When trains arrive in stations at 70 mph going sideways, or your marriage to Mr Depp ends up in court, or you have spent many happy hours in the company of your camera-wielding mate, Ghislaine Maxwell, the term “Train Crash” can be fairly applied.
At 4:30 this morning, I walked away from just such an event, as the two guests agreed that it was probably better to walk the four miles back home as they couldn’t actually find the car in a 200-foot drive. There was no more Grappa, the some-german-word-with-wasser on the end was half gone. In addition, the Armagnac had taken a pounding, as had the Gin earlier, three bottles of wine and thank God some dinner, which had all conspired to derail the evening. The couple responsible for getting us on the wrong track used to run our pub, he being a top-quality Chef, she being the most dangerous girl on the planet when it comes to “…Wouldn’t this be fun?” bad ideas.
Jeffrey Bernard once suggested that as one gets older one becomes more conservative – “...and I emphasise that when I use the word conservative I do not mean politically.” How I long to be conservative. So I’m sorry if the tips don’t make sense, – but I won’t really care. I will have collapsed in bed, in preparation for another night of trying to embrace conservatism, this time with people who only drink for a hobby.
Today we have racing from Newmarket and Ascot on the box and the tips are…
1:50 NEWM: bet365 Mile Handicap Cl2 (3yo 0-100) 1m 10 runners
FINEST SOUND wins
2:05 ASCOT Betfred “Ascot Official Bookmaker” Fillies’ Handicap Cl3 (3yo+ 0-90) 1m 12 runners
ALNASEEM won easily LTO and is obviously still progressing. She looked a different class and her 4lb rise looks kind and at precisely 85 allows her to compete in this off top-weight. I think she’s probably 3-5lb better than this lot.
ALNASEEM wins.
2:25 NEWM: British Stallion Studs EBF Fillies’ Handicap Cl2 (3yo 0-100) 7f 9 runners
MRS BOUQUET is stepped up to 7f, thank heavens. She had a hat-trick last season including a tough race at Goodwood Ryan Moore takes the ride and any price at 10s or longer is fair. NASAIYM has soft and Group form and what seems a low handicap mark. I’ll back both
MRS BOUQUET e/w NASAIYM e/w
2:40 ASCOT “Play Nifty Fifty Exclusively At Betfred” Handicap Cl2 (3yo 0-105) 1m4f 4 runners
CARLOS FELIX has been back all morning and is now half the price.
CARLOS FELIX wins
3:00 NEWM: bet365 Superlative Stakes (Group 2) Cl1 (2yo) 7f 10 runners
HUDSON RIVER wins
3:15 ASCOT Betfred Summer Mile Stakes (Group 2) Cl1 (4yo+) 1m 11 runners
ZAAKI wins
3:35 NEWM: Darley July Cup Stakes (Group 1) (British Champions Series) Cl1 (3yo+) 6f 13 runners
Any of five could win this and among them is GOLDEN HORDE, who could easily be the Champion Sprinter this season. He stormed home in the Commonwealth Cup at Ascot and looked a bigger, better horse having filled out over the winter. Clive Cox has won this race twice in the last ten years, with Golden Horde’s sire Lethal Force and the top-class sprinter Harry Angel, and local reports suggest Golden Horde is at least as good as both of those at home, if not better. I have a feeling there is abit of draw bias here on this ground and I shall have a small e/w on THREAT drawn 4.
THREAT e/w GOLDEN HORDE wins
3:50 ASCOT Betfred Heritage Handicap Cl2 (3yo+) 5f 19 runners
JONAH JONES has been backed all morning and goes from 12s to 5s. It’s because he will win.
JONAH JONES win – TONE THE BARONE e/w
4:10 NEWM: bet365 Bunbury Cup (Heritage Handicap) Cl2 (3yo+) 7f 18 runners
Because I have reached the point where I can barely stand the trends short list is as follows: MOTAKHAYYEL drawn 14 – MUTAMAASIK 11- SIR BUSKER 4 – TOMFRE 9 – KEYSER SOZE 12 – KASBAAN 18
I’m guessing – as mentioned elsewhere that draw is key today and low is best. That means SIR BUSKER – from Billy Knight’s yard that is positiviely on fire. My second choice would be MOTAKHAYYEL, I just wish he was a few stalls nearer, but he does have pace around him. He looks like a seriously improving horse against generally exposed and older rivals. I’ll be surprised if isn’t podiumed. TOMFRE gets the 3yo allowance in this and is 2 from 2 on the July course.
SIR BUSKER e/w – MOTOKHAYYEL e/w – TOMFRE e/w