Sadly, as I mentioned, if you watched the market and saw the drift, the performance of Jumping For Joy matched how the market suggested it would.
They tried to run from the front on her, which was bold, but she simply isn't that good and needs to be retired, as she has evidently had her issues. It was one of the worst selections I've stuck up in a long time, so apologies on that front, but hopefully, some of you avoided it when you saw the violent drift in the market.
Sword 9/1 (0.5pt EW, 3pl) – Leicester 4.47
Initially, I thought Sword running over 7f was strange, but the more I think about it, I think he could be suited by this trip, especially how this race could unfold.
When trained by John & Thady Gosden, he was running over 1m and slightly further for the majority of his career to date, but he has shown speed in his career and also stamina at times, so chances are that he needs a good gallop to let him settle and that gives him something to aim at.
Liamarty Dreams is on a decent mark, and is best when running from the front, which conflicts with Commanding Prince's likely front-running tactics, which could set it up for a closer if they decide to go at each other's throats. Sword has only been with David O'Meara for a brief period, so it was interesting that they opted for 7f on his first outing for the new yard, which goes against what the previous training partnership believed. They have confirmed that they think this trip is the correct one by going for it once again after a lacklustre performance on stable debut.
At York, just over two weeks ago, he was keen and looked in need of the run as he was simply too fresh. With that outing, he will have hopefully gotten it out of his system and will realise what his job is this time, as I think he is one of the horses who could be ahead of his mark if the race is run to suit, as his run off a mark of 85 last year when finishing second to Markoon leaves the impression he is a good horse, especially off today's rating.
Giselles Defence 7/2 (1pt) – Leicester 5.17
There are definitely some question marks regarding the trip for Giselles Defence as his three career wins have come over shorter, but I think his run last time out at Chester gives him a belting chance in today's weaker race.
He got very unlucky last time out at Chester, which isn't a surprise, but he was travelling nicely on the inside but the horse in front of him was struggling and ultimately fell into his lap, leaving him with no room until the horses in front of him had bolted off and that left him with mission impossible.
I don't think he would have won last time out as the front two are good horses and were probably well ahead of the handicapper, but I think he would've got much closer, and that rates as solid form.
The handicapper hasn't altered his mark, and Ryan Kavanagh keeps the ride, which means he takes off 5lbs, and based on that, I think he must be going close. I think he will stay the trip as he was staying on he got in the clear last time out, and when you combine that with him being reliable on ground with a bit of juice, he looks a solid candidate.
GambleAware