With the festival just a few days away I thought I would give you my main hopes. You can usually find me at The Horse Whispers Weblog, my name is Noel Pinder.
♥ Albertas Run (Royal and Sun Alliance Chase) (Won 4/1 Fav) Albertas Run has already done us a massive favour and Jonjo's charge looks set for a big run in the Royal and Sun Alliance Chase. He has always been held in high regard and having won in great style last time out he could still be on the upgrade.
Noland (The Arkle) (3rd 7/4 Fav) Paul Nicholls has brought Noland along nicely in a bid to have him spot on for the Arkle. There is no doubt we haven't seen the best of this one yet.
♥ Celestial Halo (Triumph Hurdle) (Won 5/1) There could be more success for Paul in the Triumph Hurdle with Celestial Halo. Beaten just over three lengths in the St Leger, he then won impressively on his hurdles debut. His latest defeat against an older horse may turn out to be very good form and back against his own generation he should make them all go.
Sentry Duty (Ballymore OR The Supreme Novices) (Unplaced 11/1) The horse in question was Sentry Duty, who is entered in the Ballymore and the Supreme Novices, he has a strong chance in whichever event he goes for.
No all-weather racing meeting today. Noel Pinder & Danny Bridges have a few turf racing selections to sift through though. I have bet these whispers blind to smallish stakes, at S.P, and hope to make a couple of points profit.
1:50 Folkestone Hold The Gold (NON RUNNER) Returns: £1.00
2:40 Leicester Crows Nest Lad (2nd 11/1)
3:20 Folkestone Ella Junior (NON RUNNER) Returns: £1.00
We are hoping for better luck on Thursday. I have two selections, first of all the very well regarded Visit in the 2.05 at York. Michael Stoute is taking the same route with this filly as he has with some top performers from the past. She was very impressive when winning at Ascot and has bags of scope.
My second choice is Sir Xaar in the 2.35. Bryan Smart gave a good word for this on Sportslive and he is well treated on his best form.
Danny likes Magnus in the 3.10 race. This Aussie raider has strong claims on his Kings Stand form. His final choice is Race Forever in the 3.50. This one has been placed in some top handicaps and may be good enough to land a listed race.
Following a thirteen hour dog shift (sportsliveradio) I am a bit Kerry Packered, but one horse did catch my eye in the 4.00 at Market Rasen, Killard Point. He comes here on the back of a decent run behind Spirit Of New York at Bangor. The form has been franked and he should go close today off a much lower chase mark.
As usual it is tough going on a Saturday and nothing really stands out. However we do have a couple that look to have good chances. Dubai Twilight in the 3.15 at Newbury looks on a fair mark having chased home Dante runner up Raincoat last time out. We also like the look of Nice To Know in the 4.55. Ed Dunlop's charge showed plenty of promise on her Yarmouth debut and this doesn't look the strongest of Newbury maidens.
In just two weeks time the Epsom Downs will be packed to the rafters with wide-eyed punters, eagerly awaiting this year's Blue Riband, "The Derby". The final major trial took place at York earlier this week, and so, as Sir David Frost would say, "All the clues are there",
With the defection of Teofilo, Authorized became what you might call a surrogate favourite. However, following a scintillating performance in the Dante, he is now a worthy market leader. What is most frightening for his rivals is that, according to reports, he wasn't 100% fit! We may have a new superstar in our midst.
Now what of his rivals? Marcus Tregoning knows what it takes to land the "big one", having saddled last year's winner Sir Percy. His entry Aqaleem displayed much improved form to land the Lingfield Derby trial with a terrific turn of foot and he is still open to further progression. Aidan O'Brien probably had more original entries than anyone and still holds a strong contigent. The pick of his runners looks to be impressive Derrinstown Stud winner Archipenko, but his outsiders have been popping up in some of the big races and so it is hard to select anything of his with confidence.
One trainer seeking his first success in the big race is David Elsworth, who holds Salford Mill in very high regard. This son of Peintre Celebre was aclear cut winner of a Listed race at Newmarket last time and is David's best chance of landing the prize for many a year.
There are one or two others to consider, including Strategic Prince, who was staying on at one pace in the Guineas, but after absorbing all the information available we have to give you the clearance to back Authorized.
I have been asked to write a few words about myself before my first selections:
I'm a racing journalist/broadcaster currently working for Teamtalk (part of Sky). I've worked in the business for 32 years starting off as a settler in a betting office. I have been hooked on horse racing and gambling ever since! As a hobby I currently write my own blog (with the help of my technically gifted son, Toby and my knowledgeable horseracing step-son Danny) and contribute to other blogs, including this one.
Adage 16/1 Adage, ridden by David Sweeney and funnily enough trained by namesake David Pinder, held off the late charge of the Dean McKeown ridden short priced 11/10 fav Light Sentence by 3/4's of a length, 5 lengths ahead of the 3rd placed horse Swords.
Happy Punters Many punters emailed the sportsliveradio studio to say they backed the horse at prices up to 25/1 on the P2P betting exchanges like Betfair and Betdaq. 1 punter claimed he won enough money from the Adage win to pay for his trip to Miami next week. Another happy punter said the AW Pinder nap will pay for his ticket to the Man Utd V Chelsea FA Cup final this weekend.
No all-weather racing today. I'll be following Noel Pinder's racing selections, to hopefully win a point or 2.