Go ahead, make my day

The 407th edition of the Wayward Lad Blog.

A small profit achieved on Saturday thanks to COURT RED HANDED who
plugged-on to be 3rd (advised win & place) at 10/1 in the Tommy Whittle
Chase at Haydock. The going there was soft/heavy and many of the horses
finished their races extremely tired. In such conditions, finding horses
which naturally stay the trip and are game enough to continue running
will pay dividends during the winter under the new whip rules. COURT RED
HANDED looked to have absolutely no chance of being in the money 4-out
and only came 3rd due to the last fence fall of Pearlysteps in 2nd at
the time. Even the eventual winner, CANNINGTON Brook, only just held on
as his stamina gave out in the final 100 yards.

The soft going also did for the other selection BENBANE HEAD who was
always struggling in the race won by The Minack.

Today, in the opener at Bangor at 12:40, one from last year's horses to
follow list re-appears - Afistfullofpebbles. I marked this horse down as
one to follow last year after he won his 1st two chases over 2m5f. He
ran 3 times last season, never looking anything like his best and, as
such, has been dropped 10lb by the handicapper to OR115 - just 3lb above
his last winning mark. His full brother Rapid Increase (also trained by
Jonjo O'Neill) improved markedly when stepped-up in trip to 3-mile, but
Afistfullofpebbles has yet to demonstrate that he will appreciate this
sort of trip. O'Neill also has Canal Bank in this race which further
complicates things, but it is Afistfullofpebbles which is ridden by AP
McCoy.

This looks on paper to be a really weak Class 4 chase and as such, I'm
going to take a chance that the drop in the handicap and the trip will
bring back a return to form for AFISTFULLOFPEBBLES today. He is a proven
chaser with winning form in the book on similar going and current odds
of 6/1 do not reflect his chance as I reckon he should be 7/2 for this.

There is not much else worth attention at the remainder of the Bangor
meeting, or at Plumpton.

Selection:

Bangor 12:40, AFISTFULLOFPEBBLES, 1pt win @ 6/1 (Ladbrokes, best odds
guaranteed)

Thanks for reading this blog to all new visitors, and I hope that
readers of the blog get enjoyment from it.