David O'Meara showed that he was correct by sticking to his guns with Strong with the idea of running him over 7f.
He was too keen on his seasonal reappearance and stable debut when running over 7f, but he was better suited to today's race at Leicester.
Giselles Defence should also have been suited by how his race unfolded as he is better over shorter, and they didn't go a good gallop, but he looked to lack the speed, but stayed on well, but didn't have enough track to run them down.
Clearance – Newton Abbot 4.05
I have decided to avoid the flat racing for today as nothing caught my eye, but one horse at Newton Abbot did catch my eye, and I will happily have a bet on Clearance.
The 11-year-old might find a couple of the younger horses too good for him, but there is a strong chance that he can roll back the years and win this off a very teasing handicap mark of 103.
Michael Blake has a good strike rate when combining with Harry Cobden (18% from 65 rides), and the way that Harry is riding at the moment and with him picking and choosing when he rides, gives the impression that he only takes the rides on horses who have a serious chance of winning. Harry is 3/9 in the last fortnight and is 7/19 this season (37% SR). With Clearance running off a very low handicap mark, it's like the trainer has told Cobden he is close to winning a race as he managed to win this time last year off a mark of 112, which is 9lbs higher than today's rating, and with how this race is likely to be run, it could set it up perfectly for the old lad who ran well at this track a month ago.
Clearance is a bit of a course specialist, with six wins from thirteen attempts, which is an obvious plus.
GambleAware