No winners came from the two selections at Hamilton on Wednesday.
Watchdog was massively disappointing. He was keen throughout the race, but I don't think he pulled too badly for his race to be as bad as it was.
Tiva ran a good race off top weight, but the front-runner just kept plugging along. I did expect there to be another horse to challenge him for the lead, but it wasn't to be. The winner had won off higher marks a few years ago, so it's clear to see that he's in great form.
Parole d'Oro 10/3 (1pt) – Ripon 3.40
I whittled this down to three, and one of them was the old boy Garden Oasis. That goes to show that I don't think it's the strongest of races, despite it looking competitive with a couple of southern raiders.
The one I landed on was Parole d'Oro. The main reason for this is that, based on what we've seen from him in better races than this, he has run well or been unlucky not to finish closer. His running style from the back of the field will always give him problems. However, with the likes of Garden Oasis and a couple of others, the pace should be strong, meaning it could set up beautifully for Michael Bell's horse.
He ran well at Royal Ascot last year and finished second to a well handicapped horse in a Class 2 race at York. His reappearance run was better than it looks on paper, as he didn't get the clearest of runs through, but it will have blown away the cobwebs at the very least.
Another Abbot 15/8 (1.5pt) – Yarmouth 4.23
I seem to be picking a lot of top weight horses, and Another Abbot is another horse to add to that list.
Looking at the bare numbers of the recent form figures of his sole run this season and the ones at the back end of last season, you'd question why he is so short. That's because he has some very strong form, especially the run at Brighton in a Class 4 off a 6lb lower handicap mark. Nearly every horse inside the top half of the placings has franked the form, and done it multiple times.
He hasn't won since, but he can be a keen-goer, which is not ideal. I thought his run at Chelmsford in December and his reappearance at Asot earlier this month were solid efforts. Considering he went off at 16/1, he was never going to win. Haggas' yard rarely has big price winners like that, and their runners are backed in when they are deemed to go close or win. Evidently, that was a fitness run, and he will be fit and ready for today's outing.
GambleAware