SHAPESHIFTER

Yesterday, Robert Tart proved to me why he was a jockey in my notebook. He rode my each-way selection, Sannibel, in the 3:00 at Lingfield. The horse started a bit slower than expected from the outside draw. Undeterred, he didn't rush the horse but instead kept pace while letting the rest of the field sort itself. Just before the pace as upped, he found his line and went from the outside middle to the rail in a smoothed, angled run. But the rail got closed and he then adjusted after a handful of strides and sent the horse through a space the width of a shed door. The horse came second, a length ahead of the fave but behind Chevise who won its first race since April, 2011. The jockey won on Carazam at 8/1 90 minutes later. Another strong jockey that will give you a run for...

Yesterday, 3 winners emerged from 6 selections. I did take on one horse that was odds on then drifted to evens at the off. Broxbourne was going for his 4th win which was achieved but was challenged right to the line. I took on the call knowing all the factors but looked at the circuit at Lingfield as a straight-up challenge for the horse. The other two at Lingfield were a disappointment, Fonterutoli and Mack's Truck both lacking the mustard it takes to win races. I had three over obstacles. The day started with Be My Deputy drifting before the off and winning. Iron Butterfly's result read's 4th but the 30/1 (BFSP) EW play finished just over a second behind the eventual winner so one for the notebooks over a similar distance. The Fox's Decree won but cashing in the winning...

Wednesday saw a 50% strike rate for the 8 selections returning 115%. With the exception of Pathos, for once the value and prices remained right up to the off. Adam Kirby had a winner at each track and I was on each of them (Black Dave and Vitznau). The success at Kempton came down to going through the entire card then looking for the four I felt were strongest. The only one where I felt I misread was Saharia who lost to Hurricane Spirit by 1 3/4 lengths. The winners jockey, Nicole Nordblad, is a name to remember and improved on the horses previous times. --------- My selections for 'weak faves' has gone tilt. The race I took on had little form but I thought improvement would come on two or three of the others. The market agreed with me and the price drifted all day ...