We walked away from Good Friday with a 6/4 winner under a patient Oisin Murphy ride.
My only issue with flat racing is that jockeys find themselves in a lot of traffic problems. I thought the same was going to happen on Stateira when Oisin was struggling to find a gap, but once the horse was in the open, he powered home.
The other runner of the day came in the opener at Newcastle. He couldn't have been any keener in the first half of the race, and when a horse acts like that, you've got no chance of getting the win.
Victoria Milano 20/1 (0.5pt EW, 3pl) – Haydock 3.55
I could be reading into the jockey situation of this race too much, but seeing Jonjo Jr riding Victoria Milano over Imperial Bede caught my attention.
Jonjo has ridden Imperial Bede in the last five starts for his dad, who trains the horse. He won board when the horse won in February, and if you can throw out his most recent run, he has to be in with a decent shout. The bookies have priced him up as the second favourite, yet he has decided not to ride that horse and gets the leg up on Victoria Milano.
My selection hasn't done much since moving to Oliver Greenall & Josh Guerriero's yard, but the transition to fences could be what she needs. She has run over fences once before for her previous yard, where she wasn't fantastic either, but her handicap mark has fallen to 100, which gives her a chance of bouncing back to form. Given how out of form she is, it makes it even more interesting that Jonjo Jr has sacrificed his ride on the second favourite.
Moyganny Phil 6/4 (1pt) – Carlisle 4.05
A much shorter-priced selection to cap off Saturday is Moyganny Phil, who is taking a step up in trip on his second handicap start.
This won't be a walk in the park, so it's interesting that he's as short as he is, but the extra yardage has to be a huge positive for him. He is 0/3 over hurdles, but his handicap debut effort from last time out showed that he is more than capable of being involved in a race of this nature.
He got going too late over two miles, so the added three furlongs he tackles today have to be better for him. The yard is absolutely flying at the moment, and they do very well with the runners they send up to the Northern parts of the UK.
There are recent winners in this race, but they have gone up a few pounds, and the form doesn't look like it's strong. It's an obvious risk going for a horse this short based on what we know about him, but it looks like this race is crying out for an unexposed horse to take it by the scruff of the neck.
GambleAware