11 February - Race reviews

Quite amazingly, for the third month in succession, the first tip of the month was successful !

And once again it was a double figure priced horse, that was hammered in the betting.

Unfortunately, my staking wasn’t so smart and we are winning less and less on these tips – but I’ll know the score for March ;)

In truth, it was a hell of a day’s tipping….

In the first race that I mentioned last night, Devotion to Duty and Moonlight Drive looked set to fight out the finish, only to get pipped by Everaard.

I couldn’t figure out whether it was a good result for me or not ! I would probably have tipped Devotion to Duty EW (as I did last Sunday), so it would have been a small profit – but irritating to miss out on a big one.

On the other side, I did back Devotion to Duty, so that was a bit annoying (though something I am very used to !).

Tara Royal ran in the second race that I covered last night – and I think it is fair to say that he absolutely bolted up !

Not only that, he was backed to do so – something that I just couldn’t have foreseen (a little like Toby Belch, the other week).

I’ve no idea how I manage to pick these steamers, but I’ve certainly got a knack !

It is no exaggeration to say that, at no point in the race did he ever look like losing. He cantered in behind the leaders; cantered into the lead; and won very comfortably.

If only it always worked out like that !

Ultimate ran the kind of race I expected – though I will have to look at it again to see if there was sufficient promise in his run for me to consider getting involved with him at Cheltenham.

Shadows Lengthen ran a fair race in the Scottish Count hurdle, to finish fifth.

He travelled well throughout the race, but just couldn’t find sufficient when it was required.

He did look like he might prefer a slightly stiffer test – which may explain why he was tried over further last time.
Whatever, he wasn’t good enough today.

Credit to the guy who commented that he fancied Ubi Ace in the race (I’ve got a lot of time for people who are prepared to express an opinion BEFORE a race takes place). Ubi Ace ran really well and was unlucky not to collect. He is clearly still progressing and seem well suited by the course (something I wasn’t convinced would be the case, beforehand).

Even more credit however, to the legendary Tom Segal (Pricewise),who managed to tip the first and second ! The guy really is a freak. How he manages to nail big race after big race, is beyond me (even if he did read Ultimate wrongly ;) ).
He really should be cherished - tipsters like Tom don't come round very often...

Anyway, on to the last race of the day, where Cape Dutch was backed down to 6./4 and duly won with ease.

I did toy with putting him up last night (as I considered he had a very, very good chance) but I’ve found that if you start operating in an unfamiliar area (ie. short priced horses) your judgement is never as good.

I’ll just stick to my 16/1 winners for the time being – I’m guessing you can all cope with that ;)

TVB