Rebel without a cause

In today’s blog:
Review of last week’s racing
Today’s Racing Selections

Review of last week’s racing
I wasn’t around for the weekend racing as I was having a few days in the beautiful city of Bath. It really is a tremendous place to visit and stay in, and I cannot recommend it highly enough.
A couple of trainers really hit form last week. Sir Mark Prescott had 4 wins from just 7 runners, and Eve Johnson-Houghton had 5 winners from 17 runners, including her only runner on Saturday at York; Orientalist @ 7/2.
What was great for racing fans was the contribution of Roger Charlton on twitter! He used that medium to alert supporters to view his excellent and informative website, complete with pictures and videos of the stables horses on the gallops. Check him out on www.rogercharlton.com
I managed to find a few winners on the blog last week and hopefully will keep this profitable streak going.

Today’s Racing Selections
A typical ordinary days racing for a Monday.
At Bath, Mark Johnston sends just one runner the 241 miles from his Yorkshire stables; Memorabilia for the opening race at 2:10. Hard to get excited about this one, but Johnston has a 26% strike-rate here so should not be underestimated. Later in the afternoon, Hugh Morrison has his only runner today CELESTIAL GIRL in the 4:40. She will appreciate the good-to-firm going and the step-up in trip as her dam was a half-sister to Oaks winner Lady Carla. Currently 4/1, that looks fair in a competitive race.
The meeting at Newcastle looks very poor quality and only a couple sent a long way here look worthy of interest. In the 2:20, Brian Meehan sends Pearl Arch 290 miles for this 2yo maiden. He’s only sent 3 to Newcastle in past 5 years and they’ve all been beaten. In the 3:20, Jeremy Noseda sends Gold Gleam 245 miles for this, but with only 1 winner from 11 in past 5 years he is another not worth a financial interest.
At Newton Abbot in the 5:30, Am I Blue returns for another race following the “gamble” of last week, and he should win this in a canter if in similar form. There is a very interesting class 3 chase over 2m 5f at 4:00 with 10-runners. As the RP Spotlight declares, nothing jumps off the page, so it’s likely that an outsider can prevail and it’s a race worth taking a punt on. The prospect of heavy rain means that it could turn into a stamina test. Just about every runner in the race wants good going or faster, bar one. It’s a long shot, but the only horse with any realistic form should the rain turn the going on the soft side of good is SPORTING REBEL. He returned to the racecourse (had been racing PtP) in June after 2 years off the track, and ran well till running out of steam with 4 fences to go – but that was over 3m 6f. With only 21f to travel this time, his stamina should hold up, his jumping is sound and at 14/1 he looks each-way value.

Selections:
No wager today, but I would not put you off having a small punt on Sporting Rebel each-way.

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