Stick to the first colours !

[erhaab1965]

Today we saw the beginning of the Craven meeting , which traditionally signals the start of the flat season for most trainers. The highlight today was the Nell Gwyn a 1000 Guineas trail . Tom Seagal advised a horse called Lily's Angel which went off at 9/1. the horse is run by the syndicate Middleham Park Racing which also had Esentepe whose SP was 28/1. Today Esentepe wore the first colours and Lily's Angel had the second colours. They finished in that order Esentepe 1st and Lily's Angel 2nd , contrary to the betting market. The following race , K Abdulla had 2 horses in the 7 runner race . Perennial 5/4 fav ( green cap 2nd colours ) and Stipulate 8/1 ( pink cap , 1st colours ) . They too finished in the order the colours suggested and not the way the betting suggested. From a betting perspective I generally back the first set of colours of most owners , even if they are longer odds than the second colours. If I find that my fancy is wearing the second colours I may reduce my bet and maybe have a saver on the first string. I have found sticking to this rule has worked for me over the years and suggest others bear this in mind too when considering a bet. I didn't have a bet today but I recall a bet I did blind last year based on what i have suggested. it was a 4 or 5 runner race where Mark Johnston had 2 runners both in owned by his main patron Sheikh Maktoum the favorite was around evens ( green silks with the yellow cap , second colours ) and his other horse wearing was 20/1 ( green silks with the red cap , 1st colours ) . Purely based on the colours i bet the first string and it came in at 20/1 beating his stablemate. As a general rule follow the first colours of the Aga Khan , Hamdan al Maktoum ,Godolphin , K Abdulla etc. I can't say for sure this strictly appies to the Middleham Park racing colours because I'm sure many of the members like a bet unlike the arab owners. On occassions it does not go according to plan so please don't take my advice as gospel . Examples of where it has gone against me is the Derby of 1993 where I backed the even money fav pink cap of K Abdulla's Tenby only for his stablemate Commander in Chief in the green cap to win also trained by Henry Cecil and Godolphin white cap winning the Lockinge a few times. All in all it does pay to follow the first string.

[bowles10]

Re: Stick to the first colours ! b careful with Godolphin though as they often have their second colours (white or red cap) on the bigger price horse which has been known to come in. Often with Godolphin its worth following their second jockey