Turn down the noise
Mark finds some space to think more clearly and comes up with a list of horses to follow
FEBRUARY 24
Betting wouldn’t be the only field where,in order to succeed,it is necessary to escape from the general “noise” into the clarity of your own thinking. (If you’re not thinking clearly you’ve no chance).
All those years ago, the original purpose of the Pricewise column, apart from an attempt to draw the writer from the obscurity of the paper’s production desk, was to try to get the reader to think clearly about the betting side of the selection process.
What grounds are there for believing this horse might be over-priced?
Are we going to beat the starting price by a significant margin if we step in now?
Is it a speculative pick or something to bet on with confidence?
You might believe your fancy has a tremendous amount going for it and, as an orthodox form selection,it might,but it ought be disqualified as a betting proposition if it isn’t the right price.
Then again, it jumped so well last time, travelled so strongly...
FEBRUARY 25
Roger Varian has been reintroducing some promising three-year-olds on the all-weather, none more impressive than Ennaadd, who won a competitive 1m handicap in tremendous style at Chelmsford (7.10).
Ridden with the utmost confidence by Andrea Atzeni, Ennaadd swept through late to beat the consistent Ice Royal and the good recent C&D winner Theydon Bois, and is definitely one to look forward to in the coming months, with the promise of better to come at 1m2f.
Connections later teamed up for a double with Barsanti in the concluding handicap (8.40).The four-year-old wouldn’t be in Ennaadd’s class, but ran green here and is the type to do better on turf at around 1m4f.
Earlier on the card,Eleuthera improved on his recent Southwell maiden form upped to 6f on Polytrack (6.10) and looks a progressive sort for trainer Kevin Ryan.
Switching to the jumps,Boy In A Bentley ran a promising first race over hurdles for Kim Bailey when runner-up to favourite Board Of Trade in the first division of the 2m4f maiden hurdle (4.30). The six-year-old is likely to appreciate a stiffer test of stamina and is an interesting long-term prospect.
FEBRUARY 26
Varian’s good recent Kempton winner Kalamata was exceptionally weak in the market taking a slight rise in class into a decent 1m4f handicap at Lingfield (4.40). Held up in a relatively slowly-run race,she never looked like getting to the front, but stayed on strongly in the closing stages and the suspicion is she remains progressive, if likely to be suited by a galloping track.