GG tipster Andrew Mount reveals his list of eyecatchers from the past week’s racing. Find out which runners he wants to keep onside below, alongside Bet365‘s new customer offer of £50 in Free Bets when you deposit £10.
BROTHER SEBASTIAN (third, 6f restricted novice stakes, Chester, Saturday, July 16)
Someone must have forgotten to switch off the taps at Chester and to describe the ground as ‘watered’ was a gross understatement, ’saturated’ would have been more like it. The inside of the track had received a lot more of the wet stuff then the middle/outer and the rail, usually strongly favoured, rode ‘dead’. It still helped to be on the front end in the opener, won by Self Praise who stayed wide throughout from stall 9 of 9. BROTHER SEBASTIAN fared best of the closers in third and raced closer to the inside rail than desirable. He can be backed next time.
DUBAI JEMILA (fourth, 5f fillies’ novice stakes, Beverley, Tuesday, July 12)
There was plenty of money around for Kevin Ryan’s newcomer DUBAI JEMILA, but the 9-4 joint-favourite blew the start and ran green before staying on promisingly into a modest fourth. She was beaten by almost eight lengths, but this was still a good effort on a track that was favouring prominent types.
MC ALPINE (tenth, 2m1f handicap hurdles, Killarney, Thursday, July 14)
MC ALPINE trailed home last of the ten finishers, 62 lengths behind the winner, but this was his first run since November and a bigger field/stronger pace could see him in a better light next time. He might also appreciate the return to a left-handed track, his two wins having come at Listowel and Cheltenham in fields of 16 and 18 runners respectively.
POL ROGER (second, 7f restricted novice stakes, Redcar, Sunday, July 17)
In a race that favoured early pace (11-1 winner Taritino made all), the Michael Dods-trained newcomer POL ROGER caught the eye, staying on into second place after blowing the start and getting outpaced in the early stages. The race was over when the penny finally dropped but he did extremely well to get within a length and a quarter of the winner and steal second place from odds-on favourite Venetian.
Tomorrow’s Racing
PRINCE NABEEL (fourth, 6f maiden stakes, Hamilton, Friday, July 15)
It amazes me that some trainers, jockeys and pundits still think the rail is the best place to be in sprints at Hamilton, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Ben Curtis was chief culprit here, taking the odds-on favourite PRINCE NABEEL straight to the fence. He wasn’t beaten far in fourth place and the market is likely to overreact to this effort next time.
STORM VENTURE (fourth, 6f restricted novice stakes, Chester, Saturday, July 16)
Richard Fahey’s Ardad newcomer STORM VENTURE ran a race full of promise on his debut, doing second best of the closers in the same contest as Brother Sebastian. He too raced closer to the inside rail than ideal and reportedly lost a shoe.
STREETWISE GIRL (third, 6f nursery, Nottingham, Friday, July 15)
With the ground ridiculously over-watered, it looked an advantage to race on the stands’ side rail in the sprints. STREETWISE GIRL looked well drawn to take advantage of any bias in stall 4 of 5 but, after looking sure to steer the 16-1 shot to the fence two furlongs out when a big gap appeared, Duran Fentiman opted to head for the centre, immediately meeting trouble and being forced to stop riding. She recovered to finish third, beaten by just a length and a half, and she can be supported to go two places better next time.
SWISS ACE (seventh, 6f handicap, Hamilton, Friday, July 15)
SWISS ACE was poorly drawn in stall 7 of ten (once adjusted for the non-runner) and never left the stands’ side where the ground was clearly slowest. The first three home were drawn 2, 1 and 3 and all raced down the centre of the track. His three-length defeat is worthy of an upgrade, and he’ll appreciate the return to 7f.
THE NEW MARWAN (fifth, 1m2.5f handicap, Chester, Saturday, July 16)
With the inside rail riding ‘dead’ it was surprising to see THE NEW MARWAN (stall 1 of 8) go off as the 9-4 favourite. He set the pace in the ‘swamp’ but had nothing left in reserve to hold off the wide runners, with the winner coming from the highest draw. He can be given another chance.
WAR TREATY (sixth, 6f maiden stakes, Hamilton, Friday, July 15)
WAR TREATY raced in the ‘swamp’ on the stands’ side rail, finishing last of the six runners. However, the 18-1 shot was only beaten by a little over three lengths and wasn’t given a hard time in the closing stages. He’ll be of interest on his nursery debut.
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