GOLD RUSH
Speedster looks Great bet to strike for Easterby
GET ready for lift-off with
GOLDEN APOLLO (nap) in Ripon’s Great St Wilfrid Handicap (3.15).
Tim Easterby has been in tremendous form all season and it will be a mystery to him why he hasn’t splashed down in the winner’s enclosure with the four-year-old.
The Yorkshire trainer will have gleaned massive confidence in Golden Apollo’s latest run when running on strongly in second behind stable companion Flying Pursuit at York.
It hasn’t escaped the attention of form students that the pair finished well clear of the rest that day, but they’ve only received modest rises to their handicap marks as a result.
Both are ideally drawn ahead of Ripon’s biggest race of the year and it’s the fact that Golden Apollo is 1lb better off with his mate – cheek pieces have been added for good measure – which makes him the selection.
The effect of the draw isn’t so obvious in the St Wilfrid consolation race at 2.05, especially as only fifteen go to post this year. GIN IN THE INN has slipped back to his previous course winning handicap rating having not been at his best on the fast summer ground of late, so his connections are due a tonic. Given it’s a six-furlong handicap run on the same day as the St Wilfrid it’s hardly surprising to see Newmarket’s 2.45 has a small field. BUFFER ZONE ran far better than his finishing position suggested when third at Windsor in June following victory there three weeks earlier.
He’s a talented work in progress and the break should show him as a stronger horse. BOITRON
At Newbury, sets the bar to a high standard (1.50) ALGOMETER while (2.25) put up a career-best performance at Longchamp last time. He can improve on his unbeaten SEA FOX Newbury record and (3.00) is still feasibly weighed to weighted to complete a hat-trick for David Evans.