Saturday was a tough day, as it tends to be most of the time for punters.
Wendigo jumped not too badly on debut, and I thought that's all he needed to do to win in what looked an average affair. He broke clear with the eventual winner but was outbattled as the raced towards the line.
I only saw one of Rizzel's selections which was Alfa Kellenic. Alfa Kellenic blew the start, which hindered its chances straight away of landing the seven-timer. Ryan Moore did bring her forward down the outside, but she didn't pick up as expected.
Cairnzy's Tips
Wicket Keeper 4/1 – Goodwood 2.25
My sole selection on Sunday is a bit risky, but I think the odds on favorite is worth taking on in this contest. I thought Eve Johnson's Wicket Keeper could represent some value at 4/1 to take on Andrew Balding's charge.
Don't get me wrong, I understand why Qetaifan is the favorite for this race. He has improved with each run this season, and his recent win at Chester in challenging conditions was impressive. The heavy ground forecast for Goodwood tomorrow also works in Qetaifan's favor, as he has proven he can handle testing ground conditions. However, I have concerns about the strength of his Chester victory, and while you can only beat what's in front of you, I don't believe he faced much competition that day.
As already mentioned, my selection Wicket Keeper comes with risks, in particular when it comes to the testing ground conditions which he is yet to face in his racing career having only had one career start which came on better ground. If you are willing to roll the dice in the hope he handles the ground, then I think the form of his debut run is much stronger than that of what Qetaifan has to offer.
My selection finished 3L of the Clive Cox trained Shameful, who although he hasn't raced since winning that day, Shameful did look like a decent sort going forward. It's the second-placed horse Belgrave that I want to focus on, that one is trained by Ralph Beckett and followed up with another encouraging effort on Friday when chasing home Roger Varians Fondo Blanco all the way to the line, to go down by only three-quarters of a length. Fondo Blanco also looks like an exciting type going forward and should go on to bigger things next season when a three-year-old.
I've mentioned on countless occasions that I'm a huge fan of Eve Johnson's youngsters, in particular her two year olds, and Wicket Keeper looks the type to improve from his debut run. If he takes to the ground, I think he can go close at a decent price.
Rizzel's Tips
Just Over Land 11/2 – Ffos Las 3.20
With just Moveit Like Minnie being the only horse in the race with previous chasing experience, we enter unknown territory. The top weight jumped decently on his chase debut at Stratford, which is not what some of the outlets said, and she will be deemed as the one to beat as she did win nicely and was backed in the market to suggest she was going to do so. You can make claims for a few of these on their hurdling form, but I've gone for one towards the bottom of the weights with Just Over Land, who can hopefully put in a nice round of jumping.
I wouldn't say Just Over Land is a huge horse, which is always a benefit for a chaser, but the shape he makes over hurdles suggests he should be making a chaser. The pedigree backs that statement up as he is related to two chase winners. His stablemate and full-brother, Good Risk At All made a winning chase debut last October and jumped very well on that day. Good Risk At All is rated much higher than Just Over Land, so you'd like to think that my selection is still on an attractive mark despite looking quite exposed over hurdles, with chasing potentially bringing out the best of him.
Sam Thomas has dodged the summer jumps and he is very meticulous with his runners and doesn't like wasting his bullets, so his yard has only had two runners this season which has been in the last week, which has yielded a place and a 20/1 winner.
Even though he looks a tad exposed over hurdles, he has some decent pieces of form with the second-placed effort to Lively Citizen being a good effort, as that horse has run very well in big-field handicaps over the years, and he looked like the winner all up the final straight over today's course and distance, only for him to look tired on heavy ground which played a part in his two final jumps which were scruffy. Back on a slightly better surface of soft ground should be better for him and with Dylan Johnston being booked, he takes off a very handy 5lbs, which definitely puts him on a dangerous mark.
In December 2020 we sadly 
