Monday’s Selections & Results – 03 October

Back to blighty and Monday racing today after the excitement of Longchamp ... but there are a couple of class 3 races at Pontefract (wahay....dizzy heights!).  Just two selections today but I've added four 'reviews' below too.

Today’s duo of system selections are:

Windsor

16:00  Avon River 2nd 

Pontefract

15:40  Colour Vision  1st

A small profit but a profit nonetheless of +0.4

14:30 Windsor

Crystal Etoile should manage this race on her first return to a class 5 on ground, distance and track that suits  She’s been lightly raced and this should be a good opportunity to shed her maiden tag.

Crystal Etoile     13/2   UP (4th)

  

15:00 Windsor

This looks a trappier race than the previous division 1.  Aviso looks likely to go off favourite for this and has everything in his favour except his record (or lack of) on sharper tracks – all of his wins and places have been on traditional galloping courses.  On his one and only attempt at anything else (Brighton 8f, good to firm and class 5) he finished up turning the lights out.  I don’t know his physical characteristics (if anyone does then please comment below!) but I bet he’s a big beastie!!  He’s also been pretty highly tried since joining David Evans in March so there are a few negatives here....but then he does look the best of a bad (for bad read knackered!) bunch. 

I’m going to put an each way saver on Indian Mist for this first foray into handicaps.  The handicapper hasn’t been too fierce with her, she has showed she likes Windsor (albeit over 2f too far) and Roger Varian is firing a few winners out currently.  Andrea Atzeni has a nice 60% (6/10) when riding for him as well.

Aviso             win UP (I should have listened to my concerns above!)

Indian Mist    each way NR

16:10 Pontefract

At first I was going to suggest that No Poppy needs Auto Mac to run to give here the pace to aim at but then I looked again and saw that she won at Ripon from the front last August!  She’s been contesting far better races than this all year and not disgraced herself at all when getting her conditions – which she should today.  She was 3 ahead of Poyle Judy at Warwick in July and there’s nothing to convince me that  the form should be reversed.

No Poppy UP (Poyle Judy did indeed reverse the form )

16:20 Warwick

Has anyone else spotted the Magnier, Tabor & Smith son of Galileo (Effervesce) here ...at a class 5 race at Warwick.... on a Monday?  What’s going on?  This is messing with the whole equilibrium of Monday racing  She’s come from Sir Michael to David Pipe’s having been bought by the aforementioned trio of gold plated connections when you would have thought they’d have kept her there .... the mystery deepens!  Surely hurdles aren't in mind down the line.  She certainly would appear to need further than the mile in this race at present so although she does come out top of my 'sheet' and has the gilt edged pedigree, I will swerve her today.

I’ll opt for Full Bloom – trained by Gerard Butler (who I have just explained to my daughter does not arrive at the racetrack in full Spartan regalia with a fake Irish accent) and who has an impressive 36% strike rate here

Full Bloom UP (4th)

You may notice the common theme in the four races above which is class5 1mile.  According to my records, these are the races that I have most success with so let's see....

The champion jockey title race is gaining a little more momentum again with Fallon closing the gap with Hanagan to just 9 now.   I have to say that Fallon’s agent is boxing clever here and not only cracking the whip with almost full books of rides at two meets per day (how on earth can anyone keep that up without a rest?) but also picking the meetings where Fallon has the best strike rates.  It’s exciting but I cannot shake off the feeling that Hanagan is not breaking a sweat over this.....

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