It's easy to forget just how tight the margins of victory and defeat are in Flat Racing, whereas over the Jumps, a distance of 5 lengths is "close" , in Flat Racing you can get 10 runners (or more) split by lesser overall distance. So in the context a bold and unlucky (in) running runner up effort from Dutch Decoy yesterday and very laudable runs from Majestic and Prenup. At Naas a decent effort from King Kali again to be runner up and a very bold show at 80/1 SP from Kadys Duha to just miss an enhanced place.

 

Although meetings at Beverley and Gowran Park today have been abandoned, there are 2 cracking meetings that would grace any Saturday, or indeed a Festival Card, over the Jumps at Cheltenham and on the Flat at Newmarket. A very competitive Sprint Handicap that opens the newmarket Card was very tempting but we will leave it reluctantly alone (early season, changing wind conditions and bit of a lottery re draw bias as a result) and watch the same age non handicaps with great interest, and defer to Chaeltenham, which has a series of cracking big field Handicaps.

 

We will focus on 4 of them and with a lot of options today have gone for 3 x shrapnel punts in each.

 

With so much action to consider, and potentially large "write up's" we'll change the format today as time presses on.

 

The tips are above as usual; brief write up on each race, focussing on selections ;  will be in the Members Paddock by 9.00am. To be crystal clear, these are analysed and confident selections in deep and competitive Handicaps and by suggesting 3 x shrapnel e/w per race the net outlay would be 6 points in total. It's that time of the season with drying ground where some horses will be over the top having raced on heavy Going all winter, some will have given of their best in target races already, so summer types may still need a run for summer campaigns, so very much reading between the lines of form to see which ones have the best chances in the always tricky change over period.

 

Back to the normal format tomorrow.