Skip to main content

Woodcote Stakes preview

Next up, it's the traditional 2yo race, the Woodcote Stakes. Preview again by William Kedjanyi, @keejayOV.

----------------

Investec Woodcote Stakes
Listed 2yo 6f
1435 local 2335 AEST


The Hannons have taken the last two renewals of this and with their 2 year old hand here Nelspurit must be respected, for all that he made hard work of landing his maiden at odds-on at Goodwood. That day he looked as if he’d appreciate a step back up in trip – he made his debut over 6f at Newbury – but the maiden that he landed was decent enough for the grade (it was a class 6) and he should be up to going close. It should also be noted that his yard has a line through nearly every runner in this race

Buratino has the strongest form on paper courtesy of his National Stakes second, while there’s plenty to like about the attitude that he showed when a winner at Newmarket in a Novice Stakes, having previously been well behind Coventry Stakes contender Log Out Island. He may have less to offer than most here, but should be well upto giving a bold account and looks sure to run his race.

The same connections' Aleko’s maiden form is completely unproven, but the style in which he landed that Haydock event more than justified a stepping up in class here. Miss Moneypenny duly improved on her Newmarket third to land a Windsor maiden but both events appeared rather weak and the same comment applies to Jeanie’s Place who was impressive on debut but in an even worse race

Be Bop Tango may have appreciated the softer ground when landing a Catterick maiden after making his debut at Thirsk on good and Art Collection, breaking from the rail here, has a lot of ground to make on his debt form when the winner was well beaten in the National Stakes.

No Education made a fine debut when fourth behind King of Rooks – since a deeply impressive winner of the National Stakes – at Newbury when promising to improve next time out and he looks well overpriced at 25/1 even taking into account his poor draw. There were several promising types there and taking out the impressive winner, he was beaten just half a length in the finish; He looks worth considering.

Just Emma always had manners in total control when taking her maiden at Brighton – an ideal preparation for Epsom in so many ways – having been beaten in a strong event for the track. That form has been franked by the runner u and she makes more appeal than a few here.

Captainthunderbolt looks overmatched on all form.

Advice: 1pt win Buratino 4/1

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Spot-fixing - you will never, ever be able to stop it

According to this report , IPL tournaments so far have been rife with spot-fixing - that is fixing minor elements of the game - runs in a single over, number of wides bowled etc. The curious part of that article is that the Income Tax department are supposed to have found these crimes. What idiot would be stupid enough to put down 'big wad of cash handed to me by bookie' as a source of income? Backhanders for sportsmen, particularly in a celebrity- and cricket-obsessed culture like India are not rare. They could come from anything like turning up to open someone's new business (not a sponsor, but a 'friend of a friend' arrangement), to being a guest at some devoted fan's dinner party etc. The opportunities are always there, and there will always be people trying to become friends with players and their entourage - that is human nature. This form of match-fixing (and it's not really fixing a match, just a minor element of it) is very hard to prove, but also,

It's all gone Pete Tong at Betfair!

The Christmas Hurdle from Leopardstown, a good Grade 2 race during the holiday period. But now it will go into history as the race which brought Betfair down. Over £21m at odds of 29 available on Voler La Vedette in-running - that's a potential liability of over £500m. You might think that's a bit suspicious, something's fishy, especially with the horse starting at a Betfair SP of 2.96. Well, this wasn't a horse being stopped by a jockey either - the bloody horse won! Look at what was matched at 29. Split that in half and multiply by 28 for the actual liability for the layer(s). (Matched amounts always shown as double the backers' stake, never counts the layers' risk). There's no way a Betfair client would have £600m+ in their account. Maybe £20 or even £50m from the massive syndicates who regard(ed) Betfair as safer than any bank, but not £600m. So the error has to be something technical. However, rumour has it, a helpdesk reply (not gospel, natur

lay the field - my favourite racing strategy

Dabbling with laying the field in-running at various prices today, not just one price, but several in the same race. Got several matched in the previous race at Brighton, then this race came along at Nottingham. Such a long straight at Nottingham makes punters often over-react and think the finish line is closer than it actually is. As you can see by the number of bets matched, there was plenty of volatility in this in-play market. It's rare you'll get a complete wipe-out with one horse getting matched at all levels, but it can happen, so don't give yourself too much risk...