Wolverhampton Sat Apr 8 2yo race review

Wolverhampton 2yo Sat Apr 8
EBF Fillies Novice Stakes
5f, Standard, 1m2.18s (slow by 2.38s on RP standard)

Get Even, May 16 foal. Followed on from debut second in France with a victory. Jumped nicely, eased across from middle barrier to take lead by the bend but soon handed up to Auntie Pam. Comfortable sitting behind the pace then pushed through as leader drifted off the fence. Ran on under hard riding, nice win but not much left in the tank.

Auntie Pam, Mar 31. £30k. Hunted up out of the gates to work across from wide gate to sit outside the leader, then cross halfway around the bend. Never had time for a breather, kept working at the top of the straight, good enough to beat all but the winner. Decent debut, half-brother was stakes-placed at second start and finished three-race career with RPR of 99. Other half-brother was too slow to pull a milk cart. One hopes her career follows the former rather than the latter.

Aquadabra, May 10. 18k gns. Jumped cleanly, sat midfield, got onto the back of the two favourites coming around the bend, expecting them to cart him right into the race and was sitting directly outside the winner. The two favourites didn't kick on as expected and he struggled to find a run when the leaders kick away. Made nice ground late when gap appeared and jockey gave a couple of cracks of the whip. Best run of the race, bred for further.

Felisa, Mar 28. A little slow to begin, squeezed by Felisa and lost a couple of lengths. Outpaced and under riding on the turn. Moved wide looking for space, lengthened stride nicely to claim fourth. Best last 3f of the field. Trainer has a few decent 2yos but not landing any winners, just one success from last 36 runs. Should improve for the run, over further and when trainer's luck turns.

Diamond Pursuit, Apr 11. 6500gns. Wobbled out of gates, settled towards rear. Sat behind winner and third around the bend, no room to pull wide, worked through gaps without ever seeing open space. Probably wouldn't have made a difference but made ground to finish fifth, beaten under two lengths at 50/1. Won't be that price next time.

Faithful Promise, Feb 18. 48k gns. Very handy, resented being behind horses, over-raced and then pushed clear on the turn. Found nothing when asked. Disappointing for a 3/1 shot from leading stable.

Hellovaqueen, Apr 06. The second runner with previous experience (fourth in Brocklesby II) Jumped well from inside gate, allowed winner to cross her after 300m, ended up three-back on rail. Was never going to get clear parked away in there, but was unable to keep up anyway. Beaten 4.75L, similar RPR recorded (55 vs 54 on debut).

Campion, Apr 10. Messy start, edged right and checked Felisa. Initially towards the back but kept pushing forward to challenge for the lead three-wide on the turn. Couldn't go with the leaders when they sprinted, jockey gave her a couple of cracks with the whip, copped a bump, soon eased up on her. Margin misleading, a couple of lengths worse than it needed to be. Won't be in the top half of Hannon string debuting here, but there'll be a race for her somewhere.

Yogi's Girl, Mar 26. €8k yearling. Jumped OK but resented being crossed by Auntie Pam. Soon pushed five wide on the bend and under the whip to keep her from drifting wide. Eased down with a furlong to go. Stablemate of Felisa and 10/1 (opened 7s) vs 25/1 so obviously more was expected of her. Dam went steadily backwards after debut. (Later reported she came back with an abcess, added 9/5)

Hypnotic Dancer, Apr 8. £15k yearling. Jumped ok, sat midfield and wide, perfectly poised on the turn if the talent was there. Made no ground, eased down in the straight.

KEY POINTS
Quite taken with the runs of Aquadabra and Felisa, but it was a low rating race so can't get carried away.

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!

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lay the field - my favourite racing strategy

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Sport is made for betting

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