Sword 9/1 (3pl) – Newmarket 3.40
Despite Olivia Haines giving North View a stinking ride at Brighton earlier in the week, I'm giving her another chance with her horse, Sword.
I really hope that Stuart gives her the tactics of being prominent or leading in this race. Newmarket is a track where you can get away with being a frontrunner, and it's not as testing as it looks or as you hear. You see many runaway frontrunners, and considering they have led with this horse before, it would seem a waste not to try these tactics again.
He is going to be running off a very low weight, and when you look at his form in big handicaps, he is surely a player if given a chance by his rider.
Theoryofeverything 5/1 (3pl) – Ayr 7.00
In an ideal world, I'd love there to be more rain at Ayr for Theoryofeverything. If the forecast rain was going to be a lot, he'd be on the main page, but with there only being a small amount, I think he will be a good player in the EW Lucky.
The ground is currently good, good to soft in places. With what is forecast, I think the ground will stay the same. He loves bad ground, but he can run well on a surface like this. The main selling point is the drop into a Class 4 for the very first time. I tipped him up earlier in the season, and he didn't run badly. The handicapper has continued to steadily drop his rating, and I think he has a nice chance against lesser horses.
Rosa Inglesa 11/2 (1pt) – Deauville 4.42
I'm a big fan of Rosa Inglesa, hence why she has been a tip on her last two starts. I was confident she was going to run well at Royal Ascot, and then last time out I thought she was too well handicapped not to win.
She finished 3rd of 30 at Royal Ascot, and then won by a small margin at the same track. This is another step up in grade, but we see fillies make big strides of improvement and can make the jump up to Listed company. The second-placed horse at Royal Ascot won a Group 3 at this track earlier this month, which is a good confidence booster.
Mountain Road 11/1 (3pl) – Ascot 2.10
He could be a little too high in the handicap now, but how many times do we see older horses continue to improve under Jim Goldie?
He stayed on well from off the pace at Thirsk, and I thought that was a very good run for his return to this trip. He had been running over shorter, but running over two miles was what the doctor ordered.
Jim Goldie has been in great form over the last few years, and I think his horses always have to be respected when they come to a southern track. He showed last week at Goodwood that he can win big races, and with him sending this lad to Ascot, he is a definitey EW player.
GambleAware