Betsen was very poor, and I expected a lot more at Newcastle.
He didn't give himself the best of chances by breaking away from the stalls at a snail's pace. He then tried to make inroads inside the final one and a half furlongs, but didn't show the turn of foot required. Of course, Silkie Wilkie won, and he was a tip last time out.
Nine Nine Nine was desperately unlucky to bump into a bit of a gamble from the David Pipe yard. The winner was a previous selection earlier in the season and has been pulled up twice in his last three runs. That's horse racing, and stuff like this happens all the time, as it goes unpunished. The winner did it on the bridle in the end, with my selection beating the rest of the field with ease.
Carrigeen Castle 3/1 (1pt) – Catterick 3.20
Backing horses from Micky Hammond's yard isn't something I like to get involved in, but both of my selections for Wednesday are from his stable. The first is Carrigeen Castle in the opener.
It was a good effort last time out at Wetherby. He was booked for second place when he fell at the last fence, but it was a return to form, and the odds suggested it wasn't meant to be that way, which is normally a big indicator for this stable.
We haven't seen him on the track since that fall in late November, but it wasn't a bad fall, so they might have been finding the right opportunity for him in Veteran company.
He is on his last winning mark, which came in March 2024. His run prior to that was a second to Prairie Wolf at this track, which is still solid form.
I believe he has a very solid chance against older horses in this race. The winner from last time out was progressive and has gone on to win twice since. Furthermore, the runner-up has won twice since.
Stellarmasterpiece 8/1 (0.5pt EW, 4pl) – Catterick 3.20
Stellarmasterpiece is still lightly raced over hurdles, and it's hard to believe that she's not on a good handicap mark. She has won five times on the flat, and her handicap rating is 6lbs higher, which is ridiculous.
She was fancied and backed in from bigger odds on his return to jumps racing at Doncaster in November. She ran well and finished third in a race which was won by a progressive horse, and was a flat race for a long period of it due to the low sun removing hurdles.
Last time out, she was backed into 9/4F but didn't get home over the longer trip of 2m 4f. The drop in trip should bring her back into this, and if the horses at the head of the market don't fire, my selection might be able to pick up the pieces.
Joshua Thompson takes the ride, removing 7lbs in the process. That means she is running off a weight of 9st 10lbs and a handicap mark of 64, which is extremely low for a horse who has won multiple times on the flat, including four wins at this track.
GambleAware