Prescription Drugs

The ground will be genuinely soft at Sandown after Friday's downpour, so there may be plenty of NRs. This ease will be manna from heaven for several horses, though given that 4 of the 7 races involve unexposed 3yos, they may not be obvious.

The 2nd race on the card is an example of this, but everything about Anoint would indicate he should relish conditions and with the added advantage of a good draw and Dettori on board, is a confident pick on this gelding's 3rd start. By Pivotal out of a Bishop of Cashel mare, the progeny's liking for soft ground has been highlighted by full brothers Solemn, Blithe and Divine Call and can build on his distance victory at Windsor last month. 2 points e/w @ 4/1 (P.P)

The class 2 all-aged handicap that follows is wide open but the 2 that could be interesting are the Fahey trained Irish Heartbeat, well draw and in first time blinkers on a surface that suits him (out of Celtic Swing) 1 point e/w @ 12/1 (S.J) but particularly Mr Rainbow. This lightly raced Swinbank gelding doesn't stay a mile and being out of Efisio is likely to enjoy the 7 furlong trip on soft ground. Although moderately drawn, Philip Robinson is likely to have him handy and is a great booking. If the stable were in better form, he would be a more confident selection 1 point e/w @ 14/1 (gen).

The Listed Scurry looks at the mercy of Night Carnation but the well drawn Move In Time might be the value in the race. Out of soft loving Monsieur Bond, this colt showed his well being in a 3 runner race at Beverley and already has form at a higer level, 2nd in last seasons G3 Cornwallis Stakes, ahead of Dinkum Diamond who re-opposes today. 2 points e/w @ 8/1 (T0te)

Best bet of the day at Sandown comes in the 4.05 with the very lightly raced Alls Aquilae. In this 6yo's 6 race career he has yet to meet soft ground but this Captain Rio gelding is bred to improve for it, is reasonably drawn and has the advantage of 5lb claimer Dale Swift onboard. 2 points win @ 7/2 (Fred)

In the final race, the ground has finally come for Regal Park. This lightly raced brother to Derby 2nd Walk In The Park won on his only soft ground outing last season and has been withdrawn a couple of times since his reappearance due to fast ground. 1 point win @ 10/1 (Sky)


At York, Charlie Cool is due to go in soon and the 2.40 could be the race. There is plenty of pace and the 9f trip promises to be ideal with Robert Winston, who has won on him before, riding a waiting race. 1 point e/w @ 12/1 (gen)

The 3.15 is ultra competitive but Desert Law is surely a group horse in waiting and off 97 can reverse Newmarket form with Majestic Myles. The trainer stated he would need that race a little and this has always been the early-season plan. 1 point win @ 6/1 (Lads)


Bonne chance

The final leg of the Triple Crown, with the winners of the Derby & Preakness both taking their chance in New York. However there are various reasons why they and the other fancied runners should be taken on and Monzon 1 point e/w @ 50/1 (H1lls) is my idea of the best value bet.

The stats indicate it will be difficult for Animal Kingdom, Shackleford & Mucho Macho Man to succeed as only 1 of the last 9 Belmont winners were coming here having ran in both previous Triple Crown races, the exception the 'awe-some' Afleet Alex. Besides this there are question marks about all of them being fully effective over the 1m4f trip, especially Shackleford (unless he gets a soft lead as in the Preakness) and Mucho Macho Man, who lost a shoe in the Preakness and is a late (June) foal but on breeding is highly unlikely to stay.

The pace is often sedate over this marathon trip, at least for US horses, but surely the other jocks won't let the Preakness winner dictate. Horses have made all in this race, as recently as Da Tara, but he was a 37/1 shot whereas Shackleford will be one fifth of those odds.

The selection doesn't jump out on form but has had a campaign and the breeding to indicate he will show his best on this day. Given a quiet ride by his big race jockey in his prep race here last month, he produced a good Beyer speed figure for the time of year when winning at Aquiduct on New Years Day before having a bad journey in the Tampa Derby, after which he had a 3 month layoff before the Peter Pan. Out of Belmont winner Thunder Gulch and from a stoutly bred family on the dam side, he should be staying on up the long stretch here and even if not quite good enough to win, I'll take 10/1 a place in this 13 runner field.

Fine midweek action at my local track today.

The opening handicap sees a 7 runner field, with a shortish-price jolly in the Tregoning horse Udabaa. In the context of a race where only a couple of contenders are in form he's entitled to be well fancied but the stable hasn't been in great form, despite a winner at Redcar yesterday and at the prices, the bang-in-form Frontline Phantom is taken to make it 4 from 4 this season. Matthew Lawson gets on well with the gelding and is not the worst 7lb claimer I've ever seen and at 9/2 (gen) is worth 1 point win

The main race of the day at 3.25 sees Kitty Wells attempt to gain compensation for her 'unlucky' defeat on her reappearance over C&D last month. That day she drifted alarming on the exchanges before the race and was in the wrong position to challenge frequently up the home straight. Add that Fallon is now on board as opposed to 'Mrs Fallon' and this well bred filly looks to have an outstanding chance, but I'm not sure she's value at the prices and will only come into her own over further still. Its a good race but Dansili Dancer has undoubtedly been given a c hance by the handicapper off 92, his lowest mark since 2006. A reproduction of anything approaching his staying-on Winter Derby 2nd this year should be enough. 2 points win @ 9/1 (C0r)

A week is a long time in politics and betting, so the proposed 2 points win on Newcastle @ 11/1 with H1lls to be relegated from the Premier League has gone, but even at 8/1 still represents value.

After getting the 2nd best value in the January transfer window by somehow getting £35 for the unproven, injury-prone Andy Carroll, the Geordies on paper have funds to replenish their weak looking squad ahead of the season. But the signs don't look good for them. Joey Barton has been told he can leave, Kevin Nolan isn't having his contract renewed and Jose Enrique is being linked with a move away. Yohan Cabaye is arriving from Lille but any other deals will be at inflated odds and besides, the days when St James Park is an attractive option are in the past. I don't see how they can still be double the price for the drop compared with West Brom for example, similar candidates for 'second season syndrome'. So Newcastle to be relegated from Premier League 1 point win @ 8/1 (H1lls, C0ral)

A better bet though comes 1 league down. Watford to be relegated from the Championship 4 points win @ 5/1 (V.C). Having sold the league's top scorer Danny Graham this week and with Will Buckley also on his way, the main source of their goals last season will disappear. Financial problems are never far from the surface at Vicarage Road so the £4 million or so they will receive is unlikely to be spent on reinforcements and in any case, their form in the final part of last season (1 win, 2 draws and 6 defeats in last 9 league matches) bodes ill for this season.

Quiet racing week, so good time to continue looking ahead to next week's Royal meeting.

The Kings Stand Stakes over 5f has gone overseas for 5 of the last 6 years and even 'our' winner last year Equiano was the then-Spanish trained 2008 winner. So the logical place to start is with the foreign runners.

Currently heading the market is Aussie Star Witness, who has spend the past months trailing behind Black Caviar back home. Of course Overdose would be a major player on soft ground (unlikely, despite the mixed forecast for this week) but a very interesting contender is Todd Pletcher's Bridgetown. He first caught my eye in last years Breeders Cup Turf Sprint when running well to finish 4th to 3 horses drawn inside him on that ultra tight turf track. This season has seen 2 wins and a good 2nd on the Kentucky Derby undercard and everything about him suggests a fast, straight 5f will see him in a very good light.

Considering there are doubts about many of the other leading contenders (Lady of the Desert aimed at Golden Jubilee, Bewitched not confirmed, Sole Power talented but inconsistent, Astrophysical Jet an infection found after his disappointing reappearance to overcome) 1.5 points e/w @ 20/1 (H1lls, P.P) looks good value and given the recent record of US raiders to the Royal meeting, will be considerably shorter after declaration.

The other selection is the consistent Prohibit, who displayed his good current form in yesterday's Gros-chene at Chantilly. A course & distance winner last season, he'll still need his higher-rated opponents to under-perform to win but is overpriced given his reliability. 1 point e/w @ 20/1 (Lads)

4 bets today, though for at least 2 of them the price went yesterday evening and will only be available for a short time...


Its easy to forget Awzaan went off 3rd fav for last years Guineas and though he hasn't won in an abbreviated career since his 2 year old days, his reappearance at York (jockey found troubled passage in a 5 runner race!)showed signs of a fruitful 4 year old campaign. Very often horses who were successful as juveniles 'miss' their 3 year old campaign, look at St Nicholas Abbey, and I suspect Awzaan will be the same. Fast ground and a downhill course should ensure he sees out this extended mile and he rates a good each way bet, provided all 8 run 1.5 each way @ 8/1 (gen) in the 2.40 Epsom.

Coin of the Realm's Epsom record reads 4-1-1-4, this corresponding race seeing a win and a 4th of these. He has a similar profile to yesterday's winner Resurge and will be trained to the second for this race by his shrewd connections. Although a 6yo, he's only raced 17 times so a mark of 91 is not insurmountable. Bourne rates a real danger but provided you're early, Coin of the Realm 2 points e/w @ 15/2 (H1lls) 4.50 Epsom is the bet.

There's no doubt Fireback has been disappointing since winning a heritage handicap at Newmarket last summer but he looks all about speed and this downhill 6f looks ideal for him. Reasonably drawn just outside pace horses Swiss Cross and Cape Vale, this looks a chance to beat mainly exposed horses.So Fireback 1 point e/w @ 10/1 (gen) 5.25 Epsom is the bet, with a watch on Olynard, whose jockey surpassed himself at the course yesterday.

At Musselburgh, if you're really quick, Racy 2 points e/w @ 13/2 (H1lls)3.40 Muss is a confident selection. The ex-Michael Stoute 4 year old bolted on the way to the start on his reappearance for the in-form Kevin Ryan, missed the break (normally a good trapper) and still finished a 3/4 length 3rd at York. I suspect he'll be able to use his early speed to counteract a moderate draw and, like Fireback, meets largely exposed sprinters.

Moldova v Sweden

The hosts have been seriously underrated here, with 13/2 available. For the more cautious Moldova Draw No Bet 2 points @ 5/1 (S.J) and Moldova (+1 goal) 2 points @ 13/8 (Lads) are both sound bets.

Sweden are a team in gradual decline and they travel without their only true world-class player Ibrahimovic, as well as the useful Marcus Berg and Rasmus Elm.

Sweden won unconvincingly the previous match in Stockholm 2-1 and the Moldovans have been showing steady if unspectacular improvement over the past years. With little cutting edge, the Swedes may struggle to break their hosts down in Chisinau.

Belarus v France

The previous match in Paris made sleeping pills redundant and with both teams keen to avoid defeat, a low scoring match seems assured. In all 9 matches these teams have contested so far in the qualifiers, under 2.5 goals and Both Teams to Score - NO would have copped. As that has included matches involving Luxembourg and both odds seem reasonable the bets will be Under 2.5 goals 3 points @ 4/6 & Both teams to score - NO 3.25 points @ 8/13 (V.C)

The handicaps on this card look impossible and I cannot find any worthwhile angle, except for the 3yo 7f event at 7.05. This 10 runner race has 3 strong stables represented by last time out winners taking on what I anticipate will be an even more progressive maiden from a yard with a bigger than 50% strike rate over the past week.

Deny 2.5 points win @ 3/1 (H1lls), representing Sir M Stoute, hasn't yet rewarded even place only backers in his 3 appearances last Autumn but surely will end up better than a 70 rated handicapper, given that his dam was the Group 1 winner Sulk.

Main market rival Chill may prefer softer ground.

Zetland Gold Cup day and while I think Arlequin has a great chance to follow up his York 3rd, its the two 1m6f 46-65 handicaps that interest me. Both are confident selections, though the odds reflect their chances and therefore stakes are kept moderate.

In the 3.00 for 3 year olds, the master of exploting the current handicap system Sir Mark Prescott has all the makings of a week long plot in mind for Pizzetti 2 points win @ 9/4 (general).

Well and stoutly bred to appreciate fast ground and distances of 12 furlongs or more (by Singspiel, out of a 107 rated, Group 3 winning dam over that trip), this gelding has had the typical 3 races on the all weather in maidens followed by a 3rd place in a low level handicap at Southwell, over distances between 7 and 11 furlongs.

A handicap mark of 59 and entries for Wednesday and Friday suggest the trainer thinks he will supplement his current 7-day 50% strike rate with his only runner of the day.


The 5.20 appears at the mercy of Simple Jim 2 points win @ 7/4 (Bfred), who can take advantage of very lenient handicapping.

His course form reads 1-1(corresponding race last season off a 2lb higher mark)-1-3-3-9. That last disappointing run last October off a mark of 61 was at the end of a busy 12 months for the gelding, which had included a full chasing & hurdling campaign before the flat season.

After a break he has reappeared twice last month over shorter distances and last time at Newcastle gave every signal under today's talented jockey that a return to best form was approaching. In fact, having won off 62 last July and given the opposition here, something short of that off 53 is still likely to be enough for a repeat performance.

Unexposed 3 year olds are the order of the day here, with the first 3 races likely to have bearings on events at Royal Ascot and beyond.

The opening 1 mile handicap sees more than half the field coming off a victory last time out. The noises coming from the Cumani stable about the beautifully bred Dubai Queen 2.5 points @ 9/2 (T0te) suggest Goodwood victory won't be her last.

Same connections could follow up 30 minutes later through Naqshabban, but I would want better than 15/8 against a small but decent field of opposition, while the 2 horses I like in the Coral Sprint that follows are L'Ami Louis and Desert Law. The former was trading at an acceptable 9/2 this morning but is now 3/1, while the Balding horse Desert Law, with quality and speed on both sides of his breeding, showed he could handle C&D last Autumn and 2 points win @ 6/1 (Lads) is worth taking.

The 14 furlong race that closes the card has a number of improving stayers involved. While I like Old Hundred and Seaside Sizzler, Nicky Henderson's Veiled has some excellent hurdles form under his belt since his last race on the level and at anything around 6/1 will be the main selection. Joe Fanning riding Mark Johnson's Cat O'Nine Tails at 9/1 or larger is no forlorn hope, especially if he can dominate.