Thursday 19th July

Good Morning;

There is racing today at Chepstow; Doncaster; Epsom; Hamilton; Leicester and also over in Ireland. It is a measure of how poor the racing is (one exception is the unfathomable 8.00 at Doncaster); that I spent an hour on the Apprentice Handicap at Leopardstown, before giving up on that as a serious option.

It is not just the quality of the races in the majority Class 5 and 6 and some tricky 2 year old races, but also the frightening lack of quantity with only 4 of the 34 races in the UK having 10 or more runners. I am not sure if it is the Going or just too many poor races, or a combination of both, but it is deeply deeply frustrating.  The conundrum is to look for vulnerable favourites, or to try to make a case for a random outsider, for the sake of it, and then we get in to the realms of desperation and "betting for the sake of it"

So; hand on heart and with the best of intentions; I have to say NO TIPS OR MENTIONS today, to do otherwise would I believe be a dereliction of the duty of care I feel for Clients and your Betting Banks. We always take a medium to long term view and no point in doing silly bets for the sake of it.

-------------

I will though, for those that like to know these kind of things; share the deliberations we had over a few races and there may be a few pointers here for you , if you are desperate for a dabble of your own.

We tipped and backed SEXY SECRET to win last time at 16/1 in that golden week when we banged out 4 x 16/1 + winners in 4 consecutive days just before Royal Ascot; a horse I used to own a small share in, it was no surprise to me it won that day. It runs at Leicester in the 4.50 and is around 4/1. A few things concern me, not sure right handed suits it, does not like too much competition up front and gets it here, and although very consistent and brave at this level, not one who you would expect to "follow up". Another I had a small share in and always liked is CAPTAIN SEDGWICK runs at Chepstow in the 2.40 and is in my tracker. I think it needs a long flat straight, I'd love to see it somewhere like Donny or Newbury (they don't have many C6 races though) or back at Ffos Llas, I'm not sure about the undulations here and at 15/8, despite my loyalty for the horse and the Trainer, well 15/8 "you are having a laugh".

Then on to a couple we tipped speculatively last time CORTON LASS runs in the 2.30 at Hamilton, usually breaks and leads and then tires, really needs a very sharp 5 furlongs, thought Musselburgh would suit last time, went off too quickly, I can't think of a less likely Track for it to win at than Hamilton 2.30; but then I am not Keith Dalgleish, so we will see and probably the closest we came to a tip there is KODIMOOR in that race, nice mark and some decent CD form. The 5.05 at Hamilton may be the best Tricast option of the day with Dutch Coed / Red Charmer and Zorovan.

Finally, the UK race I looked longest at but too many "if's but's what's and maybe's - Chepstow 4.10 - TALLYS SONG we mentioned last time, hints of ability and Grace Harris's Course record on Flat and Jumps is just VERY tempting; old Swendab is too well handicapped to totally ignore and then there is one right out of left field, indeed used to be in a field VERY close to where I live. The much missed ED MCMAHON (butchered by HS2 compulsory purchase of his land); got a win out of MYSTERIOUS GLANCE off a mark of 69 not that long before he handed in his license. Moved to Sarah Hollinshead just down the road in Rugeley, who can train a horse for sure. Seems to have had lots of health issues and mark has dropped to 44. It may just be the horse is not physically right and gone, but the ability was there not so long ago, and remotely close to it would blitz this field, but just too speculative I feel to play until we see at least a glimmer of form.

There you go, some will say why not just say "no tips"; but we try to provide "a service and an insight" and it pains me on a rare few days to say "no tips today"; especially with the time expended from 6pm to 10pm and then 5am to 8am to finally arrive at that decision; so NO TIPS OR MENTIONS but proof if you want it, that it was not for the want of trying or looking or working hard to find something; by sharing our pontifications..

------

We will have another look tomorrow, 6 decent Flat Fixtures and surely something to get our teeth in to, on Saturday we also have some decent Flat Racing and what is usually an excellent NH Card at MARKET RASEN and we look forwards to that. The BRISTISH OPEN GOLF has just started with first tee off at 6.35am; and we will bring you KEVIN'S UPDATES through the week and I have a big day out in Cardiff at the Speedway GP on Saturday (will have no impact on horse racing tips or analysis) and tips and analysis for that will be available too; for those that like t have a dabble on the shale.

Back in the morning and hopefully something to really get our teeth in to.