BBOTD - Thursday 26th September

[robertob]

17.15 Pontefract: Mappin Time @ 14/1 Bet365 Mappin Time looks extremely well handicapped on old form and while he has yet to win this year he showed a couple of nice eye-catching performances in 2013. I'm happy to ignore his most recent performance at York two month ago, which came in a big hot handicap. But if I look back to his penultimate performance at Haydock, which really caught my eye, as well as the two fine runs before that as well, I think it gets clear that Mappin Time is still well capable of winning, and with his mark dropping even further now, he looks really well handicapped. Actually he run really well on many occasions this season, just has been a shade unlucky. So it's not that he is really losing much of his ability due to aging. He is now down to a mark off 77 though, which is 4lb below his last winning mark and in fact it is a career lowest mark. Certainly he's a better chance than 14/1 tomorrow, even though Pontefract is a really tricky track, particularly for hold-up horses. But he has a good low draw, and might be able to get a decent position early on, and the fact that he acted on tracks like Beverly and Chester is encouraging in terms of him being able to run well at Pontefract.

[smith17]

Re: BBOTD - Thursday 26th September 3.10 Newmarket: Court Pastoral, 5/1 Coral, win Court Pastoral finished fourth lto in her first attempt at listed level. She finished 1¼L behind the winner, Quiz Mistress. It was also her first run on soft ground and a return to a quicker surface will definitely be more to her liking. She has won all three starts in the UK and I think she has a great chance of keeping that record intact. Trainer Lady Cecil is in good form and she has a great record at Newmarket. Tom Queally chooses Court Pastoral over Songbird which is a big plus.