Flat Racing; Saturday 10th June

[Lars]

14:55 Sandown Not a race to get too carried away in, especially now there’s only 15 runners, and likely that a couple more will drop out due to the changing ground conditions. It’s currently caning it down in London and I suspect it will be a similar situation at Sandown. That said, my selection should be able to handle any ground conditions, and Namecheck should be able to build on his reappearance effort last time at Newmarket over two furlongs further. The drop in trip to 7f should be of benefit and I think a mark of 97 is still workable in a handicap like this. Godolphin’s 4yo colt hasn’t made that many appearances and is likely difficult to train. However, he has a decent enough record and has been close-up in a number of good races, including Listed races at Pontefract (over a mile) and finished not far away at one in Newmarket (over 1m2f). The latter race mentioned came in 2010 which was his only appearance on the racecourse that year. He made his handicap debut 42 days ago when running at Newmarket. It was his first run for a year and he was allegedly carrying a fair bit of conditioning in the paddock. That’ll indicate that he’d come on for the run and that fact was proved by his actual performance. He showed good speed up until 2f out, then raced awkwardly and looked very tired before being eased off. Namecheck will surely improve for that effort, but there are also other factors that should be considered. Firstly, that Newmarket run was over 9f, but today he races over 7f. The speed he showed in the majority of his races should stand him in good stead for the drop in trip, and he has won at this distance in the past, when winning a poor maiden at Beverley in fine fashion. The fact that the ground will likely be on the soft side isn’t too much of a concern either, as he placed on debut on good to soft ground. Another factor is that he’s by Sharmadal, whose progeny run well with cut in the ground, and that he’s closely related to a winner in France on slow ground. Frankie Dettori taking the ride is a positive too, as he has a profitable record when teaming up with Mahmood Al-Zarooni. It’s a leap of faith backing this one, as he’s completely unproven over this trip in this standard of race, and it’s a big drop in distance. However, he has always travelled like he could be a force at 7f and his last run perhaps proved that. The stiff finish shouldn’t be a problem as he does get a bit further, and the soft ground won’t really be a concern, Namecheck should come on for his last run and I can see him springing a surprise. He’s overpriced I feel at 25/1 without the best odds concession. He’ll likely go off a bit shorter and I wouldn’t be surprised if he was backed either. Shot in the dark but well worth a average sized wager. Namecheck; 1pt EW @ 25/1 Stan James

[richard-westwood]

Re: Flat Racing; Saturday 10th June 2.25 sand : anoint has only a 115 on the clock to date and looks poor value at 7/2 generally although could improve on that but price doesnt reflect his chance so the value seems to lie with mays boy 12/1 bet365 and local singer 14/1 bet365 both recently recorded 130 and nothing separates the 2 today ,should handle the good/sft better than some of these so a good run expected in what is a wide open race 2 x 1pt wins