Wednesday was a day of runner-ups at Thirsk.
Both selections had to settle for the runner-up spot; one could have won with a bit of luck, the other not so much.
Arantes Nascimento was slightly backed in, as I expected. Tom Marquand's horse didn't travel as smoothly as I'd have hoped for, and got into top gear too late. He tried to run down the leader, but ran out of time and had to settle for a small margin defeat.
Leap Day was in a race which had a very strong pace on. The leader does that every now and again, and it opened the race up. I don't think my horse liked the frantic pace as much as others, and the winner stayed on strongly to win comfortably.
La Cadalora 15/8 (1pt) – Haydock 4.10
If the drop back in trip suits La Cadalora, then she could be well treated off a mark of 71.
I am a big fan of James Fanshawe, especially when he sends his runners to the northern tracks. His runner in this race is a horse who is a full-sister to an old horse from his stable called Entrusted. The horse I've just mentioned was a winner on his final start for James, which came over 10f, winning off a mark of 82 and recording an RPR of 93. This race isn't over 10f, but from what we've seen from La Cadalora over slightly further, this could be what she wants.
She is definitely a better horse this year than she was during her two and three-year-old seasons, and I think this galloping track over this distance will be ideal for her. Her pedigree suggests she should be better than this by at least 10lbs, and given James comes to Haydock and gets Buick on board, it gives the impression a big run is on the cards.
Wheresmemoneygone 9/2 (1pt) – Perth 4.20
The name of this horse is quite fitting as I have been thinking wheresmemoneygone after the last month of horrendous picking. Jokes aside, there is a strong possibility that this lad could be on a very good mark for his chase debut.
He is running out of the handicap for this, which means he is 10lb higher than he should be, but off a mark of 76 is still very low. He cannot be backed on his hurdle performances, but he is now with Ben Pauling who has been firing in winners on a consistent basis for two to three years.
Ben Jones takes the ride and is riding off his basement weight of 10st 2lbs, which gives me plenty of optimism that they think he is going to be a much better chaser. Making weight for jockeys is never easy, so the fact that Ben is willing to do this weight and travel to Perth as well is a positive sign.
Ben Pauling has been mustard with his chase runners this season. He is 5/13, which is a 38% strike rate, and that has returned a +11.09 profit to a £1 level stake.
GambleAware