Almeric proved that he was far too good for the Listed field at Ayr.
Fair play to Oisin Murphy, who sat well off the pace in that race. He judged the pace of the race perfectly when it looked like the horse had plenty to do before turning for home. Almeric bridged the gap to the frontrunners like it was nothing. Maybe he benefited from sitting off the pace, but I think he is a very good horse in the making.
Majestic Warrior went close in the big handicap at Newbury. He did nothing wrong in defeat, and the horse tried extremely hard to catch the eventual winner, but didn't have enough in reserves.
Our Mighty Mo was given yet another bad ride. I don't understand why they are trying to hold him up when he's a horse who is free and likes to race prominently. Until they race him like he should, he will have no chance.
The Man 11/4 (1pt) – Southwell 4.07
I fully expect the price of The Man to be short due to the owners having a fantastic day on Saturday. The owner of The Man won the Ayr Silver and Gold Cup, and this horse has some great form in big handicaps, which makes him an attractive bet.
The Man is a very lightly raced three-year-old sprinter who has only raced twice this year. He won nicely in May at York in a good class 3 handicap, which he won in emphatic style. He didn't stop his progress at York last month when he finished a head behind Treford in a class 2 race off an 8lb higher mark. That recent run produced an RPR of 102, which shows he is still ahead of the handicapper off a 2lb higher mark in today's race.
Southwell is a tricky track, and even though it's not a fibresand track anymore, it still is marmite. The Man has shown form on this track when he won on his debut last year, which is another positive sign that a big run is on the cards.
Byblos 9/2 (1pt) – Southwell 5.40
John and Thady Gosden have a 30% strike rate at Southwell, so similar to The Man, I don't expect fantastic odds for Byblos.
His form is okay, but it doesn't stand out massively. But I think there is a decent horse in there, and I think the run behind Al Wasl Storm suggests that he is a good horse.
I think you've got to overlook his run at Windsor last time out, as that was on soft ground, and maybe that ground isn't to his liking. The pedigree of Byblos gives plenty of hope that he is better than his handicap mark of 82. He is a half-brother to Siskin, who was a very good horse for Ger Lyons a couple of years ago.
He has won at this venue before, albeit as an odds-on shot.
GambleAware