Sean Trivass

For a novice stakes over five furlongs, the 6.10pm at Leicester intrigues with any number of potential improvers in the field and a previous winner in the shape of George Margarson’s Kodiac filly Shibuya Storm.

Charlie Johnston’s Chuti Manika was well backed ahead of his Ayr debut before being sent off the joint-favourite, but it wasn’t to be for his supporters as he was worn down close home to be beaten a neck at the line.

My friends in Newmarket have been patiently waiting for Charlie Appleby to unleash the unraced Ruling Court, and the 2,40pm at Sandown this afternoon gives us our first chance to see if he is anywhere near as good as they hope he is.

The betting ahead of the 6.45pm at Newbury tonight may well tell its own story with two decent Juddmonte fillies in opposition courtesy of the unraced Polygram, and the once raced Glistening.

For reasons unknown both my selections run at York this evening (so no early morning rush needed unless you want to grab the prices), starting in the 6.05pm when Red Force One will do for me.

Waiting until the lucky last at 8.20pm for my second bet this Friday, and if Merrimack makes the most of a low draw he could show them all the way home in this five furlong sprint.

With so much going on in the World of horse racing I almost neglected my pool duties this week as the IPA Tour swings into Coventry ahead of the British Open this weekend.

Not much of a price if the forecast turns out to be accurate, but for me Seagolazo is the likeliest winner of the weekend., Hugo Palmer’s son of Havana Grey showed plenty of promise on his Lingfield debut but took a huge step forward on his only other start when third at Haydock, beaten a length and a half at the line.

I thought we would have a look at perhaps the most competitive handicap of the day if only to see if we can find one to hit the places using past performances to see if we can find one in with a chance. Using the last 15 years (14 runnings) of facts, I noted that: 13 winners were priced at 33/1 or shorter, none have come from stalls 1, 3, 5,6,7, 8, 9, or 10 (who knows why?), 12 finished in the first nine last time out, 13 were aged four to six, which gives us a decent starting point.

The big race of the day is the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes though to be fair, it has lost a bit of its lustre in recent years, ever since the word “Diamond” was taken out of the race title after the sponsorship of De Beers came to an end.