How can anyone contemplate having a proper bet at present? The weather effectively makes it impossible to guess what the ground will be like on the day ruling out ante-post punting, while too often the racing surface on the day is so bad it's simply a case of which horse handles the desperate going.
The Daily Mail begs the question on page 15 today: Are We All Going To Die Next Wednesday? Never mind next week, I would suggest battening down the hatches tomorrow and if you do leave the house be prepared as the forecast is for wall-to-wall rain morning to night across virtually the whole of Britain and Ireland.
Goodness knows what the ground will be like for the Sprint Cup meeting on Saturday at Haydock Park where it's already heavy on the round course and the straight has been under plastic sheeting for the best part of a week.
The going at Leopardstown for the Irish Champion Stakes is currently good but it's going to precipitate down plenty before they line up on Saturday which presumably explains the support for New Approach. Duke Of Marmalade has been declared this morning as expected but he's got to be a big doubt on soft going. No wonder William Hill are now going 11-10 joint the pair.
As far as today is concerned there are plenty of horses worth watching at Salisbury with an eye to the future. None more so than today's nap which is Bouvardia 2.10pm. There was plenty of talk about this filly on the day I was at Newmarket last month and she certainly shaped with plenty of promise when second to Snoqualmie Girl. The form has been franked by the winner since and I will be disappointed if Bouvardia doesn't go one better today.
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