Sunday 13 January 2013

Spark Set To Fly


With Fakenham now off and Kelso reporting a forecast of snow this afternoon, it’s back to the polytrack for the best bets, and I will resist the temptation to be overly-clever about things having foregone a straight win bet on Spark of Genius last time. Alan McCabe’s filly looked a solid option last time on debut for the yard, and duly proved the point by winning with plenty up her sleeve. She goes unpenalised for that success when lining up over C&D at 14:00, and should again prove very hard to beat.  She proved that gaining an early lead wasn’t a prerequisite last time, which is a plus as this race has much more natural pace in it that the apprentice event she won last time. The ability to track the likely strong gallop will help her here, and it looks like Royal Holiday, Reposer and possibly North Central will force the issue. It’s important that Luke Morris doesn’t get embroiled in a speed duel, but he’s got enough experience of riding in similar events to know when to challenge. A burn-up would bring market rival Ioannou into the equation, but the maiden in which he beat Coastal passage last time was just an ordinary affair, for all the runner-up has won since. My idea of the one to include for forecasts is Bassett Road, who should also have things run to suit ideally, but I’ll keep things simple with a straight win bet on the selection.

Another horse on a roll at present id Dave Evans’ Lager Time, and while the son of Tagula faces a sterner task then when winning handicaps at Lingfield on his last 2 starts, he still appeals as the type to improve further now he’s got his act together. In 3 qualifying runs he wasn’t knocked about having failed to negotiate the turns at Lingfield and here at Dunstall Park, but was given no excuses by Adam Kirby when exploding to life on his handicap bow, despite again running wide at the opening bend. The way he burst to the front from a poor position was the hallmark of one miles ahead of his opening mark, and he had no trouble defying a penalty next time. His half-brother Jairzihno showed smart form at up to 1m, and the step up to 7f shouldn’t be a problem for Lager Time today. One positive is that the race starts on a spur, and he will only have one bend to negotiate, so there should be no alarms in the early stages. Expect him to drift right on the run to the line, but that’s rarely a problem at Wolverhampton, and he can score again before going on to better things, especially granted a chance to race over a straight track and/or round a right-handed bend. We’ll be hearing more of this fella.  

Recommended Bets:

Back Spark of Genius  in the 14:00 Wolverhampton @ [2.50] (NAP)

Back Lager Time  in the 14:30 Wolverhampton @ [3.85] (NB)


No comments:

Post a Comment