FLAT RACING THURS 24TH MAY

[richard-westwood]

3.30 HAY lady layla looked an improving type last year and will most likely be fav but didnt post much on the clock so 4/1 is too short,not many of these horses are capable of putting in times to win this ,takealookatmenow hails from the nicholls stable and was pretty quick last year so respected but top rated XINBAMA (82) ran his rating 3 weeks ago albeit on the a.w but transition from lingfield to good/firm is relatively easy so can be expected to run his race .......the 7/1 with paddy power is mega value (tissue 9/2) so ill have e.w xinbama 1pt e.w 7/1 paddy power

[Edberg]

Re: FLAT RACING THURS 24TH MAY 2.20 Haydock AHLAWY 3pts @ 14/1 bog (Betvictor and Bet365) Ahlawy is now aged 9 and is not the force of old (12 wins, 9 seconds and 11 thirds in 82 starts) but retains still all the abilities to win a race like this off his current mark imho. The horse has been kept very busy since last summer on the AW precisely at Wolverhampton and mainly in claming/selling stakes over 9-12f. He won his last race in December and kept running very well in defeat this year collecting 3 seconds and 5 thirds in 8 races between February and April adding a 4th and a 5th in his last two starts. As said those races where mainly in claiming/selling stakes but he did run also in one handicap over 1m4f two months ago and finished 3rd racing off 69 and was just 1L behind the winner. He's kept his mark on the AW close to 70 (mainly 69 but now dropped to 67 after his last 5th who came in an amateur race which I'd like to take little in account even if his effort wasn't that bad at all). He ran very little on turf in the last couple of years and last summer was still racing off 80-70. His last win on turf came at Epsom over 9f in August 2010 in a class 5 handicap off 74 and just two years ago he won over today's C&D in a class 4 handicap off 74. Back on turf after a long time Alhawy can race off 59 today and gets on a top jockey. Mirco Demuro has taken a couple of weeks to get used to British racing standards but has been showing all his class of late collecting 6 wins from 15 runners within one week (11-18 May) and two of them came with horses trained by Frank Sheridan (who lived a worked as a jockey first and trainer later in Italy for ages before moving back to UK four years ago). Those were the only winners saddled by Sheridan in the last fortnight and one of those winners was a 25/1 shot that won a race at the Chester Festival last 10 days ago and overall Mirco Demuro is 2-3 when riding for Sheridan this year. The favourites of this race don't seem anything special as both Jack's Revenge and The Galloping Shoe are surely in good form but are both not straightforward animals and have both been upped in the rating after their last good efforts. Jack's Revenge finished twice second on the AW on his last two starts and literally threw away a win last time out hanging badly in the final 100 yards while The Galloping Shoe won over today's C&D (on soft ground) last time out (26 days ago) but loses Jim Crowley for Michael O'Connell (big minus imho) and is rated 4lb higher now and in the last 4 years he had won only another race and was in 2010. Not an easy race but Alhawy stands a good chance with this featherweight and at current prices it's worth a solid confident bet imho.