Concentrating on Southwell is not something I would normally advise but every man has his price and £750,000 is more than enough to induce me to take an interest in today's action there. That's the amount that the Tote are expecting in their Jackpot pool today after a series of rollovers and all you have to do to win it - or at least a share of it - is pick the first six winners at the Nottinghamshire venue (first race 1.35pm), where today's action is on the turf course, not the usual Fibresand.
Pretty straightforward, I'm sure you'll agree and, for the record, the Guardian's six for the money are: Berrymead, Fielder, Oi Vay Joe, Lady Pilot, Kensington and Teadancer. Please feel free to ruin my dividend by copying these - but, as Teadancer is by some way the most speculative selection, you might want to perm in a couple of others for that last race. No one wants to be the guy who got the first five and then blew out thanks to some wretched outsider.
Perversely, the only horse at Southwell I'd be especially interested in backing is Pertemps Networks (5.00) in the seventh race. Mick Easterby's charge progressed over hurdles this winter and hosed up at Newcastle earlier this month. Raised 11lb, he's almost certainly still ahead of the handicapper and 5-4 is an inviting price.
Today sees the start of the Punchestown festival in Ireland, a meeting which can prove extremely tricky for punters. Paul Nicholls must be regretting his decision to send Master Minded on that abortive trip to Aintree when he could have come here and mopped up what looks a weak Champion Chase - but the trainer may land it in any case with Twist Magic (3.40). This one was flavour of the month when beating Voy Por Ustedes in the Tingle Creek but has run poorly on both starts since, when unsuited by tiring ground at Ascot and then when never going in Cheltenham's Champion Chase. The ground is better here than at Ascot and I can forgive any horse a poor run at Cheltenham, but this is it for Twist Magic - another bad run today and he'll be a horse to forget.
Oarsman (2.15) has easily the best form on offer in Folkestone's seven-furlong maiden and, with Roger Charlton's string running into form, he's the day's other bet.
In Kempton's first race, trainer Michael Wigham has his first runner since being suspended for five weeks for two breaches of the non-triers rules. We're all looking out for a gamble on his Trees Of Green, though at the moment the horse is friendless at 11-1.
Tony Paley 1.35pm Welcome to a feast of good racing this week from Punchestown but first we have a gamble at Southwell. Wooden King, 20-1 this morning, now goes off at 4-1 favourite. Let's see . . . Wooden King is prominent early but backers soon knew their fate when he weakened on the turn into the straight. He finishes one from last!
1.45pm Matt Chapman on Attheraces (henceforth ATR) says we can throw the form book out of the window after 25-1 shot Miltons Choice wins the first. In fact the answer probably lies in the fact that the low stalls in sprint races at the track have a big advantage, especially on the drying ground. That's another good pointer for Oarsman in the next which colleague Chris Cook has put up.
2.15pm Lot of confidence in the betting behind Oarsman. Fingers crossed. Ugh . . . Oarsman came under pressure some way out and was soon beaten once he challenged the eventual winner Thannaan.
Richard Hills rides a winner but why do jockeys take it easy like that in the closing stages -- he almost threw the race away there by easing up. During the Kieren Fallon trial I was in court on the day the jury were shown a series of races in which jockeys had eased up near the finishing line and lost when they should have won. It happens on such a regular basis that the court spent the best part of a morning watching and discussing them. The British Horseracing Authority representative squirmed in his seat as the tapes were played. At present this sort of practice is one aspect of the culture of racing that ought to be stamped out. The penalties for those jockeys who do lose races in such circumstances have increased in recent times -- clearly the punishments aren't tough enough.
3.00pm Now the cross-country non-event is out of the way the proper action starts at Punchestown. Plenty of confidence behind Jered for the Champion Novice Hurdle, who sidestepped Cheltenham and will be an unfamiliar name for a lot of British racefans. Fiveforthree is a horse to follow but whether a two-mile race on fast ground will play to his strengths is another matter.
3.20pm Jered wins fairly comfortably. Salford City's presence in second suggests that it's genuinely good ground in Ireland and you would want to be concentrating on horses that don't mind fast-ground conditions this week. Fiveforthree has run an excellent race, staying on well into third spot, while Cork All Star just cannot get his jumping right.
3.45pm Those who took the early price about Twist Magic are on good terms with themselves after Paul Nicholls' runner lands a gamble, backed from 3's this morning to 7-4 at the off in the Champion Chase at Punchestown. Nicholls says if everything's okay his winner will be out again at Sandown on Saturday in the Celebration Chase. He's had a tough race here though, just holding on with Natal and Tony McCoy making them battle all the way.
5.00pm Okay so you've had a bad day -- but not as bad as the punter who missed out on the biggest dividend in jackpot history today when his selection, Graylyn Ruby narrowly lost to Ovthenight in the last at Southwell. Had the favourite managed to get up, the punter would have picked up a record dividend of just over a cool half a million pounds. Graylyn Ruby was one of three selections that the punter had running for him in the last leg. There's a massive jackpot rolling over to Nottingham tomorrow and our best minds will be working on that. The total is £754,187 to be exact.
Over at Punchestown Air Force One puts up a a cracking display to beat Pomme Tiepy who was in receipt of a stone. In doing so the winner certainly plays a big compliment to Albertas Run who beat him at Ascot and went on to win the SunAlliance Chase at Cheltenham. Albertas Run loves top of the ground and will be ideally suited by long distances I would think. I'm thinking Grand National here . . . The next race at Punchestown, a National Hunt Flat race, will be bulging with future talent and well worth a close look.
6.00pm The one who caught the eye there was Fionn Tra who came from an unpromising position to finish second. Across The Bay back in third hails from a good yard, that of Dermot Weld, and he should also prove worth noting with an eye to the future.
7.00pm Sir Michael Stoute, the refugee from a Hogarth painting, has just had a winner at Bath. He has a very interesting runner in Cabinet out tomorrow but I thought a lot of his have been needing the race so tipped against it. Tomorrow it's also day two of Punchestown, the second favourite for the Derby in Curtain Call runs at Nottingham, there will be a £1m Jackpot to go for and there's an intriguing jumps card at Perth. You lucky people! That was Tommy Trinder's catchphrase -- go and look him up on Wikipedia. I've beaten you to it. His entry reveals: "Trinder is believed to have originated 'Trinder's Impossibility' - a 'bar bet' where the mark is presented with a ten shilling note, partly torn through in two places at right angles to the long side, and challenged to hold the two corners of the torn edge and tear it into three pieces. It cannot be done!" You'll all be trying that at the weekend for sure. If I've time tomorrow I want to discuss binoculars, do they have a future, similarly John McCririck and if it's worth following horses who win Classic trials. Good night.
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