A quiet Sunday on paper, just the two meetings for us, but Pontefract carries plenty. Five picks on the flat there, two over the jumps at Uttoxeter, and one runner at a price that will make you look twice.
The Pontefract card starts for us at 3:30 with Coolree. He has been running better than his placings suggest, beaten by rivals who went and won next time, and now he drops in class just a week after a sound third. Quick ground holds no fears. At 4:00 comes Point Lynas, our biggest stake of the day. He has clocked serious times at this track and they are still on the rise, strong enough to hold his own in a Class 1. His recent fourth carried more promise than the bare result, and the 73-day break is the only thing that needs forgiving. Half an hour later Moonjid goes in the 4:30. His career record says this fast surface is exactly what he wants, and the win two starts back is a truer guide than the latest seventh, which came with excuses.
Then the one that will raise eyebrows. Coiled runs in the 5:00 at 33/1 and we are taking the each-way route. The market has walked away from him, but the handicapper has been walking too, and he now races off a mark of 45. The draw helps, he knows the trip and the ground, and his recent defeats read worse than they were. That is exactly the profile we want at a big price. The Good Biscuit rounds off the Pontefract business in the 5:30. He won last time, Ruth Carr’s record here is a genuine edge, and he races off a falling weight with his times still improving.
Over at Uttoxeter we have two in quick succession. Divilabother goes in the 4:12 and At The Oche follows in the 4:42, both of them near the head of the market and both carrying decent stakes from us.
Yesterday did not bring a winner, but the each-way money worked. Air Force One ran into a place at 12/1 and Mr Noble did the same at 5/1, which kept the book respectable on a five-pick day.
Seven chances today, five of them at solid prices and one outsider with a real case. If Coiled hits the frame, Sunday will have paid its way before the last is run.