Friday, February 09, 2007

Newbury selections

Judging by the way the snow is falling here in Coventry, I'm guessing the going will be soft at Newbury if tomorrow's meet goes ahead. Here are my selections; of course, once I've had a conversation with The Times' Alan Lee and he has marked my card, I'll be betting his selections instead...

Two Cheltenham ante post favorites, Denman and Kauto Star, appear to have frightened off the opposition; they are the selections in the 1.35 and 2.40 races respectively, although they're both likely to be long odds on shots.

In contrast the Game Spirit Chase at 3.50 looks an intriguing event. The race conditions appear to suit confirmed front runner Ashley Brook. Well Chief would be a danger to all if at his best but he's been off the track for 658 days. The Champion Chase ante post favourite Voy Por Ustedes is the youngest horse in the race and has to give weight all round. Sporazene has won every chase he's completed while Foreman tends to show his best form on soft ground. You pay your money and take your choice; Foreman looks a decent price at around 5/1 while 10/1 Sporazene offers some each way value if eight go to post.

Alistair Whitehouse Jones, writing in The Weekender, puts up a decent case for Tarlac's profile in the Totesport Trophy at 3.15 while I take David Pipe's Seven Is My Number to show the necessary improvement in the finale.

3 comments:

GeeDee said...

Both Denman and Kauto Star won at 1/3 and 2/9 respectively. Foreman, a 9/2 shot, made a mistake early on and then ran a very disappointingly to finish unplaced. Sporazene looked booked for a place until a jumping error at the cross fence on the final circuit put paid to his chance. Both Tarlac (5/1) and Seven Is My Number (15/8) went off favourites but finished unplaced.

Anonymous said...

The blatts today are full of Kauto Star's confrontation with the final fence. Are you worried about Cheltenham prospects? Seems to me he has a magical ability to recover from his mistakes

GeeDee said...

Tom, I think at Cheltenham he will be ridden so he does not come to the last in the lead. Alan Lee is of the opinion that this is an exceptional horse; he's on record as saying the only horse that can beat KS is KS himself. I see he has drifted out to 7/4 in the betting; let's hope the doubters prevail so we can avail ourselves of a better price.