Racing tips: South Wales raider Port Or Starboard catches the eye in the opener at Sedgefield

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The good recent form continued yesterday with the sole selection of the day winning. It didn't look likely for many parts of the race, but he battled on and stayed on powerfully to win. Apparently he was around 10/1 in play for some parts in the race, which goes to show how bad he was travelling when you consider he went off at 13/8.

Ludlow 1:30

A horse who I have previously tipped up on the thread and makes a return after a few months is CENOTICE. This horse was very disappointing last time I tipped him up, but since then he has come down the weights, and has recently won. The performance he put in last time out at Newcastle was very good in my opinion, as the front three battled it out in a photo finish, pulling 9L clear of the rest, which generally results in the form being strong when they pull away from the rest. The selection travelled beautifully throughout that race, and even though he won in a photo finish, I think he was worth more than the small margins. He had to battle to win, but the manner in which he got to the final two fences before it turned into that scrap, was impressive and looked like a horse who was ahead of his mark. He got a 2lb rise in the weights for that win, which is effectively 4lbs as Theo Gillard can only claim 3lbs now, when he claimed 5lbs when he won on him. Those number don't seem to be excessive, and even though the competition today looks competitive, it's far from being against world beaters. When you consider the form of the jockey & trainer combination, it's surprising that he's not favourite at the time of writing.

Sedgefield 1:37

Backing horses in novice/maiden races isn't something I'm a big fan of, as the horses in the race are unexposed and can show a completely different level of form to what we've previously seen from them, but I think the odds on offer for PORT OR STARBOARD make him worth a small bet.

Bernard Llewellyn sends his sole runner of the day to Sedgefield, which is a trek for the South Wales based trainer, who has not sent a runner to the track in the last five years, and I'm not sure when the last time he sent a runner to this track, if ever. That suggests they are confident of a very big run, as the fuel costs alone won't be cheap, so you'd like to think they're going for the win and are confident, with the prize money being £5k+ for a maiden, which is decent.

The form on offer for the selection is actually quite good, with his most recent second place being boosted by the winner, who has won since. The time before, the winner went on to finish 2nd in his next race. And, on hurdles debut, Port Or Starboard finished runner up to Lebowski, who won easily, but looks a nice prospect for the future, currently rated in the mid 120s and looks much better than that.

This race looks interesting, with a few juveniles making it a little more confusing to weigh up with the weight advantage they get, but from what we've seen from them, they will need to improve. Out of the two towards the top of the market, I'd be more wary of the McConnell horse, as he doesn't bring horses over for the fun of it, and I don't think Patient Dream showed enough on debut to suggest he should be favourite.

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