When I saw the rain bucketing down at Beverley, I thought Al Shabab Storm was going to have a huge chance on ground he was proven on, but that wasn't the case.
He broke well from a relatively wide stall and had every chance of winning from the position he was put in by the young jockey. He got tired late on and missed the places by small margins.
The French horse looked nothing like what we've seen from him in recent times. The fact Al Aasy can win a Group 2 for the first time in his long career, at the age of nine, shows what a farce it is. I had no belief that the horse had much of a chance, and he didn't look to have a chance until the final fifty yards.
Shallow River 13/2 (EW, 3pl) – Cartmel 3.45
The weather in the North West has been fairly horrific in the last 24 hours, and with a little more rain expected to land, this might be a job for Shallow River.
It's hard to get away from the in-form Divilabother, who is trained by Tristan Davidson, who is equally in good form. His best runs and wins have come on good or quicker ground. He might be able to handle slower ground, but with that doubt creeping in, I thought that Shallow River was a decent alternative.
With the rain changing the ground, I expected to see a shorter price for Shallow River, but at 13/2 he is still a solid price. He enjoys running on rain-softened ground, and returns to his favoured surface with Olly Murphy's yard in red-hot form. This lad is a strong stayer at the trip, so as long as he can handle the quick turns around Cartmel, he is a very good each-way player at the very least.
Pace Attack 4/1 – Southwell 2.42
Another yard that is thriving at present is the Sir Mark Prescott stable. Sir Mark has two horses running on Monday, but Luke Morris has opted for the ride on Pace Attack at Southwell.
Luke Morris is the stable jockey for Sir Mark Prescott, so seeing that he has gone to Southwell mainly for the ride on my selection over the other stable runner at Epsom, when that horse is the favourite, gives me confidence.
Pace Attack made an encouraging return to racing after 111 days away from the track last time out. He made the running, but faded into fourth late on. With that type of absence, it was to be expected that he wasn't going to be 100% match fit, but two weeks on he should be much fitter.
I'm hoping that Luke will opt for similar tactics to last time out, as he might be able to take the sting out of the horses in behind. He is running over a furlong shorter this time, but we know he stays slightly further, which is always a bonus when you're a front runner.
GambleAware