Both Grandpa Ger and Klassman ran well enough at Punchestown yesterday to place and the 22/1 win of Robindevidastar was not a complete surprise as the analysis suggested he ticked many of the right boxes. No joy at Cheltenham where the winner of the tip race is clearly progressing at a rate of knots.

 

It's Paddy Power Gold Cup day today and like many races at the moment , held on Good ground, without the great leveller and shock maker that is mud, it does look likely to be "market dominated". There are 3-4 other decent races on the Card with fields of more than 8 runners, so in addition to Robin's analysis of the big race, RJ will run through 3 of the other races on the Card with his "each way" punt in each of those races. 

 

We looked long and hard at Navan where numbers aren't quite what you'd usually anticipate and although the 12.15 has 20 runners, it too really does look likely to be dominated by the top end of the market.  There are a combined total of 34 runners in 7 races at Wetherby and 48 runners in 7 races at Uttoxeter, making field size averages of around 5 and 7 runners respectively. 

 

We may have a few better options at Cheltenham and Navan tomorrow, we'll see what final entries look like. 

 

I'll do a piece tomorrow on what I call "market dominated" and the mental battle our tipsters are having in formulating exactly what "value is" e.g is a 4/1 favourite better value if there simply aren't enough options to find a competitive and confident 20/1 poke, assuming of course the 4/1 poke wins, or on more days than not until we get substantial rain, do we abstain?

 

The one thing I think we are going to finally get from Monday is some precipitation, however, whether that's rain or snow, seems to be unfathomable at the moment, and the last thing we need now is a freeze!....fingers crossed for a few days of delightful downpours...