Horses can make us look clueless at times and Frequency did exactly that when running a poor race at Wolverhampton yesterday, although I'm fairly sure that he would have been a lot stronger in the market had he been expected to run better (easy to back on-course). Getting squeezed for room after breaking well didn't help either and he had to give up what would have been a nice position if he had no problems getting away. He also didn't get any sort of run coming into the home straight and overall, there's plenty of excuses to be found (which is what I like to note for future engagements). He's due to run again today over 6f at Lingfield but I'm not interested in getting involved and shall take a watching brief. Will be interesting to see how he gets on; bound to win without my money weighing him down - that's usually how it goes!
-3.00pts on the day. Form of last 10 selections; P-6-P-1-P-9-0-2-2-9.
The racing isn't too bad today and I've managed to find a couple of selections, both of which hail from the same stable. To be honest, I'd be delighted with one winner as I'm not overly confident in both but they look like solid value bets to me and here's hoping for the best. This month hasn't gone exactly to plan but we were due one like it after how the season has went and hopefully it'll be a good omen going into the flat season, which is edging ever closer. Have a good day folks and best of luck if you're backing anything.
Everyone will know that I've long held Sound Stage in fairly high esteem, especially when he's racing in this company and even more so off his current rating of 120. I just don't think that he offers any value at around the 5-6/1 mark today and that's why I'll leave him alone - plus he may just find the ground to be on the nippy side. The one I want to side with is Tom George's Triangular - a progressive 7-year-old who looks to have a lot going for him. The only thing I'm not completely sure about is whether he wants this extended 2m 6f trip, as he has an ocean of pace but connections apply a first-time tongue-tie for this race and that could well help him see out the extra distance (emptied over 2f shorter at Kempton last time out).
Triangular has only run on 3 occasions since joining Tom George's yard from France during the summer and was an ultra-impressive winner on his debut when landing strong support in simplistic fashion over 2-miles at Warwick. That came off a mark of 112, which looks really lenient given that rather devastating performance but he suffered afterwards as the handicapper raised him by a hefty 11lbs. His next outing came nearly a month later, this time over 2m 5f at Folkestone - a much different track to Warwick. The trip wasn't an issue in my opinion and a combination of track/ground ended up in him performing below-par (jumped like a horse who wanted to go the other way around too; it's an effort worth ignoring).
He got back on track when running a cracker on his last start, which came less than a couple of weeks after the Folkestone disappointment. With cheekpieces for the first time, Triangular looked to be a much happier horse, although I'm sure that the better ground helped too. He tanked into contention going better than anything and looked every inch a winner until finding nothing off the bit; possibly just outstayed as well. The return to a flat, left-handed track is something that I'm certain will suit and although 4lbs higher than when last seen, the tongue-tie/cheekpiece combo could work wonders and a big run is surely on the cards, barring disaster. 13/2 is value to me (9/2 correct) and the usual small/medium stake will suffice.
Not too keen about taking relatively short prices about the market leaders in this competitive 8-runner race and taking them on with the unexposed Lexicon Lad looks like a good idea - for the moment at least! It may look like I'm just following the Tom George/Paddy Brennan combination based on the selections I've put up so far but that's most certainly not the case and this lightly-raced 7-year-old chaser is being picked fully on merit, because he's an absolutely beautiful jumper - especially for one lacking in experience.
He doesn't have the engine to be much more than a fair handicapper but his performances to date have been perfectly adequate bar a possibly understandable poor run at Sandown on his second outing in this code (doesn't seem to go right-handed; better suited to sound surface). Purely on his pair of runs at left-handed tracks, there's no doubting that Lexicon Lad should be shorter than his current odds of 10/1 and the market should really guide our chances here. The most encouraging run - when going the "wrong" way around - came at Leicester (stiff, right-handed track) last time out in which he finished a 14-length 4th of 8 in what was a quite decent limited handicap for novices. On that occasion, he again jumped brilliantly in the main but just failed to get home in a race of that nature on what was his first attempt over 3-miles.
The trip shouldn't be beyond Lexicon Lad on this easier track and as with yesterdays selection, I think that he'll prove to be a better animal in lower grades carrying more weight against lesser opposition. A couple of these could be stronger stayers, which makes things difficult but I'm fairly certain that he's as well handicapped as any and should make a bold bid if connections have him readied to perform to his best. There looks to be every chance that they will have and hopefully Tom George will be notching up a nice little double at Newbury today. 10/1 about this fellow is a few points on the large side and another standard sized bet will do for me. He may prove to have it all to do but I'm fairly sure that he's able to do it.
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