Three meetings on the list today and Chepstow does most of the talking. Five of our nine picks come from the Welsh track, and they run the full range from a 2.2 shot late on to an 11.0 chance in the middle of the card. That is the sort of spread we like. Something to lean on, something to dream on.
The Chepstow card opens for us at 2:06 with Marisitta, and then the interest picks up properly half an hour later. Chianti has been running into stronger types than his recent placings suggest, and the drop in class is the opening he has been waiting for. He has course and distance form on this ground, stall six is a help over the trip, and 24 days since his last run means he comes here fresh rather than jaded. At 4.0 that looks like a horse whose form figures are telling you less than the races behind them.
Later on the same card, Geemann and Galactic Glow are both bigger prices we are happy to take on at 2 points apiece. Then Crimson Road rounds things off at 5:01, and he is the one we would put in front of anyone asking for one to follow today. He is well treated on a mark of 61 with the weight going his way, he won last time out to back that up, and both the quick ground and the trip are proven. The Flint yard knows its way around Chepstow too, which never hurts.
Leicester gives us three, and the pick of them is Al Maslool in the 3:34. He has been sharpening up with every run this season and the win last time confirmed what the previous efforts hinted at. He has handled this trip and this ground before, and the fact that Haggas has sent him back after only 15 days says the yard is happy with him. Fallon takes the ride. Bayside earlier and Venetian Sky after him complete the Leicester set, both at prices short enough to suggest we are not alone in liking them.
Across the Irish Sea, the Curragh gives us just the one. Nouvel Espoir at 13.0 in the 4:35 is a single point and a bit of a swing, but the sort of price that only needs to come off occasionally to be worth the trouble.
So, five at short enough prices to be taken seriously and four at odds that could turn the day around on their own. Crimson Road and Al Maslool are the two we would build a day around. Everything else is a bonus if it lands.