3.45pm Cursory Glance ruled out of 1,000 Guineas
Tony Paley: Newmarket trainer Roger Varian has announced that the 1,000 Guineas second-favourite Cursory Glance will miss the fillies’ Classic in May.
The winner of the Albany Stakes at Royal Ascot in June and the Moyglare Stud Stakes at the Curragh in September looked certain to be a major player at Newmarket but she has suffered a setback at home and is unlikely to be seen on a racecourse till June.
Speaking on http://www.varianstable.com, the trainer said: “Unfortunately Cursory Glance has sustained a fetlock injury during routine training. She will need time to recover which will rule her out of the English 1,000 Guineas. The prognosis for a full recovery is excellent. The prospect of having her ready for the Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot is very realistic and that will now be the plan.”
10.30am Haydock Saturday meeting must pass inspection
Tony Paley: Saturday’s jumps meeting at Haydock, which features the return of Champion Hurdle fancy The New One, must pass an 8am precautionary inspection on raceday morning.
Just one millimetre of rain fell on Thursday, but further showers and sub-zero temperatures have been forecast. A statement issued by the track read: “[The] risk remains that some of this [rain] falls as snow and freezes on Friday night, when temperatures are forecast to drop to minus 2C.”
The going on the chase course is heavy, while the hurdles track is currently heavy, soft in places. The New One is due to run in the stanjames.com Champion Hurdle Trial.
Friday’s fixture at Musselburgh goes ahead after a frost-free night at the track. Course officials had been concerned about the prospect of sub-zero temperatures, with a 6.45am inspection having been called.
It soon became clear, however, that the meeting was not in any jeopardy after it remained dry and above freezing overnight. The going is good to soft, soft in places.
Friday’s best bets, by Tony Paley
It was fascinating to read Chelmsford City managing director quoted in the Racing Post on Monday after their first meeting since re-opening at the weekend. He said: “Our plan is rather differenet from other tracks. What we’re trying to create is in effect a new Pattern for the all-weather, and we prefer to call this Flat racing rather than all-weather or turf.”
Until that day dawns we’ll have to put up with the regular diet of what Siers referred to as “Class 6 or 7 donkeys running around [all-weather tracks]”, a situation I wrote about in (the now defunct) Raceform Update as not wanting to become the norm when the first all-weather track opened its doors in 1989.
At Lingfield today I reckon Club House (2.25) will go well in the Ladbrokes Handicap over a mile. The reasons are pretty straightforward - the selection is a triple course-and-distance winner who has won off higher marks and was inconvenienced by a slow start when second last time out.
Solar Deity (5.15) is a solid favourite in the Coral Conditions Stakes at Wolverhampton tonight. He’s a standout at the weights and has been in excellent form in handicap company of late.
Tipping competition, day five
Our winners so far:
Monday
Dawson City 5-2
Coursing 13-2
Archipeligo 5-2
Tuesday
Vision Du Coeur 5-2
Scarborough 11-8
Shinooki 3-1
Wednesday
Smiles For Miles 5-1
Rons Dream 5-2
Gracious George 6-1
Thursday
Midnight Belle 7-4
Kingcora 5-1
Boboli Gardens 6-4
And our leader is. . .
GForce1 +16.25
. . . .who had a perfect Thursday with all three winners. Other good scores: slackdad38 +15.25, CluelessWhisper +8.50, paragoncup +7.75, Dangalf +7.75, moidadem +7.75.
For today’s thrilling climax, we’d like your tips, please, for these races: 2.10 Musselburgh, 2.25 Lingfield, 3.20 Musselburgh.
This week’s prize is a pair of Premier tickets to Sandown on Saturday 31 January, when the feature race is a Grade One, the Scilly Isles Novice Chase. If you don’t win, you can buy tickets here.
As ever, our champion will be the tipster who returns the best profit to notional level stakes of £1 at starting price on our nominated races, of which there will be three each day up until Friday. Non-runners count as losers. If you have not joined in so far this week, you are welcome to do so today, but you will start on -12.
In the event of a tie at the end of the week, the winner will be the tipster who, from among those tied on the highest score, posted their tips earliest on the final day (TODAY).
For terms and conditions click here.
Good luck!
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And post your tips or racing-related comments below.
