Morning all,
A bitterly disappointing day. Two seconds but poor runs from Clan Legend in particular and my two selections in the Badger Beers Chase.
Sandown
12:45 – Lord Of The Island is lightly raced for an 11-year-old, this is just his 14th career start. Won a a Grade 3 handicap hurdle here over 3m, on heavy, back in February 2017. Just three runs since but showed when 4th of 13 at Exeter in February that he can be competitive off his present mark. Might prefer further but with the ground on the heavy side it wll bring his stamina into play. First run for 234-days but the trainers runners continue in good form and he’s 8-29 28% +23.13 with runners at the track in the past 5-years.
1pt win – Lord of The Island – 13/2 @ Betway & Paddy Power
3:30 – It might be worth chancing Dark Flame who returns from 736-day break here. The 10-year-old returns to action off what looks a tempting handicap. Just the six races over fences he’s got the least mileage of the field of this field of veterans. Won the novices handicap chase on this card in 2016 off 217-day break. It will be interesting to see how he goes in the market. Clearly you must take on trust that some of his old ability remains but if it does, he would be a threat to all off 124.
0.5pts each way – Dark Flame – 18/1 @ Bet365
Navan
2:45 – Pilgrim Way returned from a mammoth 995-day lay off when finishing runner-up at Cork before going onto win over 2m 4f back at the same venue 19-days later. That win marked the 8-year-old down as horse capable of more progress. Up 9lb for his Cork success and back at 2m, might be better over further, but we know he runs well after an absence and the going will at least bring his stamina into play.
1pt each way – Pilgrim Way – 9/1 @ Bet365 (paying 4 places ¼ odds)
Cheers
John