too many runners at in recent years. In the last five years, he has had six runners, which has seen two win and a further three in the top three, so it's not like he likes to waste his time bringing horses to Newton Abbot if they are no-hopers, which is nice to see for my selection who is new to the jumping game.

Innisfree Pearl 6/1 – Brighton 4.40

Right at the bottom of the weights of the Brighton 4.40 race is my second selection of the day. Innisfree Pearl is still a very lightly raced filly for Tom Ward and clearly appreciated a step into the handicapping world, and I think more can come as a result of that performance.

Brighton is expecting a bit more rain overnight so the ground is going to be testing down on the south coast, and I have no doubts that Innisfree Pearl will relish the conditions. Last time out she produced a much better performance on her handicap debut, even though it might not have been totally expected as she finished 3rd/6, 1.75L behind the winner at odds of 18/1. Prior to that run, she had only beaten two rivals from her first three starts in novice company, but that happens and horses like Innisfree Pearl who aren't the most talented are campaigned with handicaps in mind, and that's why I think she could easily do some damage in this race today.

Her run last time out at Windsor was on soft ground and over 11f, so we can tick soft ground off the checklist as she handled it nicely and I think we can safely say the step up in trip alongside the stiffer track of Brighton will be beneficial for her. She was staying on well last time out at Windsor, and given how Windsor has been racing in many years, being prominent and bagging the rail is the place to be, so Innisfree Pearl was hardly positioned in the best of places towards the rear, but with that being said she ran with plenty of credit to finish as close as she did. In hindsight, the form actually looks good. The winner hasn't won again since and was disappointing on his trip up to Hamilton Park when stepping up in trip, but he was far too keen that day, but prior to that he had won his last two and was beaten a short head by my winning selection on Friday, Knight Templar. The runner-up at Windsor then bolted up by 5L at Lingfield on his next start, so I think it's fair to say the handicapper has done us a favour by dropping Innisfree Pearl by 1lb as she looks to be a very good mark based on that form.

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