2.30 A few of these have interlocking for from the Lockinge Stakes at Newbury. The one I think may come out on top of those is Big Rock who stumbled coming out of the stalls that day. The selection blew away the current favourite for this race Facteur Cheval over C&D last October & beat it the time before that too , I can’t fathom why they are not the other way around in the betting . He is versatile with regards to ground so that will be no bother. Advised Bet Big Rock 3/4 pt ew @ 13’2 / 6’1 firms offering 4 places
3.05 This looks a wide open 2 year old contest and I think it may be significant that the Wathnan outfit have been hoovering up the best breeze up talent at the sales . They have 3 runners in this & I can give solid chances to all 3. Catalyse is ridden by the retained rider and was most impressive on debut at Hamilton. Columnist who is from the same stable as the aforementioned bolted up at Chester , while Electrolyte showed plenty of early speed to bolt up at Ayr , its hard to know how much the 3 will improve but with all the money Wathnan have spend you can bet they will be primed up for today. Advised Bets Catalyse 1/2 pt ew @ 12’1 / 11’1 firms offering 5 places , Columnist 1/2 pt ew @ 28’1 firms offering 5 places & Electrolyte 1/2 ew @ 33’1 firms offering 5 places
3.45 I think it’s hard to get away from three 3 year olds getting plenty of weight in this race. Big Evs , Valiant Force & Crimson Advocate . All three have winning experience of this track & trip. Big Evs ( holds verdict over Crimson Advocate from Breeders Cup ) is the shorter & it would not surprise me at all should he not go very close given the top class form he has .The other two are way bigger prices but have a great chance too given their form and receiving weight from the rest . Advised Bets Big Evs 3/4 pt ew @ 4’1 firms offering 4 places , Valiant Force 1/2 pt ew @ 16’1 firms offering 4 places & Crimson Advocate 1/2 pt ew @ 20’1 firms offering 4 places
4.25 This looks a very good contest and I think there is just one outstanding horse in it , that is the unbeaten Notable Speech , he has such a sharp turn of foot that leaves the rest for dead and I can’t see how the main threats in Henry Longfellow & the one he beat in the 2000 Guinness Rosallion can live with that if he is in the same form. Advised Bet Notable Speech 2pt win @ 5’4 / 6’5
5.05 Willie Mullins is usually the starting point for these long distance races , his runner My Lyka ,there’s plenty of the stayer about this Irish St Leger entry , but no surprise he is at the head of the market . Zanndabad caught many a person’s eye at Chester but is desperately short in the betting now. One at a bigger price is Nusret who should appreciate this quicker ground and who ran well in Grade 1 races over hurdles at Aintree and Punchestown last year, so he should be competitive off a mark of 91 you would think. Advised Bets My Lyka 1/2 pt ew @ 11’2 firms offering 5 places & Nusret 1/2 pt ew @ 14’1 firms offering 5 places
5.40 The Varian yard have won 2 of the last 4 running of this and the owner has won 2 of the last 3 runnings so their runner Botanical looks a serious player. Advised Bet Botanical 3/4 pt ew @ 5’1 firms offering 4 places
6.15 Another long distance race and it’s to the Mullins yard we go again ( won this last year and had the 2nd too ) Belloccio made a smooth winning start over hurdles last time out , has got in this off a mark of 100 which looks a complete gimme judged on that run and the fact he was off marks around 107 / 108 on the all weather last year. Advised Bet 1pt win Belloccio @ 100’30