Friday was a blank day, with a dud run in the form of Have Secret being the main blunder on my part.
I completely overlooked the jockey booking on Have Secret, and it definitely came back to bite me. It was a rookie mistake not seeing Oisin Orr on the other Richard Fahey runner in the race, and sure enough, the other horse won at 28/1.
Have Secret was slow out of the gates, which was a big problem. He was drawn in a low number and had a wall of horses in front of him after being tardy at the start. Unfortunately, he was never competitive and was tailed off.
Mr Professor ran much better than he had previously shown in his last four starts. He missed the places by one, which is always frustrating. The rain didn't come down as heavily as I anticipated and with softer ground, he could've gotten closer.
The Lion In Winter 7/1 (0.5pt EW, 4pl) – Epsom 3.30
There is a possibility that I have landed on the front runner for the Ballydoyle battalion, but I can't believe that they would sacrifice a quality horse like The Lion In Winter.
Last year, The Lion In Winter was one of the most promising juveniles from the Aidan O'Brien stable. He won his two race starts, which included a Group 3 at York over 7f. He was off the track until the Dante last month, where nothing went to plan. He apparently needed the run, but in the race he was keen and sweating, which makes his performance not too bad.
Aidan has come out and said that his work has been impeccable since, and with that run under his belt, he should be 100% for today. The main question for my selection, and for many in this race, is whether he will stay the trip. Going off his pedigree, there is every chance that today's trip of 12f will be within his reach. He is by Sea The Stars, who won the Derby in 2009, and is out of a mare who stayed this distance.
Another question is the ground, but once again, the Dam handled the surface. The sire of the dam is Lope De Vega, who has produced many high-quality soft ground horses over the years, so I believe he'll handle it.
Stall 19 of 19 isn't ideal, and when questioned, Aidan said he might not need to settle towards the rear. I'm hoping that will be mind games and that he will not be a pacesetter, but if that is the case, he can still win like the runaway Ballydole frontrunner did a few years ago.
Seeing neither Ryan Moore nor Wayne Lordan on board would put many off, but having Colin Keane in the saddle isn't necessarily a bad thing. Aidan has won this race with jockeys who aren't his first string, or even his second string. Hopefully, The Lion In Winter is another one to add to the tally.
GambleAware