Review of the day

When I drew comparisons this morning, between Saint Leo and Overtown Express - I didn’t realise how similar things were going to end up !

I tipped Overtown Express a couple of weeks ago at Chepstow and he looked to have his race under control, leaving the back - only for things to go horribly wrong at the first fence in the home straight…

It was exactly the same scenario with Saint Leo at Ayr this afternoon, as he was still tanking, approaching the fourth last at Ayr (touched 1.7 in-running).

He’d been so slick over the previous fences, that even a mistake looked unlikely - but worse than that, he fell.

Thankfully, unlike Overtown Express, he lived to fight another day - but from a P&L perspective, it was the same outcome.
What looked like being a nice profit, ended up a 2pt loss :(

Thankfully, the blow had already been softened by Malaya, the only other tip on the day.

In truth, she too could have ended up on the floor, as she made a dreadful mistake at the second last hurdle.

I doubt many horses would have won after that, but Harry Cobden gathered her together, gave her a few moments to recover - and then launched at attack on Monsieur Lecoq.

In fairness, he didn’t go down without a fight - but Malaya clearly had a fair bit in hand of her mark, as ultimately she won quite comfortably.

The only surprising aspect, was the price drift to an SP of 7/1 (10 on BF) - showing once again, that the price shouldn’t be chased down in the these competitive big field handicaps (as someone wants to back most of the runners !).

As for the days Mentions:
Then Champagne Well ran a cracker to finish third in the NH novice handicap hurdle final, at Sandown.
It would have been disappointing to tip him (to win) and not collect (which would have been the case, if I had got involved with the race).
By contrast, Mystic Dreamer ran disappointingly in the bumper - seemingly not appreciating the very soft ground: whilst Ami Desbois was similarly disappointing in the handicap chase.
There was no obvious excuse for his below par run - though he did have a tough race last time, and was running from a higher mark today.
It’s all about getting on them when they are at their peak - not a race too soon - or too late !
I think One for Harry was close to his peak today - but the ground wasn’t soft enough for him.
He ran an honest race to finish fourth - and dropped a few more pounds, if he gets heavy ground next time, then there could still be another win in him…

TVB.