Hexham 5.20
Placespotter - Hexham 5.20 8 Court Baloo @ 8/1 / 3 Bescot Springs @ 12/1 (1/2 point each way each horse)
A trip just shy of 3 miles on Good to Soft, possibly soft Going, I can find no indication of much if any rain and it looks like
a drying day, key at this time of year is "dew" I will keep banging on about this and even if we have 3 weeks of no rain;
we will get millions of gallons of moisture (dew) on clear nights, so the word "Good" in any Going description has, in my
humble opinion to be taken with a pinch of salt, so lets assume Going on the soft side of Good to Soft.
The favourite is Turtle Cask and along with Final Fling they are worthy and redoubtable opponents; but I am willing
to take both on, and in the case of Turtle Cask; with horses it beat recently by 8 lengths and 44 lengths here over the
same Course and Distance. That race was on Heavy Going and suited the winner, my two selections who are COURT
BALOO and BESCOT SPRINGS were not advantaged by the Going that day, but will be far more suited to it today.
COURT BALOO has run with merit here the last twice; has slipped to a very nice mark, below the mark of its last win
and comes from a yard just picking up NH momentum, and likely to be one to follow over the sticks up North this winter.
The 7 lbs pull for those 8 lengths and the far more suitable conditions, give it a good chance here and the current odds
of 8/1 look very solid each way. We tipped BESCOT SPRINGS in that race, a Course expert who has won off 102 here;
actually has won second time out in a long career and off a mark of 100 with a 10lbs Claimer up; from a yard whose
adroit use of good Claimers is the stuff of legend, marks Bescot as a live danger, having been sensibly eased when
hating the ground last time by the same lad. The Course expertise, the Going; the mark; the form historically second
time out, all make the 12/1 look excellent value, the only niggle is the age at 12, is it regressive, it may be but with all
of those ticks in those boxes and 12/1, it seems a punt worth taking and that continuing question of probability over
possibility, when looking at longer odds, is what we are all about.