Racing tips: Zarinsk looks more than capable of carrying the penalty at Fairyhouse

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David Egan has never been my cup of tea as a jockey, I saw it as a positive that he was on my selection yesterday as he had the pick of two and he chose mine, but I thought he gave her a stinking ride. 

That's the second time in Listed races at Pontefract where I've had jockeys not be patient enough, and when they've gone to get a gap on the outside they've found more trouble than they would've done if they waited and grabbed the rail on the inside like the winner did, who came from further back than Zenga did. The fact my selection didn't finish in the places is actually a joke, she might not have won the race, but if she got a clear run she would've gone very close in my opinion, as when she had clear ground she started to motor home.

It's not the first time he's done this on one of my horses, he did it many times last year on Mitbaahy who I thought was capable of winning so many more races than he did, due to Egan on board. Not one for jockey bashing, but I don't think he's good enough to ride for one of the biggest stables in the country. Rant over 🤣.

Fairyhouse 6:50 – Zarinsk 2/1 (2pt)

When I do my research into backing the horses for every day I remove the price from my screen, as I don't like that to impact my view before I even have an opinion on a race, and then when I have cemented my views I'll have a look at the odds and then compare it to whether I deem it to be value or not, which results in me tipping it up or not. In my head, I thought Zarinsk would be a clear favourite and around 6/4, so the fact she is joint-favourite at 2/1 is a bit bonkers to me, and I think you've got to back her based on those odds.

Zarinsk beat a fair few of these at Leopardstown in a Group 3 in early May, she did get the run of the race that day and that probably did play a big part in the result, but I think something similar could happen, with no other real pace angle in the race, and I think the drop to 7f could bring out further improvement. She was travelling the best out of any that day in the Group 3 and she only started to tread water in the final half furlong, where you saw a possibility they might be able to run her down, but she stuck to the task well and won by 1.25L. I think she will be better over 7f, especially on soft ground which looks highly likely at Fairyhouse, and if she gets an uncontested lead, which might not be on the cards due to Aidan O'Brien having four in the race, she should be very tough to beat, even with a penalty.

The form of the race from the Group 3 looks strong. The runner-up finished 4th in the Irish 1000 Guineas and then 2nd in a Listed race. The third won a Group 1 in America (Belmont Oaks) on the weekend just gone under Oisin Murphy. The fourth won a Listed race on her next start and is the current joint-favourite for today's race. Fifth was 3rd in the Irish 1000 Guineas.

I cannot believe the current joint favourite is the joint-favourite as she got smoked by Zarinsk when they met, yeah she wasn't positioned as well as my selection and she gets a 3lb swing in the weights, but I can't see how she deserves to be the same odds in the market based on what happened last time around.

Kempton 7:30 – Motazzen 11/2 (1pt EW)

Motazzen should be primed for today's London Stayers' Series Qualifier after a poor ride last time out in the previous quali.

I thought Oisin Murphy got it all wrong in the qualifier, which saw him finish behind Wholeofthemoon after letting the winner get first run on him, and in a slowly run race, it turned into a bit of a sprint finish and giving a few length headstart, it was near impossible to claw back the difference, even though Motazzen showed a decent turn of foot to try and bridge the gap. He has gone up 1lb for that performance, which isn't terrible as I firmly believe he is well handicapped off his current mark of 78, given he has run off higher marks in the past when trained by previous trainers. He is still very unexposed at the trip, and I think this race is definitely winnable, with the majority of the horses looking exposed and not particularly well-treated off their marks.

You might question why not back the horse which beat him at Kempton last time around, well, he was easily beaten at Sandown on his next run, and is running off level weights when he had a 3lb advantage last time and the odds are bigger on my fancy.

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