Return of Wayward Lad

Welcome back readers, I've been away too long – even if I say so myself!

I did say that I'd be back in the autumn, and I've started and not finished a couple of posts over the past few weeks to the blog, but today I'm feeling more positive. Due to work commitments this won't be a daily blog as it has been over the past 3 years or so, but will be more of a weekend blog. Hopefully, that will suit me and those who read it as I tended to get most hits on a Saturday anyway.

As always, you can find me commenting on horseracing on Twitter, where you can find me tweeting as @wayward_lad

Onto the horseracing…

We have a cracking meeting at Wetherby today, ably supported by Uttoxeter. The opening juvenile hurdle at Wetherby at 1:00 has Jonjo O'Neill's only runner at the meeting MR WATSON. This horse was purchased for £215,000 after winning his "bumper" in Ireland and, if you combine that fact with his prolific strike rate at Wetherby with hurdlers (7 wins from 17 runners, or 41%) then you may well be led to thinking that the current odds of 9/4 look generous.

I'm a great follower of trainer trends and stats, and the next race at Wetherby may test those. Both Brian Ellison and Steve Gollings have solitary runners at Wetherby, and they both run in the 2:00 there, Royal Opera and Laterly respectively. Ellison is 5 wins from 31 runners over hurdles (16%), but Gollings is 3 wins from 9 (33%). I couldn't (hand-on-heart) recommend a wager on either, but I reckon they will both run a lot better than their current odds suggest.

One horse I've been looking forward to reappearing this season, is BLESS THE WINGS and he looks to have a winning chance in the 2:00 at Wetherby. He won me a packet when romping home at Cheltenham in January and I'll be having a wager on him at 13/2 as I can see him starting a lot shorter, possibly under 5/1. He won his seasonal debut last season, so we know he goes fresh, and he does travel well in his races which is something I really like. I don't think the going will be quick enough for the fav, Tiger O'Toole, and there are (in my opinion) question-marks over the other fancied runners. One I am keeping an eye on for any market moves is Sue Smith's Gansey as he's clearly the stable "fancy" and Smith has a great record in this race – 4 wins from 8 runners in the last 10 years.
The Class 1 juvenile hurdle at 2:35 is always a good pointer to what's the best around and I'm surprised Alan King hasn't an entry - he usually sends one of his best for this race. Whatever wins will be worth following.

Good luck & thanks for reading this blog to all visitors, I hope that readers of the blog get enjoyment from it.

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Thanks from Wayward Lad