Santorini Star was extremely disappointing in the Listed race at Pontefract.
She had been competing in handicaps, so today's race was a step up. She won her last handicap at Goodwood in good style, but struggled to bridge the gap.
I didn't think the race was that good, but the horses who had competed at the Listed level previously came to the fore. I don't think that form is going to amount to much, and I wouldn't be too invested in backing the winner next time out.
Uncle Simon 5/2 – Wolverhampton 4.03
This race looks like a two-runner race, and that is between Uncle Simon and Call Me Betty. I think it's easy to side with the latter-named horse as he is the favourite and arguably has the best form, but I've gone for the bigger-priced horse of the two.
With this being on the all-weather and having a prominent position likely being key, I thought Uncle Simon might try and take this from the front. He was relatively quick out of the gates at Salisbury and led in the early stages, but then settled for second or third. We see many races won on artificial surfaces by horses who get an easy lead and nick lengths before turning for home. It can be extremely difficult to peg back a horse who has a head start around Wolverhampton, and I'm hoping that will be the case for my selection.
It wasn't a bad effort at Salisbury, and his final position makes it look a lot worse. It was his first start of the new season and his first start in 202 days. He was in desperate need of that run last time out, and you could tell that as soon as he weakened, he went backwards very quickly.
His pedigree is solid for this quality of race. He is related to three other horses, including Cry Fiction, who was placed in Class 1 company over sprint trips. He won't need to be anything special to win this, especially with one horse to beat, unless one of the outsiders can cause a shock.
The recent form of the trainer, Kevin Philippart De Foy, is a bit of a concern, but his track record is impressive. Wolverhampton is his second most raced track, and he likes to have plenty of runners on the AW. He has a 17% strike rate at today's venue, which is from 171 runners.
Daniel Muscutt is the man in the saddle doing the steering, and he is a solid jockey for these types of races. Like the trainer, Daniel has a good strike rate at Wolverhampton and has ridden here over 600 times, so he knows the score and will know how to ride Uncle Simon if they get the lead.
Like most Mondays, the racing is fairly dreadful, and nothing really stands out as a solid bet. So, it's just the one selection from me today.
GambleAware