No, I'm not advocating a slug of methylated spirits - it's only August after all, but today's best bet on surprisingly fast ground at Chepstow is Methaaly in the 6f handicap at 17:35. The key component once again is an ease in class for an apparently out-of-form runner, and hopefully the drop to a lowly 0-55 event will the 10-y-o's class shine through against some moderate rivals.
A winner of 3 of his last 7 races in Class 6 company, Mick Mullineaux's charge has been keeping much better company this summer, and it's hardly surprising that he's failed to set the world alight in much more competitive events, merely running past beaten horses when mid-field last time. That's very much Methaaly's style, and he'll be running past beaten horses again today, with the crucial difference that he'll be able to start picking the stragglers off earlier, and he looks set for a big run as long as the race isn't run at a crawl.
Pace is a worry here, with only Jackie Love looking sure to press on, but Gracie's Games tends to race prominently when in form, and I'm hoping that she'll apply pressure from an early stage, in order to keep the leader honest. She might have been the selection, in fact, but the failure of forecast rain to materialise is a negative for Richard Price's 'mudder', and plays to the strengths of Methaaly instead.
The second division of the sprint at 18:05 is uncompetitive, and few of the runners can even muster a win at the lower reaches of the handicap scale, with only a quartet having gained a turf win in the last two years. Of those, Deliberation is the obvious favourite, for all a sizeable gamble went astray on him at Brighton last week, and he's a backable price given the gamble developing on Euroquip Boy. The support for Michael Scudamore's performer is understandable, as he caught the eye over much further last time, and his sole win came over C&D a couple of years ago, but he's not hugely compelling at current odds.
It's not quite as easy to see the claims of Lady Mango, but her latest flop came on deep ground she's unproven on at Ffos Las, and that run (her first since January) will at least have brought her on in terms of fitness. A winner of a better contest over C&D last July, she's now 6 lb lower in the weights, and while she has lost her way in the intervening months, this is probably the best time to catch her. With better credentials in the book than most of her rivals, she looks a big price at around 18/1.
Recommendations:
Both at Chepstow
Back Methaaly @ [8.0] in the 17:35 (NAP)
Back Deliberation & Lady Mango @ [3.7] & [19.0] in the 18:05
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