Friday gives us six meetings and fourteen bets, and the shape of the day is unusual. Epsom has five of them on its own, Thirsk another four. The rest of the card is thinner than that, so if today goes well it will be because those two tracks came good.
Epsom is where we start, and it runs from the early afternoon right through to the evening. Sequel Star at 2:48 is the first of them and one of the two-point plays. Sandscreendeliverd in the 4:00 is the outsider of the lot at 13.0, and we are happy to take a small swing at that price. Then Haveagobeau, Chantelle and Spacewoman fill out the card. Chantelle is the shortest of them at 2.38 and the one we would build a multiple around if that is your thing.
Spacewoman in the 5:48 is the one we want to talk about properly. The ground is right for her, and stall three is exactly where you want to be over that trip at Epsom. She was beaten half a length at Lingfield last month and the horse that did it has since gone on and won, which puts that run in a much better light. She was only fifth last time out but that reads like a blip rather than a decline.
Thirsk in the evening is the other half of the day. Moulin Booj, Enchant and Style Of Life are all two-point bets, with Style Of Life the big price of the three at 10.0. Halimede closes it out at 1.29, which tells you what the market makes of that one. Short, but sometimes short is just correct.
Two others to flag. Fifty Nifty at Newmarket in the 7:02 drops back below the grade he last won in, and he has already gone well over this course and distance. He won last time out as well, and our reading of the form has him a clear way ahead of the rest of this field. Over at Cork, Cashel Blue is running at the top of her career level, a winner two starts back and third last time. W J Lee has a better record round Cork than his overall figures suggest, and stall 12 is a fair draw over the trip.
Yesterday was a good one. Five bets, two winners. Alice De Clare obliged at 8.0 and City Of Poets followed up at 5.0, with Sovereign Beach placing at 12.0 to round it off.
Newbury only gets one look in today, Zatsgood in the 5:58, but it is a two-pointer so it carries weight. Same at Yarmouth with Arcturus Flame and Creative Queen. Six of today’s fourteen are 4/1 or shorter, so there is a solid spine to build on before you get to the bigger prices.