Five meetings on a Monday and for once the afternoon is not where the intrigue lives. Ayr gives us the busiest card, Cartmel carries our biggest bet, but the two horses we keep coming back to both run at Ballinrobe this evening at prices that look plain wrong to us.
Ayr first, where we have five runners through the afternoon. Whiskey Kisses gets us started in the 2.30 and Runninsonofagun in the 4.00 is the one we have gone in strongest on there, a 2pt bet at 4/1. Over at Cartmel we have just a single runner all day, but Kientzheim in the 4.12 is our biggest bet on the card at 3pts. When we put that much on one horse it is because everything about the race sets up for him, and we would rather have one proper opinion at Cartmel than three half-hearted ones.
The evening is where the prices get tasty. Spring Sprinter goes in the 6.10 at Ballinrobe at 22/1 and she lands the draw that wins races there. Stall three over this distance is exactly where you want to be, Andrew Slattery’s runners thrive at the track, and her quiet recent form explains the price rather than her chance. Two races later in the 7.40, Kings Gesture is the forgotten horse in his field at 33/1. His times have been improving even in defeat, the handicapper has dropped him to 52 regardless, and from stall four he can outrun those odds. Neither needs to win for the each-way bets to pay their way, but both can.
Beverley and Windsor round out the evening. African Spirit in the 8.00 at Beverley is the pick of ours on that card, and at Windsor we are fishing each-way in four races, with Flag Carrier in the 8.50 closing out the day.
Yesterday went well. Sir Tivo bolted up at 10/1, Billy Bathgate followed him in as a second winner, and Al Riffa filled the frame too. Two winners and a placer from five picks is the kind of Sunday we will take every time.
Seventeen runners today, eight of them at the sharper end of the market and nine at prices with real room in them. If either of the Ballinrobe pair goes close, Monday will look after itself.