Many Irish visitors to Cheltenham next week will stop off at Stratford on the Monday and there are often a couple of interesting Irish-trained handicappers on that card. If only there were such an angle for today's meeting at Stratford -- the only runner for which I can work up some enthusiasm is Your Amount (2.30) in the opening maiden hurdle.
Alan King's five-year-old has run with credit behind some decent animals in his three hurdles runs so far and will appreciate this sounder surface. In a weak race, he should not be as big as the 11-4 on Betfair now.
I'm no fan of all-weather racing at Lingfield, where heartbreaking finishes are guaranteed, but it seems to me there are three decent bets there today.
Kyrie Eleison was the paper favourite for the 10-furlong maiden but, annoyingly, the market has already moved in favour of Days Of Pleasure (2.40). Still, the gelding is a fair bet at around 5-4, as he'll appreciate this step up in trip and has progressed for three quick runs last month. It says a lot that his main rival is a serial loser who has not been seen since August, from a stable (Richard Hannon's) with a very moderate record in all-weather three-year-old maidens.
Few jockeys ride this course better than George Baker, who shows a 25% profit on all stakes over five seasons here. He can get Paradise Dancer (3.40) home in the 7f handicap. This filly has shown the speed to cope well with this step down in trip.
At around 9-1, Escobar (4.10) is a really interesting runner in the banded race. Winless on the Flat in this country, he has shown signs of ability over hurdles and now has the services of a proper jockey, Alan Munro, for the first time on the Flat in two years, at which time he had not yet been stepped up to a suitable trip.
Alexander Huricane (3.50) is the pick of the card at Wolverhampton. He's had three weeks to recover after losing his unbeaten record when switched to Southwell's Fibresand soon after winning round here.
The Wolves executive may be trying to keep punters away, having opted to open the card with two divisions of a staying handicap for amateur riders, but Snowberry Hill (2.20) is tempting at around 9-1 for the second division.
2.43pm Early results round-up
One from three so far, thanks to Your Amount winning with a fair bit in hand at 9-4. Snowberry Hill looked like the winner on the run to the final turn but ran into traffic and faded. Days Of Pleasure may be one to avoid, having failed to go through with his effort after getting the run of the race.
3.55pm Another winner, another loser
Alexander Huricane (11-8) won like a good thing under a confident ride from Jamie Spencer. He might turn out again on Thursday.
Paradise Dancer did not, as it turned out, have the pace to cope with the step down in trip. Oh well.
Esco-bah!
Despite Mr Munro in the saddle, the interesting outsider of the day lost his position at a crucial stage and could only plug on at one pace. No more chances.
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